During a gas fill up today i checked the drum stick and oil was loooooow. Towards the E level of stick. Topped it up with another 2-3 quarts. Admittedly when I drive this thing i love to run it hard in certain straights. But the fact that I had to top up so much was a little surprising.

In retrospect, I did notice that pressure was low for around 30 seconds on cold start for a few weeks. Luckily I didnt drive it much during that time.

Pressure was fine, around 50 the rest of the day after the top up.

Just wanted to see how common this is. We all know the xjs consumes oil. Especially if you're enjoying some the car's V12 performance.

 

Oil in a water cooled engine can only go 3 places:
Leaking into the cooling system in which case you might find gray foam on the dip stick and/or oil in the filler neck;

Leaking out gaskets somewhere and eventually leaving an oil slick where it's parked, an oily mess on the underside of the car and possibly even a dirty scum on the rear end;

Burning in the combustion chamber, which with the quantity you're going through should be evident by the aroma of the exhaust and a puff of blue smoke.

Dad had an engine in a nurse wagon once that had good compression but burned oil like a Liberian tanker. It was all being sucked through the valve guides. New valve stem seals fixed the problem.

I don't know if your engine would do that, and I don't know how you might check. I'm sure test procedures are Way different in a V12 than any engine I would be at all familiar with.
(';')

 

Mmmmm, V12's dont normally "use" oil, well, at least none of mine have.

Leakage, hell yes, especially the PreHE.

The relationship between the "slow to rise oil pressure" and low oil level, is BUNKUM. The V12 has 10ltrs of oil in there, and the pick up screen is in the bottom 3ltrs of oil, soooooo, unless you are 6 or 7 ltrs down, there is NO relationship here.

The wrong viscosity will/can cause oil consumption, as can "oldish" oil. How old is the oil??.

Look for tell tale signs of leaks, but as Lenor has mentioned, an oil patch should be evident.

Sooty tail pipes is oil consumption.

Head gaskets on a V12, nah, not a common failure item.

 

I always liked the idea that Jaguars don't leak, they mark their spot. Of course, a good friend owns a Jaguar shop, and has always said that if your Jag stops leaking oil, better put some in it.

On a more serious note, I've always used at least a quart every 1K miles in my V12 Jags, as I drive them fairly aggressively.

 

i f its a pre-HE it,its considered normal to leak oil from the rear crankshaft seal! rope seal.

all tho they can leak oil from cam covers ,rear cam 1/2 moons, oil pan gaskets, cooler lines and otheer places,after all it is an old engine.

one way to tell where is,make a hard run, for 15-20 min, then place a piece of cardboard under the engine and let it set over night, then inspect where it spots for leaks, it will give you a better idea of what you have to do.

and do check or test the PCV valve and its associated piping/hoses.

on mine i changed valve to help increase crank-case vacuum, trying to hold oil in any joints.

greg in france has good info on another thread here.

 

Thank you, Grant.

You're not the first Aussie to think it's Lenor but it's Elinor.
(';')

 

Check your PCV system. A clogged crankcase vent system will pressurize the crank case and force oil out through every seal, gasket and nook and cranny.

 

D seals at the back of the cam covers are an obvious and common loss of oil. Cheap to fix if you do the labour yourself, also the oil hits the exhaust manifold on the way out so it will make your bonnet bay filthy but may not leave an obvious puddle.

 

Dad had an engine in a nurse wagon once that had good compression but burned oil like a Liberian tanker. It was all being sucked through the valve guides. New valve stem seals fixed the problem.

I don't know if your engine would do that, and I don't know how you might check. I'm sure test procedures are Way different in a V12 than any engine I would be at all familiar with.

Typically the valve seals leak on on high vacuum levels. ie slowing down in low gear will produce smoke.
The ring usually leak upon heavy acceleration. ie punching it will produce smoke.