2012 Jag oil change advice and help
 

Howdy all, I am a first time Jaguar owner, I just purchased a 2012 Jag XJL, a beautiful machine and amazing to drive, I absolutely love it!
When I was purchasing my vehicle the salesman told me maintenance was all included with the car, and oil changes were at 15,000 mile intervals. I'm a car guy myself, and I just do not see driving this vehicle for 15,000 miles from break-in on a single oil change. I figure just like with any other car I've owned in the past, it is a brand new engine, and it will have metal floating around in the engine from the break-in. I just don't like the thought of that on such an expensive investment. I was wondering if you guys had any advice on where to get the SLX oil it requires and the oil filter? Or can I use Mobi-1 5w20? Maybe how much the dealer would charge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated and thank you!

Oh, by the way I failed to mention it has the normal 5.0 L V8, I'm not sure if theres any difference in service specs on the supercharged models but just in case

There is really no reason to change oil in modern vehicles at traditional time intervals, such as every 3000 miles. Today's engines do not require a break-in period and do not have metallic pieces floating around in the oil. If you have any lingering doubts you can take a sample of your used oil and have one of the oil testing places ran a complete analysis on your oil. I used to do that with my Lamborghini engines regularly, worrying about a potential $60K engine bill. Needless to say never any sign of metals were detected even when the test detected road residues in the oil that I once picked up when I drove around the block without my air filter.

If a manufacturer, like Jaguar, recommends such intervals I feel comfortable with it. But, all that counts is what you feel comfortable with.

Also, do you realize that there is no engine oil drain plug or dip-stick on the liter Jaguar engines? You need special equipment to change the oil. I am sure some independent shops may have it but, the dealer would be my choice and let me make a wild guess for the cost: $250 seems reasonable for 8qts of syth oil+filter+labor.

OK, one more thing: some of you will cringe when I tell you about my past company-provided vehicle. Somehow it missed being placed into the maintenance database and I was never called for any maintenance. I drove this V6 engined vehicle for 124,000 miles without a single oil change. Only added oil rather seldom as it needed. When turned the car back, the engine was running perfectly without even excessive oil consumption. Not recommending for anyone to do anything like this but, simply to show how effective old oil can be.

Albert

Only thing I'd add is that Jaguar normally defines service intervals in both miles and months, like "every <x> miles or 12 months whichever comes first"

Yes, 15,000 miles or 1 year. Your service light will come on at the 1 year interval if not yet driven 15,000 miles.

For a 5.0 Ltr engine Jaguar recommends that only Castrol Edge Professional OE (SLX) 5w20 be used. This oil will have "Specially engineered for Jaguar and Land Rover" on the bottle. As of now this Castrol Pro OE oil can only be purchased from a Jaguar or Land Rover dealer. The price from the dealer should be about 10.00 qt. Castrol Edge Professional OE is different from other Castrol Edge Syntec or Edge Titanium branded oils. Don't know why they have to make the branding so confusing but Pro OE is the only oil to meet the Ford WSS-M2C925A standard listed in the Jaguar owners manual for the 5.0 Ltr.

Thanks for all the input guys, I really appreciate it! Sorry for the delay in getting back, things have been really busy around here lately and getting to the computer in the evening was the last thing on the to do list

I know that this is an old topic, but I just stumbled on it, and thought I'd throw in my $0.02 worth...


Given the cost of the oil (7 quarts, at about $10/qt.) and the filter, which is about $25, you're looking at roughly $95 in supplies (plus tax), and my dealer charges $125 for the change. Although I'm a long-time gear head, and have been doing my own oil changes for 40+ years, I find this deal well worth the money....

I concur with this viewpoint.
I'm too old now to get under a vehicle to change the oil, new filter, etc.
For all of our current vehicles, for the past several years, when an oil change is needed the vehicle goes to the dealership for that maintenance, whatever the cost. My Jag dealer is not local (approx 88 miles one way drive and about a 75 minute drive one way). However, I'd rather have the dealer do the maintenance, and not let my neighbors gloat and think I can't afford this automobile, and that this is the reason why I'm doing my own maintenance such as oil changes.

