Hey all, well Victoria is now my pleasure cruiser since I bought a new car. Saying that, my son in law and I were changing the spark plugs and found oil in the spark plug valleys on both sides.

I have been reading on changing them but cannot find anything for the 4.2 naturally aspirated engine.

Does the intake have to be removed for the 4.2 as does the 3.0? Does the 4.2 have that 2nd gasket for the spark plugs?

For some reason I cannot use the JTIS on my PC anymore I keep getting a read error.

 

no need to remove the intake and yes it does have plug hole gaskets.

if Jtis isnt working for you any more you can try re downloading and re installing it from the link in my sig or try AllData from here https://www.mediafire.com/folder/8x46hv89iq9u5/Alldata

iv'e uploaded the instructions from both, as you can see, its the same, its just that Alldata covers more vehicles and years than jtis

 

Thank you very very much!!

 

jepc exploded view

 

I have another question. I looked for gaskets on parts geek and rock auto. I'm assuming they are not gasket kits that include the spark plug gasket? Also should i be changing anything else while I have that apart?

 

I'm not sure about gasket kits from there as I'm in the UK but as far as I'm aware the only things you need to replace are the gaskets, all bolts etc are reusable, I also think they changed slightly, so buy the gaskets matched to your vin

 

The Victor branded set on Rockauto is valve cover gaskets, bolt seal rings and plug seal rings for both sides.

At least it was last year.

VS50397/VS5027R

just noticed that it is re-packaged Mahle.

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NOTE THAT THIS WAS FOR A 4.0L
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so double check the application

 

Ok, so is this mechanic trying to give it to me with no Vaseline? I sent the mechanic an email asking for a price on replacing the gaskets.

Here is the response,

"So the deal with the camshaft cover gaskets is this. Our experience has found that just replacing the gaskets themselves will not be an end all fix for the oil leak. As you probably noticed, the camshaft covers are made out of plastic. What happens is the plastic starts to deform as the car ages due to the heat cycling of the engine. Once it deforms, the covers are no longer able to fully seal to the cylinder heads, so even with new gaskets they will still leak. We now replace the whole camshaft covers themselves. It is an expensive job. I have to get the covers from Sac Jag and the out the door cost is about $1300 to replace those things. Labor is about $400 and parts are about $800. If just the gaskets are replaced, I can guarantee they will start to leak within a couple thousand miles. I have been dealing with this issue on the 4.0 V8’s in the older cars, but now I am dealing with it on the 4.2 V8 in the newer cars".

 

hmmm, maybe all the ones he's done, he has done wrong, wrong torque, sealant in wrong place, misaligned gaskets, who knows but its not something were seeing in the forums, here or the uk one.

 

Always good to check the cam covers but he is completely WRONG!!

We have thousands of people post on this forum and I can only remember one or two times where the covers were the problem.

It's so easy to check to. Just get a steel ruler and check the flanges. The plastic covers are better than the metal because they are either straight or not. The metal ones bend and distort over the years so you have to bang them back into alignment.
.
.
.

 

Though he could be right (or wrong), I've lost confidence in the guy. You could get this done by any competent old-fashioned mechanic. They tend to be very good. It's not new-fangled electrickery.

Overall the price looks crazy.

 

I know how to change valve cover gaskets I just get worried with the new cars....Back in the day I had a 68 Firebird with a 455 and a 70 Camaro SS with a 350 that I street raced. I did all the work except for machine work on those cars.

I just look into the engine bays of these cars and immediately stress out! LOL

Since Victoria is now just for pleasure and not my everyday car I can start working on her and not worry about having to get her back together for work or errands.

Thursday I man up and start fondling my baby!!! WOOHOO!! lol

 

ditto

the gasket set posted above is next to me and not in the car.

the car has the original gaskets which were reused after the tensioner change
3 years ago ... bone dry both before and after the job.

i washed them in the tub and lubed lightly with engine oil before reusing

 

I have been extremely busy having moved into a new position and department at work, plus some family illness, landlord had to replace the passenger window and regulator blah blah blah. I want to get these valve cover gaskets done BUT I cannot find the gaskets for the spark plugs.

I figure I will change out all of them since I have the valve covers off. I'm asking to have my hand held here because I want to get these ordered and I cannot find all the gaskets needed.

Can someone post links to what I need please? I found the valve cover gaskets and they are the least expensive with Rock Auto but I can't find the others.

 

Are they not part of the rocker cover gasket pack?

 

Reading through this thread, it seems part of the problem is the use of non-OE gaskets, which will leak shortly after installation. In my experience with Jaguar AJ engines, it is best to replace the cam cover gaskets and spark plug well boss seals with genuine Jaguar parts.

Depending on the VIN of your vehicle, the part numbers are:
LH B Bank cam cover gasket AJ812402
RH A Bank cam cover gasket AJ812399
Spark plug boss seal (4 required per head) AJ86874

When contacting a Jaguar agency for any service parts, always provide the VIN so you receive the correct part since there are many production changes and parts have been superseded accordingly.

Refer to the JTIS manual for the correct installation procedure and torque specifications. You also need a small amount of silicone sealant to apply to the surface where the timing cover mates with the cylinder head.

There is no need to replace the cam covers themselves and, with the exception of physical damage, anyone suggesting such a remedy may not be competent to work on the vehicle.

 

Do you mind taking a quick trip to Northern California and doing this for me? LOL I'll buy the beer! lol

 

With all the correct spanners and some patience, you can replace the cam cover gaskets and spark plug well boss seals on both cylinder heads in under two hours. Be sure you only perform this operation on a cold engine as some of the threaded brass fasteners for the coils and coil covers may become loose.

Of course, all this work must be completed prior to having several beers...

 

LOL...lucky for me I don't drink. Spark plugs are no problem I just replaced them and that was how I figured out the oil smell that I had been smelling for 2 weeks prior.

 

Thank you for those part numbers.