I started my 98xjr this morning, backed it out of the driveway, and noticed that a shitload of oil was pouring under the engine (towards the front of the engine block) - i quickly pulled it back into the garage, shut it off, and put a 5 gallon pan underneath the leak. The strange thing is that it stopped leaking when the engine was shut off. My first thought was oil drain plug, but that can't be it because it stopped leaking when the engine was shut off. I haven't yet jacked it up and looked at anything, - before I do, I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts.
thanks.....[sm=helpout.gif][sm=helpout.gif][sm=helpout.gif]

 

That might not be a happy thing, supercharged cars have oil coolers so I would guess you ruptured a hose or the cooler.

 

where's the oil cooler? If you're right, am I screwed? I had a peek under the car - the drain plug was bone-dry - the oil filter was covered in oil, but that's not where the oil was coming from - it seemed to be coming from dead center of the engine bay, just behind the oil pan.

 

If I dance about and wiggle my tools over my head, do you think that's going to get your car fixed too?

If you're not going to fix the car yourself, call a tow truck. If you are, jack it up and have a look.

 

I was just trying to describe where the oil was coming from, and wondering if that's consistent with the oil cooler problem you suggested. I'm not sure what the intentions were from your last post - it sounded a bit like you were insulting my intelligence. My answer is: Yes. Please dance while waiving a hammer over your head so I can get this thing back on the road in time for work Monday morning.

 

Not much possibility of an insult there. The oil cooler is up front, where it can cool the oil.

Isn't your car the one with the paint can under the hood to catch all of the oil puking out of it? And if the paint can gets full, does that inhibit crankcase breathing and allow the crankcase to pressurize and blow out the rear crankshaft seal, sending massive amounts of oil cascading onto the ground from behind the oil pan? Beats the crap out of me, I never worked on a Jaguar with a paint can under the bonnet. But if I jacked it up and looked underneath, I'd probably be able to cypher where the oil is coming from.

 

I'm sure you could, but I've tried and can't. there's too much oil under there to see exactly where it's coming from. Sorry I asked.

 

Skanoski,
Get a couple cans of brake clean and clean off the oil. The make sure you have oil in the car and stick your head under there while someone else starts it.
I would pay close attention to the trans lines and to the area where the trans meets the engine.

 

there are no other things that would drop oil onto the floor in that area apart from the oil filter, make sure it is done up to the right tightness, and that is just past finger tight,

the only other things on that side of the engine are the alternator and the exhaust manifold, plus electrical ancillaries

other than that, its the oil cooler, and you are mistaken about where its coming from ?

BB


it could be power steering fluid ? so a broken line would pump out fluid while the engine was running, but only drip when not ???

 

.......it's definitely oil. it's coming from about where the engine meets the tranny - it does leak a little still when the engine is off, but literally pours out when engine is on. I'm assuming this is the rear main seal, which basically sux

 

Not terrible. Just need to unbolt the trans.

 

Sorry for the bad news. With the Nikasil problem you already have with that engine, I'd be swapping the motor or selling the car as-is.

 

Junkyard 2001 up should only couple grand. Nice thing is, most of the XJs are pretty low mileage.

 

Unbolting the tranny might be tough for me to do without a lift, using a couple of jack stands in a garage. JTOhio is probably right about it being the end of the line. "junkyard 2001 up"? sounds good, but where? Given the 'near-death' features of my engine over the past few months, I've done some searching for engine replacements - can't seem to find anything under 4.5-5K. Anyone know of a good resource for finding 2001-02 XJ engines?

 

thanks for the help guys - I'm just going to start a new thread that is more relevant to replacing the engine....

 

ok