I've never had a vehicle with a plastic panel covering nearly all of the underside of the vehicle before so I don't yet know how much of a hassle this is going to be when doing routine maintenance on the vehicle.

I see that I can change my oil filter by removing the left front wheel with no need to remove any part of the plastic underbody panel. But what about getting to the oil pan drain plug? Do I have to remove the entire underbody panel to get to the drain plug, or is there a way to access it by removing just a couple of the bolts that hold the underbody panel on? If so, which of the bolts must be removed to allow for an oil pan drain?

As always, thanks to those of you who've already figured this out on your own S-Types....

 

When I do an oil change on a hoist I remove 2 10mm bolts at the back, 2 pozidriv screws at the front and 2 10mm nuts on studs in the middle and the panel hangs down enough to get the job done. On your back in the garage you will also have to remove 3 10mm bolts along the front to completely remove the undertray.

 

RealTech,

Thanks for the excellent tip complete with bolt sizes. No hoist or lift here, so it looks like I'll have to remove the entire underbody panel - what a drag....

Exactly where is the oil pan drain plug in relation to the underbody panel? Drivers side or passenger side? Directly between the front wheels perhaps? Can you pinpoint the location for me so I'll be better prepared when I have to remove the underbody panel for the first time?

 

From past experience it's usually the stub/stump conspicuously hanging from the oil pan directly under the engine/motah...

 

Two garage changes so far.... To do the oil and filter (who wouldn't do both ) Jack the car up, place stands at a front suspension mounting point. Don't go towards the rear, you won't be able to slide the panel back. Once up on stands, start with the 3 bolts at the leading edge, then the two screws just behind. At the rear of the panel on both sides will be two bolts, then two nuts attached to studs towards the center. I do the studs then the bolts. Once the fasteners are removed, just slide the panel back and it will drop out. Take the opportunity to clean it out! Found lots of road debris sandwiched in the panel between the metal and plastic. The drain plug is on the passenger side of the oil pan.
Putting the shroud back is a bit of a challenge but here is how I do it. Slide the panel back into position, place the leading edge back under the front shroud. Hand start the front three bolts. This will secure it but still allow for adjustment. Next I do the rear most bolts, these can be a pain since the mounting point will move from side to side. I reach up and hold the panel in place while keeping a thumb on the bracket. Hand tighten the bolts. You should now be able to push up on the shroud and have the studs come through, again I hand thread those on as well. Once the panel is up, I put the screws back in then tighten up the bolts. Another tip, since I live in a climate where it snows in the winter and my poor car is subjected to salt, I treat each of the fasteners with a good anitseize product to avoid any corrosion issues down the road. I hope this helps.

 

Great information - thanks for providing it. If I uncover any additional tips or tricks to shorten this task, I'll post them here as well. It will be awhile though, since our S-Type remains under warranty until mid-July....

 

Since I usually take the brute force short cut approach to tasks, what about cutting access holes in the undertray at strategic points so that routine maintenance tasks can be performed without removing the entire undertray? It would be nice if there was a template available so that the job wouldn't like a total butcher job. It does

One interesting note in the April Jaguar World Monthly concerning V8 S-Type service tasks is that shops note that frequently cars are missing the undertray, presumably due to the access issue.

Mike

 

I know its a pain, but more and more modern cars now have a under tray. I think its there to reduce aero drag for improved mileage and may also increase lift if removed.

On the other hand, I have another car where there is a tray for the bonnet, the transmission, and the front to rear drive shafts ... but you don't have to remove them for an oil change.

I have one in an SUV too. In that case, the designers didn't feel the need to show off their knowledge of fasteners so only one type of fastener used 6 times is used to secure the cover. Takes about 1.5 minutes to remove.

I believe the BMW 335i has a door in the cover to remove the oil drain bolt. The downside is the bolt goes straight down so when you remove it you get a big splash due to the high velocity of exit and oil gets on the top of the cover which is a PIA to clean.

After you get used to removing it, its not so bad.

 

While I didn't like the idea of pulling off a pan each time I changed the oil, I've gotten used to it. I would not cut, alter, or remove it. It provides light protection from road hazards but more importantly, my engine compartment is really clean after a harsh Ohio winter. It keeps the salt spray and junk from messing up the bits under the hood.

