Hello,

My name is Dave I am located in Baltimore MD. I have two Jaguar's in my collection a 1999 XK*8 and a 2004 X-type. My Jaguar addiction started in highschool when I bought an 88 VDP. The thing took me broke but I loved the body style. Guess you could say the Same about my XK but I am still trying to get her running and convince the wife its worth keeping.

I look forward to joining the croud of enthusiasts!

 

Welcome! Once you get the XK running, one trip should convince the wife...or let her drive...you just might have to fight for the keys back

 

Welcome to the forum! My wife often reminds me that the 99 xk8 is hers (when it is running correctly).

 

Welcome, both forums are loaded with immense info and you can make good friends with our members too
We have other areas too, if you need some fun go to Off Topic

 

Welcome Dave,

I bet your wife will learn to love the XK

 

Welcome Dave! I see you've been a Jag enthusiasts since HS. I got my first Jag, an X-type, just 6 months ago. I joined the forums right away and have had a lot of fun learning about how to keep my car in tip top shape from this group.

These guys are like a tidal wave of Jaguar know-how!

 

Welcome to the forum...

 

I have to thank the forum for some past service, through various internet searches I have solved throttle body, ASC Control Module and convertible top hose issues.... Now though I appear to be dealing with a blown head gasket on the drivers side of the engine. One day I was driving and all the sudden I see smoke welling from under the hood, the car was still running but it was very rough. I parked before the guages showed that I was over heating. a day or so later I go out to my parking space and find that the only fluid that I am low on is oil (it was very very low) so from that I am assuming a head gasket issue. Multiple times before gotten low oil pressure warnings but they would go away after a few minutes I also was made aware by the several mechanics that I had a tiny oil leak on the drivers side. Can anyone confirm that the head gasket is the issue? If so how do I replace the gasket? I have a decent set of tools but nothing special and my garge will be a small parking space on a city street (not that that stopped me from doing my other repairs)

 

Before you assume anything you should gather any information available. This would be any codes present DOB II, and compression check on the cylinders. You say the oil was low, when was the oil last changed, what viscosity was used and when did you check it last? What is the disposition of the coolant? You say that you were seeing steam/smoke from under the hood? Did you see anything coming out the exhaust?
Get this info first and see what is going on. You may just be low on oil because of an oil leak and the smoke could be from a oil or coolant leak on the block. The temperature and oil pressure gauges are in my mind placebos. Did they indicate an overheat condition? When you got the low oil pressure was that at the time of or after? Do not depend on them to tell you anything.

 

There are no OBD codes in the computer. There was nothing abnormal comming out of the exhaust. I checked the coolant and it was full. The last oil change was about 2K miles ago the last oil check was about three weeks before the problem and the oil was full now the oil reads well below the min line on the dip stick. The smoke comming from under the hood was from whatever the spilled fluid was that ran down the drivers side of the engine.

The trail that I found started about halfway up the engine in the middle of the horizontal length of the engine. The fluid was splattered upwards but a significan amount just flowed out after I parked the car and left a puddle underneath the car. The fluid was viscous (relative to coolant) and left a dark brown stains on paper towels. A stain on the pavement is still present so I imagine it is oil.

I am the only person trouble shooting the problem at this time it has not been to a shop or looked at bu a mechanic, so all information is from me. I was thinking I could buy oil and pour it in the engine and run the car to see if/where it leaks from. That is the other wierd thing the car starts and doesn't give any OBD codes.


Let me know how you think I should proceed.

 

How long have you owned the xk8?

 

Almost 2 years. I bought it with 93K miles on it in February 2009. It now has about 103K miles on it. In the last 8 months it probably has only been running for 2 months.

 

If the oil is still indicating on the dipstick it is not completely empty. When this all happened what did the gauges tell you? Over heat? Low oil/pressure? I would suggest getting a cylinder compression test and document the readings and try to identify the origin of the leak. All indications are leading to a blown head gasket but would like additional information.

 

welcome to the site DGSPE, good to have you here with us and thanks for a nice intro with good info!
Sorry to hear about your issues and really do hope we an help you to get this sorted. Please though......Please continue this post in the relevant section for your vehicle

Please check out the relevant section for your ride and you will find good info there, especially in the FAQ quick link thread.

The off topic section can be fun and there's always the regional section so you can see who is around!

I've manually upgraded you to full forum access so you can better view all the sites features....