I have a 1996 XJS with the 4.0 AJ16.

I always thought it was bizarre that the throttle body mounted to the intake manifold without a gasket!

I came across EAC9822, which only cost a couple of bucks from the dealer. Since they had it in stock, I picked it up and installed it! The bolt holes don't exactly line up. They are about a 1/4" off, however the hole mates up to the throttle body opening perfectly. It's easy enough to expand the holes for the bolts. Using some gasket dressing on one side made it easy to stay in place while the throttle body was tightened in place.

If you're planning to take your throttle body off, I would recommend adding this gasket.

 

I have the same car. No gasket. What is the benefit of having the gasket?

 

Not sure there is one. I always thought it was strange that the throttle body connected to the intake manifold, metal to metal. Seems most every connection has some kind of material to bridge any tiny abnormalities.

Car is running no different with it on than it did before. It was a $2 part from the dealer, so I decided to add it.

 

This is a bad idea after all. The gasket does not line up with a mysterious notch in the throttle body to inlet manifold assembly. I had a nasty vacuum leak.

i took the gasket off and used some Hylosil AF instead to mate the two together. Engine is back to normal.

 

Vee,

Tks for letting us know about your experiment. EAC9822 was used on the AJ6 engines which I guess might explain why it doesn't quite fit properly for the AJ16 components.

Cheers

Paul