Hello,

Wanted to post some pictures of the most recent work I've done on my 1996 XJ12: Replacing the Lower Oil Sump (Oil Pan), which was dented pretty severely by the P.O., who I imagine, drove over a curb or parking block.

While the pan wasn't leaking any significant amount, I was worried that driving an extended amount of time was a bad decision due to the indentation on the bottom of the pan. See that round circular mark? That's the oil pickup, and I didn't want ANY blockages or restrictions to flow of the lubrication system.

Dan at JagBits set me up with a good used pan for less than $100. It even came with the drain plug. The pan was SPOTLESS, looked like they thoroughly degreased it before shipping it out to me. Kudos to them! My local dealer supplied the new oil filter, drain plug gasket, and lower sump gasket.

I printed out a picture of the oil pan gasket from the Internet and used that as a guide for which holes had Long, Medium, or Short bolts. This helped quite a bit.







I was happy that the process was really straightforward, nothing in the way aside from the bracket which holds the transmission cooler line against the RH side of the pan. A nice easy job, and I can rest easy knowing I don't have to worry about it. It looks fantastic too!

-Nick

 

Good work Nick! That old pan sure was trashed. It's so clean under there now too. Thanks for the documentation.

 

That's a clean machine.

Lucky the PO didn't have one of the models with an aluminium sump or the parking technique could have been an engine killer.

Graham

 

You have to really be trying to screw up an oil pan that bad. What did the pan cost you? New or used? Looks good now.

 

Thanks, It took some time to get everything but I've got so much peace of mind knowing it's done,

The pan was pretty hard to find, as it's NOT the same as the pan for the XJS V12. The sedans are different. It was NLA from the dealer here or ones online, and nobody had one on eBay.

My parts guy at the dealer was VERY helpful and located a good used one, but the price (about $160 plus shipping) was a little too steep. I paid $95 for this pan from JagBits, sight unseen. It turned out to be nearly perfect and even came with the plug.

 

I have no idea how the P.O screwed things up so badly, but you should see the dent in the passenger floor pan that goes with this damage, too. I have a bulge in the floor about the size of a CD. You can see it through the carpeting! It's crushed the box section that connects to the jacking point enough to stretch the undercoating layer and leave a bare spot.

My Jag guy recommended taking it to a body shop, said they could probably pull it right out in no time, then reapply undercoating to everything affected.

The front undertray was missing, most every mounting tab on the bumper is cracked, and I noticed the steering rack heat shields that protect the inner tie rod boots from the catalyst heat were missing too. It all probably got ripped off at the same time.

 

Good price for the pan! The joy's of P.O.'s, won't you just like to...
The underneath looks all fixable though if so desired. All out of sight if you choose not to as it doesn't bother anything. These cars are low and heavy which makes them not very forgiving off the tarmac. It is common for the under tray to be missing or damaged on our XJ's.