hi all, i have done a few quick searches and cant find anything on the following.

A. is it possible to replace the sump gasket by just lifting the engine off its mounts and slipping it in or do you need to remove the engine to get the clearence. looks like a pig of a job either way.

B. my tranny appears to have a small leak around the plate on the front left side of the transmission. can you still get seals / gaskets, and what is this plate for. it has a shaft that is cut and threaded as if it were a selector shaft but has nothing connected. maybe kick down or something?

C. my exhaust tappet buckets sit about 5mm out of the casting, ie not flat with the bottom of the rocker casting. this appears to be normal as they are all appropriately the same distances but i cant see well enough down there to determine if it is or not. my eyesight isnt all that great without glasses lol.

ive ordered a revised factory / workshop manual but in the mean time these are my few questions.
thanks allot,
regards jay

 

It's been some time since I've worked on an XK engine, but to replace the sump gasket, oil pump or pick up, it's far simpler to support the engine and gearbox from above and lower the front subframe and suspension after removing the steering shaft coupler. Even with bleeding the brakes, it's far quicker than trying to obtain sufficient clearance by raising the engine and gearbox far enough.

The tappet guides stand about 5mm proud of the head casting, so you may want to install a 'stake-down' kit of some sort. I don't know in your market if the XJ6 was encumbered with so many emissions devices that required an operating temperature well above the original design parameters. In the North American market, the XJ6 has an 87 C thermostat open setting, but I believe something closer to 82 C would reduce the possibility of having difficulty with the tappet guides coming out of the head.

I'm really taxing my memory here, but if I remember correctly the threaded rod on the side of the gearbox is for mounting the neutral start switch. There should be a threaded hole in the gearbox casting just above the shaft where the switch bolts to the gearbox casting. A three-pronged plug should be close at hand to connect the switch.

NBCat