 

After pulling my undertray off for the first time last week for my first oil & filter change on the S-Type, I concur that it is probably not a good idea to cut panels out of it in an effort to shortcut your routine maintenance tasks. Your oil pan drain plug is positioned horizontally, not vertically, so you would have to cut a larger access hole than you originally planned to allow for tool access. And because your oil filter is recessed so far up underneath the engine, you probably couldn't cut a large enough panel to allow you the working room to get to it and then get it out from underneath the shielded hoses that run underneath it.

So your only two real options are to either get accustomed to removing and reinstalling your undertray for every service you do, or remove your undertray and just leave it off. But the problem with leaving it off is that with the S-Type riding so low and having so much low-hanging fruit underneath the engine compartment (you'll see what I mean when you're underneath your car with your undertray off for the first time), you really risk a lot of very expensive damage if you hit a nasty pothole or some solid object in the road while your undertray is off the vehicle.

Like everything else, you'll get better and quicker at removing and reinstalling the undertray each time you do it. I studied Jeff's post above before pulling mine and it was very valuable and a real timesaver. The only thing I do differently than he does is that when I reinstall my undertray, I save the two rear bolts just behind the two front wheels for last. Their screw-in points are on a swivel and you can adjust them accordingly if you need to make some final position adjustments to complete the reinstall.

It took me less than 5 minutes to remove my undertray. It probably took me between 15 and 20 minutes to get it properly positioned and reinstalled. I know that next time I'll be able to do the reinstall in about 10 minutes. My two Pozidrive Phillips screws had been pretty much stripped by the power tools at the Jaguar dealership where our car lived during its 3-year corporate lease (Alpine Jaguar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida), so I took the opportunity to replace them with new, larger-headed screws and washers when I reinstalled my undertray. This will speed up the process even more next time.

Hope this helps somewhat for those of you who haven't tackled this pesky task yet....

 

Thanks Jon and Jeff for your input. I'll probably just suck it up and remove it whenever I need to work on the Jag. However, my Ford POS will definitely have its cover between the front bumper and frame removed. My wife deranged the right front fender and two doors so there won't be any aero deficit if the cover is removed. Needless to say, she doesn't get to drive the Jag much. She complained about it not fitting her right (she's 5'2"), but then again, she wasn't out with me in 14 degree weather when I was shopping for the Jag to check for proper fitment.

Mike

 

As adjustable as the S-Type's drivers seat and steering wheel are, I would think that a short person could nearly always manage to get close enough to the pedals and to the wheel in order to be able to drive the car comfortably. My wife is 5-feet-6 and she can drive the S-Type back and forth to Tampa in 11 hours with no problem.

At 6-feet-7, I'm on the other end of the spectrum and originally thought that I would not be able to get enough legroom or headroom in the S-Type. I was pleasantly surprised, though, and can manage to be relatively comfortable driving it for about 2 hours at a time. I can't stretch out and drive all day like I can in my Ram pickup, but the S-Type is a lot better for me than I thought it would be....

 

Hi Jon,

I think my wife just got spoiled with the XJ we had. It was able to get higher which is her main complaint with the S-Type. As for me, the S-Type's seats are the most comfortable I've ever sat in. They seemed more comfortable than even the seats of my brother's S-Class Mercedes. I have developed a myriad of excuses of why I need to go out driving on errands.

On another note, I may remove the plastic engine covers just as an experiment to see how it looks. I'm not too fond of plastic and would rather look at the various mechanical bits of an engine.

Mike

 

I don't think I would remove the engine dust covers. My four months of research on Jaguars has convinced me that anything you can do to help prevent moisture from getting to the coils in ANY Jaguar, old or new, is worth the effort. The dust covers certainly aren't waterproof of course, but you never know when they might be the reason your engine components stayed relatively dry overnight even when condensation was heavy....

 

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your suggestion. I just wish Jaguar would have done the following:

1. Design the intake manifold so that one could access the right bank of ignition coils and spark plugs without removing the manifold. I realize it's an inherited design though.

2. Put covers over the valley between the camshafts like they did on the AJ6 engine. This would help keeping out moisture although they weren't waterproof. My 96 XJ6 had this and was fairly easy to change sparkplugs or coils if need be.

Mike