I apologize for being too tired to look through everything. Im going to be doing a valve cover gasket replacement. I've never done one by the way... anything else that everyone checks while they're in there? I know very little about these automobiles. I am new to Jaguars. Do i have adjustable valves? (97 xj6 by the way)
Also, i need a new trim piece for the plastic around the shifter. Are there US companies that sell oem parts for Jags? Thank you in advance

Might as well plug the company i work for ewheelworks.com Check us out for all your custom wheel needs

 

Camcover gasket is not rocket science.

Make sure you get the 6 seals for the spark plug tubes AND the seals for the long bolts that hold the cover down. They generally do not come with the gasket.

I dress the new gasket/seals with a smear of Hi-Temp RTV, and give the 2 "D" seals at the rear a GOOD coating of the same RTV, then wipe off the excess after fitting.

DO NOT overtighten the bolts that hold that cover down. They are a shanked bolt, and all you will acheive is snapping the threads off in the head.

The valves have a shim for adjustment and are generally not something that is adjusted regularly. It is a HUGE time consuming task, and I would "think" about checking them at about 500K miles.

 

Luke, trust your feelings -




Ok, now that I've picked on you for not doing much homework:


I think Grant covered the important basics well enough, so I'm not going to get into that any further.

And I'd be the first to encourage someone learning how to wrench, and never to discourage, but your comment of never having replaced a valve/cam cover gasket does have me concerned a bit. If you have little experience working on an engine, you may want to educate yourself some more and maybe even have someone assist before tackling this job. Mistakes in this area can be messy at a minimum (more likely) and disastrous at a maximum (rare, but possible). If you haven't worked on anything else, this may not be the task to start learning upon.

While replacing a cam cover gasket is definitely not a high skill task on the X300, you should spend some time watching YouTube videos on replacing valve cover gaskets. I didn't find a video for the X300, but there are several for other Jaguar models and of course many on the general task.

I'd also recommend searching this forum for tips/tricks on what to do, and what not to do. There are some gotchas and tricks for the spark plug well seals.

And you'll want to inspect your coils for any cracks and arcing, and this is an ideal time to replace your spark plugs, only with the correct Champion plugs, not some special iridium or other esoteric plug. The AJ16 is very particular about its Champion plugs and a quick search in the forum will return the correct plug type.



Yes, there are many forum sponsors that sell parts (you can see their ads in the forum banners, top and to the right), and it may be likely they have the correct part and color.

Google "Jaguar Classic Parts" then drill down into the X300 listings to find the correct part number for the piece you are looking for. Then you can Google that part number from a forum sponsor, or even check eBay for a used or NOS item. Sometimes you just have to shop eBay with general description searches like "95 Jaguar XJ shift bezel" or similar.

Depending on the part and color, it may not be available new any longer.


Also please take a minute to add a post to the forum introduction thread, and add your make/model info to your signature so that forum members know what type of car you are asking about. That helps a lot.


Welcome and good luck.

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thanks for your help, guys. much appreciated.

 

and if i had any idea how to change my signature, i would. sorry.

 

No problem.

1) Login
2) Click on the drop down as part of your login name displayed at the upper right of the forum, right under the image of the two Jaguar vehicles.
3) Select "User CP"
4) Once you are looking at the "User Control Panel" you'll now see on the left "Your Control Panel", under "Settings & Options", select "Edit Signature"

You can now update your signature, and any other profile option while you are there.

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