Good afternoon fellow Jagernauts

Newto owninga Jaguar Just bought a2004 Xtype 2.5 AWD 5 speed manualwith 70,000 miles about 3 months ago

Well just completeda oil & Air change on my Jag . It was really one of the easiest oil & air filter changes i have done .
for any one else wanting to know what to use this is what i used (personal choice )and the Cat sounds really nice.
K & N air filter
K &N gold Oil Filter
and 6.1 Quarts of Full Synthetic 5w-30 Castrol Syntec
Total cost $43.20
Much better than the $80 at the dealer.
this forum is a wealth of information thank you all for all your imput it really helps us new owners of Jags not to be intimidated bythe issues we might come across with this awesome vehicle . And also saves us a load of money. I check the forums every day
my wife thinks it is funny.

Thinking about Replacing the Grill and lower grill with the Mesh kit you can by anyone have any tips they can pass along to me.
to make the job go easier.

Thank you.

John

 

Nice to see you here, and also nice to see you doing some of your own stuff.

The actual oil level for X-Type is actually 6.550 quarts. Just throwing that out there.

 

Hey John n welcome to the forum bud.............
The mesh grilles upper n lower really make a big difference to the look of the car so do it for sure.
Check out the FAQ section as there's some really useful posts about it there for you.

Any problems pm me and I'll point you in the right direction or look them up for you.

Jim

 

I would make a few suggestions for the grills. Buy the whole upper assembly not just the inserts. It does not cost that much more and it is as easy as 2 screws to install. As for the lower one, make sure you either get the Jaguar OEM or I think Arden makes a good one. Most of the ones on ebay are bootleg.. Not a good idea. If you go to your local dealer you can probably haggle with them on the price and get a good deal. I got the upper grill assembly for $200 and it list at $300 just by asking.

 

Also, I have an 02 2.5 x-type and the manual says that Jag does not suggest synthetic oil for the V6. I havent seen anyone mention that on here before. Did that change in later models?

 

lol...here we go again! This topic has been well-debated on here (Synthetic vs. dino).

John-Glad to hear everything went os easily for you.

 

Rule of thumb...If you use Petroleum based oils, you should change your oil/filter between 3000 to 5000 miles, for Synthetic, you can go as long as 10,000 to 12,000 miles....I use Castrol Syntec and change every 5000 miles..just because it's cheap insurance and gets me to look around underneath and under the hood every 5000 miles to inspect for things that could need attention....I will say, that I've seen and heard from several oil experts, that once you start using synthetic, you should continue to use synthetic for the life of the engine.

 

Yeah, I've followed similar advice on previous cars, but I was more curious as to why my Jag manual specifically says not to use synthetic oil for the v6. I wonder if Jagtech has some insight on that . . .

 

My dealer told me..that JAG put that in their books mainly because it is a carry over form the old days before synthetics was popular andvery limited to only a couple of brands..And that Most people have the dealer do the oil changes and Jaguar did not support the complimentary oil change with synthetics..so rather than get into a dealer wide hassle with costumers saying the book says use Sythetics, the book just says conventional oils and keeps the dealer from having to put in the pricier Syntetics....So it boils down to, it's cheaper on the dealer/Jaguar...As far as synthetics being any problem for the engine, absolutely not!

 

I queried that with Jaguar UK last year.
Here is their offical response:-
Looks like if that is right then the info posted by Dennis about having to continue to use fully synthetic once started is baloney.

 

Well that's good to hear..At least the seals are more compatible to mix and matching oils compared to the old days...

 

Ok seriously where are you guys getting your cheap priced synthetic oils from?

I live in Canada and the cheapest i was able to get synthetic oil was $34 for a 4.44 liter jug of Pennzoil synthetic ON SALE from Canadian tire. Do you guys know of some mysterious cheap oil shop or something? Come on guys hook a brother up with your insider oil secret!

 

$19.88/ 5qts mobil 1 full syn here at walmart. 710 must be cheaper here in the states.

I think that per quart its right around 5-7 dollars a qt for the good syn stuff.

 

I prefer Supertech synthetic oil (walmart's house-brand)...It's really Quaker State/Valvoline (based on your demographic location) resealed by Walmart.

IIRC, $13.84 for a 5qt jug...been using it for the longest time on my Contour on a 6k mile interval!

 

That stuff is bad news bears to risk in a overhead cam vehichle. I will stick with the proven brands...hell i wont even put anything but the best in my dirtbike (unless its emergency) and its only the gearcase oil.

 

Might I ask where it is you're getting this data, especially about this oil being detrimental to OVC engines ?

I'd love to read the report about Supertech, as I'm totally open to what others have to say. However, I will say that I have extensively gone through the MSDS forms/MS-GC spec data and would be damned if a Group III be a 'crap' oil.

To me, buying a 'known' brand is just marketing hype...but alas I was in that boat once and used to be an M1 fanboy, no more...

 

Ancient - As you say "brand" names are mostly marketing hype.

I see this on a daily basis in my line of work. I used to work for an OEM and then for a pirate parts company and recently for myself. I now sell the exact same parts to the end users that I sold when I worked for the OEM and aftermarket pirate companies. These parts, whomever sold them, believe it or not all came from the exact same source at the same price. It was only ever the marketing and markup that was / is different.

Buck had another good example closer to home I believe with the clear side repeaters. I and many others bought them from Adamesh ( an aftermarket supplier for the X ) at around £24 the pair. I think Buck bought them from a supplier in China for around £4 the pair.......more than likely by all accounts the same parts from the same supplier but just at different pricing levels.


Jim

 

I haven't really seen anything Very bad or very good said about this oil..

But Didn't Warren Performance Products (WPP) at one time produce this oil?

 

didnt read it, i learned it, i know for fact that the conventional they made just barely passed the bearing wear test and was just scraping by to get its certification. I would just assume that all supertech is a "scrape by" oil now. Then again, i have been proven wrong very many times and i am sure if i am wrong, it wont be the last time. haha. Just my opinion, use w/e oils you want. I am just saying oils that have different evaporation/cold pour temps are very important to a OHC Engine do to the fact that there is a lot more to lubricate with 4 cams and beings that it has to be pumped to the top and put under more stress due to the pressures used to acheive this lubrication and then the increase in moving parts. A good oil and filter can keep clean for many more miles than cheapy stuff. When oil starts breaking down, it allows the molecules in it to loose their suspension and proper lubrication is insufficient. A quality conventional can outlast a cheap synthetic easily due to the amounts of "additives" such as detergents and bonding agents that slow the breakdown process. Choose your cars blood wisely.