So it's leaking oil pretty bad. It's a steady drip once it's warmed up. We took it our regular mechanic and said it was the cam valve cover (i think) and he said it'd be a 36-hour job and it wasn't worth it for him to do it. He said he'd have to pull the head off and basically take the whole engine apart. Do you guys think he was lying or is it really going to be a huge job to fix the oil leak?

I've been searching online and i haven't seen any xjr's with major oil leaks which makes me question him.
(it's the 4.0l supercharged inline 6)


What do you guys think? Thanks a ton in advance.

 

Welcome to the forum, Tyler. Even though you joined in July, you still need to pop in on the new member's section and make an introduction.

Sounds like you need a new regular mechanic. Giving him the benefit of the doubt...maybe he is aware of the corrosion that could be lurking in the spark plug wells and just didn't want to mess with trying to find you a replacement cam-cover, or try to explain why he couldn't re-install your present one and guarantee it won't leak. On the other hand, yours may be fine. Absolutely no reason to pull the head to change cam-cover gaskets. He should be able to swap out the engine with another one in less than 36 hours!

Cam covers can and do leak...but they are not normally prone to be the "drippy" kind of leaks, more seepage down the head in front, sides, or back, making dust stick to it and become a sort of mud-sludge. X300 drippy leaks are more likely to be O-rings on the oil cooler bypass horseshoe that have been too long neglected. I'll go find you a couple of links to both issues on NA cars; Maybe a bit more stuff in the way on the SC car, but I think these two items are pretty similar on either car.

Oil Cooler Bypass:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...l-pics-160138/
Cam Cover:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...thread-163891/
there are several pdf's in the cam-cover thread. You may not be able to access them until you make an intro in the New Member's section, get your post-count up to 10, and a moderator takes notice and promotes you to full membership status. I'm just not sure what restrictions apply to new members until they get all the tick-marks in the proper boxes.

 

You can change the valve cover gasket very easily and the gaskets are cheap . see link below :

ROCKER CAM COVER GASKET XJ6 XJS XJR SOVEREIGN 3.2 4.0 AJ16 1994-98 JAGUAR | eBay

Be careful of the D shaped cutout filler at the rear as they fall out during reassembly too easily . The D shape corners are not perfect so they need some more red high temp sealer

Look for oil in the spark plug wells

As you work your way down there is the oil filter housing linked below:

https://www.jaguarclassicparts.com/u...-3-2-4-0-litre

Hear is a pic of the left side to be able to reference in leak location

 

I see you're in Nanaimo, why not make contact with the Jaguar Car Club of Victoria and see what mechanic they recommend to look at it? I know there are a few in the Victoria area who are well regarded, and Sussex Automotive in Parksville is a Jag specialist.

 

Not exactly the same engine but I just removed a cylinder head from a 3.4 ‘S’type in just over 4 hours, on my own after removing the bonnet. i’m 68 get another mechanic!