I'm getting ready to do the first oil change on my 1990 XJ6. It seems that the filter is in a very difficult place to get to. Any suggestions?

 

Welcome to Jaguar engineering at its best, haha.

Pain in teh butt idea, but 2 ways of access.

1) Jack it up high, support it WELL, it will hurt if it falls, and reach up from under the car and undo it, and get drowned in the process.

2) Remove the intake bellows thingy and reach down from the top and undo it, oil runs downhill, you wont get "oiled". Whilst that bellows is off, wipe all the oily residue out of the inside, and also give the throtle housing/disc a good clean as it will be grubby.

Just saw your location, and being LHD the top method may be easier than I think coz mine is RHD and I do not have the steering shaft in that area.

Others will give you ideas in the LHD market I feel sure.

The No2 method is the way I do ours, it is just easier, and all that other clean up is just a bonus in my opinion.

 

From under the car, reach through from the wheel area to support the filter while undoing it. Then turn it so it is vertical. Of course you do want the the open end pointing up.

I never got drenched doing this on my 88. Good luck.

 

Well, I'm ready to go; I've got the oil and I've got the filter. Unfortunately, the last idiot who changed the oil must have put the drain plug on with an air wrench. This thing is on so tight that, even with the largest breaker bar I have, I couldn't get it loose. Of course, I can only get about eight to twelve inches of clearance under the car. It may be necessary to take it to a shop and have them put it on a lift in order to break it loose.

 

Robert,

That's pretty foul that the oil plug was on there so tight. I had a similar experience with one of my other cars. I had to have my mechanic yank it off. It was previously done at one of those express lube places. I've decided since then to do all of my own oil changes.

A quick short cut regarding the copper compression gasket. My mechanic taught me an alternative. I now use Teflon tape around the upper part of the bolt. Give it a few winds so that it is thicker than the plug. Don't do the entire plug though (you don't want to have any of that stuff enter your engine). No leaks if you do it right. I've done it for all 3 of my cars with no problems.

Removal of the oil filter is below the car. Grant eluded to removing part of the air induction to reach the filter. This is fine but time consuming. You can reach up to the oil filter beneath the car. I would wear one of those glove with rubber on the inside so you have a good grasp on the filter. If all else fails, I guess you will have to remove part of the air system for access. When reinstalling, make sure you make the filter hand tight and not crazy tight. That is the trick.

Good luck getting you nut lose : )

 

You will get that nut off. Use penetrating oil, let it sit, repeat. It will come off.
Also be sure to check that brass washer that seats the nut, sometimes these need to be replaced when putting the nut back on. You have to be like a circus act to take that filter off, again its harder to do on your back than standing up. I bought SUV jack stands which has given me an extra 18 inches in height.

 

I did mine today and took the filter off from the top no problem. Just reached in from the firewall side underneath the air intake bits and spun it right off.

 

Okay, guys. Thanks for the feedback. I didn't need to take it to a shop after all. I just grabbed a pipe wrench and pulled with all I had and it broke loose. Of course, the penetrating oil I sprayed on a couple of days ago might have helped a little.
: 0)
Anyway, it's done. And I used the top method to take off the filter. Of course, the skin on my arms will never be the same! But all of the damage was superficial so no blood was lost.

Anyway, the next project is to find that annoying squeak that has recently started in the left front area. Tulsa roads have turned my once quiet and solid car into a squeaker. And then, of course, I have to figure out how to get that brake light to stick to the rear window.

 

Glad to hear you got it done. If you don't loose some blood though it doesn't count.

 

Thats right, unless you bleed on your Jaguar at least once you aint doing it right, TRY AGAIN.

Good to hear its all sweet. Simple cars we got here.

 

In all the excitement I forgot your other question, bugga.

Go to your local windscreen mob, and get some "rear view mirror adhesive", the stuff that sticks your mirror to the front windscreen, thats what I used on the X300.

 

Typically, my wife knows that whenever I pick up a wrench to work on the cars, there's going to be blood. Actually, whenever I pick up a tool to do anything, there's blood. I guess you could say I really throw myself into my work. Even when I was in the Army wrenching on helicopters, I lost blood. Mostly on safety wire. Maybe I've turned a corner and I won't be doing that anymore. The next project will tell.

 

I was surprised pleasently today when I did half of a coil suspension lift on my land rover and haven't lost any blood. Used a saws all on a stubborn shock but that was it lol