Same old story I guess, thought I had picked up a decent deal on a 04 S-Type 3.0 with only 70,000km's on it, test drove just fine, but I am not mechanically minded, did not get it mechanically inspected sure enough after the first weeeknd at home a large oil patch has appeared on my driveway......

So take it into the local Canadian Tire, on the off chance its just something that was not tightened correctly last time the oil and filter were changed. They call me 30 mins later, to say that when the got it up on the ramp there is oil all over the place and it looks like the 'tank' has been off recently as there is silicon all over the place too.

Going to take it into the local british mechanic in town whose does some work on Jags, but wanted a few ideas to help him out rather than just let him loose with the car and my wallet........

Needless to say I am eating my words with all the people who said when I bought it "Guess you will be walking to work more now then......"

Help.

 

Where to begin. Its one of several leaks. The 3.0 motors tend to have IMT O-rings leak, they are in the intake manifold and drip down on passenger side of motor. The valve gaskets are known to need replaced as well. By "tank" I believe your talking about the oil pan which also is known to go bad too. There is a belly pan that collects the oil that had leaked, once it fills up so high the oil will spill over onto the driveway.

Best bet remove belly pan have mechanic clean throughly carefull of not getting the intake manifold wet especially the thottle body part. Run vehicle for a day or so and see where the leak is coming from.

Good Luck and keep us updated

 

You're in good hands with Rick and once she's repaired you'll be in love again.

 

Yep, listen to Rick. He had to replace the oil pan gasket on his wife's S-Type not long after he purchased it due to a leak. Sounds like you might be heading down the same path....

 

You were right, its the oil pan gasket that needs replacing, local independent garage have quoted me $800 to fix it, claim that although the part is only $45-$50 the labour will be around 6 hours due to all the other stuff they have to disconnect etc before than can pull the pan out, does that seem really steep to you guys, I have seen on threads that 3-4 hours by a 'home mechanic' is how long it should take, does you think they are taking the p!ss?

 

That was me. I did the oil pan gasket with the vehicle on jack stands and NOT a lift. True the oil pan gasket is less than $50.00 but also toss in 7 qts. of oil and a new oil filter to, so at most $125.00 (depending on which oil you decide on) in parts.

So lets say you have $125.00 in parts, that leaves $675.00 for labor at 6 hours thats a labor rate of $112.50 per hour, at 4 hours thats a labor rate of $168.75. If your mechanic follows alldatadiy or JTIS it will take NO longer than 4 hours using a lift to undo all the under carriage parts and replace and lower the vehicle. Job done!

Alittle FYI, if you decide on having this done, I would recommend raising the motor rather than lowering the sub frame as alldatadiy and JTIS instruct to do.

Keep us posted

 

Oh and 1 more thing about a possible source for an oil leak that I have been thinking about on your vehicle. This is a simple thing to do, open the hood and with clean paper towels pat the backside of the intake manifold, between the firewall and the intake if there are any signs of oil on the paper towels your IMT O Rings will need to be replaced, a somewhat common thing on these vehicles. See FAQ section on the IMT O Ring replacement.

 

I guess the old addage of it's not a Jaguar if it doesn't leak a few drops of oil on your garage floor no longer applies?

My car has a slight pan leak too, interestingly enough, it collects in the belly pan, and will not drip on the garage floor. If you park the car in the driveway (which has an incline), then it will leave a few drops on it.

According to my brother, who owns a shop, it's not "worth" fixing... (dont get me started on that line of thought lol). I think he's just lazy.

Take care,

George

 

So I thought I would call the local Jag dealerhsip, to gret an idea of the labour they would charge for the replacement of the Oil Pan Gasket, the guy I spoke to (although I was not convinced he knew what he was talking about, said it would be around $169 labor plus parts?????? So I acll the local mechanic who is doing my work and tell him that, and that 6 hours seems excessive and that 3 should be more than adequate. He calls me back 10 minutes later to say he called the same dealerhsip and they quoted him around 9 hours of labor and $1500 all in, so I should be happy....

Well, just off to pick it up now, so will update you on the final damage.

 

Well, final damage including the new oil pan gasket, 6.25 hours of labour, environmental fees and 7 qrtz of oil, (along with the large tub of vaseline required for my 'comfort') ..............$890 wish I could find a local expert like Rick to do this kinda job for cash on the side

 

OUCH!!


Almost worth a weekend road trip to sunny 92 degree South Carolina! The garage is always open!

 

What's crazy is that's almost double that to do it on an X-Type (which suffers from the same pan leaks) because the motor is transversely mounted to accomodate the awd system.

IMT O-Rings are a snap in that car though. I need to do my pan as well. Rick that offer to drive to SC still valid?

 

always and remember I drink cheap beer!