Just remember that there is an old fashioned drain plug in the oil pan just like every other car since the Model T.
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The following is from a previous post of 10/7/12:
Also, do you realize that there is no engine oil drain plug or dip-stick on the liter Jaguar engines? You need special equipment to change the oil. I am sure some independent shops may have it but, the dealer would be my choice and let me make a wild guess for the cost: $250 seems reasonable for 8qts of syth oil+filter+labor.

I have the 3.0 Diesel engine and the oil is readily available in the UK. Ebay do a suction tank for emptying the engine at £36, the oil filter is £8 and the oil about £30. The service light needs to be turned off electronically so I have an ELM327 with Torque Pro to turn the light off, cost £10 on Ebay. I will be doing my own oil changes and as air/ pollen filters are also freely available and reasonably priced I will be doing both A and B services to the schedule.

I can confirm that the 5.0 super charged engine does have an oil drain plug on the sump, it is on the left side of the engine ( if you are standing in front of the car looking into the windscreen)

I found this out whilst servicing my auto transmission at 60,000 kms on my 2013 Polaris White XKR. The oil that came out of the box was very dark, not like the honey coloured lifeguard 6 I put back in ( with a nice new filter)

I also cut off the feed to pump tube from the old plastic filter and fixed some 20mm hose and a jubilee clip to it, then put three litres of lifeguard 6 into a container and pushed the hose and tube up into the transmission hole to the pump, (where the filter intake goes) and got my mate to start the engine and briefly put the car in D, be careful, it sucks the fluid up really fast into the torque converter and spits the old oil out everywhere ( don't forget you have no filter pan on, so a big catch tray is a must for the dirty trans oil being pumped out of your torque converter by the new oil being sucked in ). Within a few seconds I called to drop the gear control into park and switch the engine off.

I was now ready to clean the faces of the gearbox and fit the new filter pan and go through the process of filling as per the ZF procedure.

The transmission sure feels a lot smoother through the gear changes and I feel better knowing the dirty dark oil in my torque converter was pushed out and replaced with new.

30 years as a diesel fitter still has its benefits :-)

Hi Qman 3428,

Did you really get the Torque pro app to reset the service light.
Wow, if so please please let me know how - Thanks

Thanks Decdub

No it will not. Unless it's been updated?
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Found one
 

The Elm doesn't reset the light however the icarsoft LR 11 does and a lot more besides. I is good for rover and jaguar cars, resets the oil light and fault finds and clears all faults. I have only used this on the diesel x351 but there is also a generic mode for other cars.
Check it out at www.icarsoft.com

Yes the i930 can do a lot and I did not know it could do the service reset. So another plus. I am stuck between something like this or going all the way with a Jaguar SDD and clone cable?

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Hey Albert are you sure all Jags don't come with oil drain plugs..Ive heard a few people talking about draining the oil from below on there 2012's XJL.. I just bought the 2011 XJL and need to absolutely find out if i can remove the lower drain plug as sucking it from the top would be a pain as i would have to do it myself. I do all my own oil changes i trust no one that it will even be done much less correctly..

They all have drain plugs and to access it you have to remove the bottom pan that has many fasteners to remove. Top end suction method is used by most owners and all dealerships. The equipment is inexpensive and a searching in the forum you will find recommend equipment. The one thing you must do is use the recommended oil and there are several threads discussing the subject.

Please, Bri's Jag take the time to register through the new members thread.

Ok thanks for the heads up I will look into all that and maybe buy a suction pump unit, I believe the 5w/20 in Castrol or Mobile 1 is what is recommended.. I also have a "service required" notification on my XJL that comes on for 3 seconds at start up then goes away, I need to remove and reset that, some say a scan tool is required, others say to press buttons, any idea?