I'm new hear and have my second XJ6, which is a black beauty and I have fallen in love with. When I inspected the car prior to sale, the motor and under hood was exceptionally clean. I only noticed a smattering of oil around the base of the distributor and on the block next to it. I thought is was a leaking valve cover gasket. After some research here I have learned that this may be a sign of a head gasket going. I have changed the oil and there was no water contamination. There is no oil in the coolant either. I remember my first XJ6 had a leaky timing chain tensioner that leaked somewhere near the same spot. Could this be the culprit here? Or the O ring around the base of the distributor? I have noticed no other signs of head gasket problems. I have no records for the car so I don't know if it has ever been done. The car otherwise is in excellent mechanical (and cosmetic) shape. I have cleaned the area with carb cleaner and intend to watch it closely. Any advice?

 

Jaguar went through a series of head gasket UPDATES and the latest one issued in the mid to late 90s seemed to cure the oil weep from the oil feed to the exhaust cam (near the distributor). My 1992 weeped for YEARS and I did not lose enough oil to care about replacing the head gasket. I finally had a head gasket failure between cylinders and had to replace the gasket. The oil weep is gone with the new updated head gasket.

You can spray some cleaner/solvent and blow compressed air to clean and dry the area and you will probably find that the oil is leaking from the head gasket area near the distrubutor. Unfortunately this is a common fault.

bob gauff

 

Thank you, Bob. I will keep an eye on it and keep my fingers crossed. IIRC the car was built in 4/91, so I will keep an eye on it.

 

Do you think my 94/VDP as the same type of gasket as a 92? My car is not leaking i am just wondering.

 

The 1990 to 1997 4.0L JEPC lists the same cylinder head gasket for MOST applications (NBC2520AB). There were some engine numbers that listed a different part number but I don't know the details. The headset itself has different components due to variations (AJ6 vs AJ16) like intake/exhaust manifolds and cam covers etc. They were all prone to the leak and some did while others did not.

bob gauff