I love my Jag as we all do and I usually drive it as if I am on ice and mostly around town.

On two occasions when I floored it to overtake a truck I saw clouds of white smoke behind me, and I mean CLOUDS!! ie a hazard to traffic behind!

I searched this forum for an answer and found one which rang true (you gotta use instinct with cars!). What a fantastic resource this forum is!

Basically this engine sucks air from the atmospheric side of the TB through the crankcase up to the PCV (plastic valve on top of the engine) and back via the engine side of the TB.

If you drive your car like I do, with time oil builds up in the PCV and assoc. pipework and when you floor it this oil is pushed into the engine and this causes the dense smoke.

I removed PCV and pipework, cleaned with petrol and replaced.

Went for a drive,floored it and nothing, nada, out of the back end.

It is a feature of this engine I suppose.

The engine oil level was on max, maybe 75% would reduce the oil deposition.

 

Meirion1,

Since you posted this in the X350 forum I assume you have the same motor I do, the 4.2 V8. Actually, your signature and post do not state the year or model of your Jag.

I also drive my 2004 XJ8 as if I were on ice. At least most of the time. In my area, (Southern California) we have highways which we call Freeways since they do not have toll booths. The speed limit is 65 mph in most places. When I enter these I usually shift down to 2 on the J gate and accelerate briskly to 65 or 70. I run the rpm's up to about 6000 before shifting into 3. This provides a fun little rush of speed w/o much problem of attracting unwanted law enforcement attention. It also "blows the crap out" of the systems, stuff like carbon build up and the problem you describe of oil build up in the PCV.

I also took my Jag to the dragstrip once and ran it, but that was a one time shot.

BTW, on your post title, "three times in 5 years", when I read it I wondered if you were having marital problems.

All the best,

Tom

 

65 mph and we think we're hard done by with our motorways on 70 mph !! In continental Europe it's mostly 130 kph or about 80 mph, and Poland is 140 kph and that's nearly 88 mph ! Germany has large mileages of unlimited autobahn, and I've driven along them a fair way, but most people stick to the 130 kph recommended limit as the insurance companies won't cover the car over that speed unless you pay a load extra.

 

Fraser,

Under our federal system the national government can set a national speed limit, but they must have a VERY good reason like national security or they will get a whole bunch of flak from the citizenry. (I think it was 35mph during WW2) So the speed limits are set by state and local governments. The 65 mph limit on freeways that I refer to in my post is in a heavily populated urban area. We can race through downtown Los Angeles at that speed. Some urban areas limit it to 55. Out in the more open areas most states allow 70 or 75, with a few 80mph areas.

When I was a kid with a hopped up Ford in the 50's, the state speed limit was 65mph or what is reasonable and prudent. Once out in the southern California desert near Palm Springs I was racing along with my speedometer pegged on 100 mph. A California Highway Patrol officer roared past me like I was sitting still! In Nevada for many years there was no speed limit! People used to head for Las Vegas flat out.

But that is all gone now. People in offices reading statistical printouts know how to drive safely better than I do.

You see, I was born free.

Tom