So, as the thread title says, I have 18,000km on my XK after almost 13 yrs of trouble free ownership.
My question is this, what should I do over the winter to insure another 13 yrs and 18,000 trouble free Km’s?
To date, the car has always been garage kept, not heated but never freezing, never driven in the rain and never abused on the road.
stored with a full gas tank every winter and on a battery tender.
I will welcome all the feedback I receive, even from those that will scold me for not driving this fabulous machine on a more regular basis.
Thanks in advance for participating

 

The first thing that comes to mind is, keep doing whatever you've been doing. With 13 years of trouble-free ownership, you must be doing something very right!

There are threads on this forum offering many tips for over-wintering your XK - do a search and you'll come up with a lot of good advice.

The most common things mentioned (from memory) are:

1. Keep the battery on a maintainer. Some suggest removing the battery as well.
2. Fill the tank with ethanol-free fuel if possible; if not, use a good fuel stabilizer.
3. Keep the tires off concrete flooring.
4. Over-inflate the tires a bit or use tire cradles to avoid flat spots.
5. Add a dryer sheet to the interior.
6. Deter mice and other small critters from invading. Use moth ***** on the floor, dryer sheets in the engine compartment, set traps, etc

There are also suggestions about running the car periodically, but people differ on how best to do this (in-place vs. on the road, how long to run, etc.). Also, there are suggestions of putting the car on stands to unload the tires (and suspension) but it seems not everyone goes to such lengths. Some suggest a car cover, others don't like them.

Good luck.

 

Now I've discovered Nanaimo is in British Columbia, I understand the limited mileage.

A one owner XK with such low miles/km's will have correspondingly low wear on mechanical parts but TIME is your enemy. Rubber deteriorates over time so tyres and cooling hoses could fail through ageing rather than wear. Similarly brake caliper seals and flexible hoses.

I wouldn't consider major expenditure on replacement but bear in mind that the rock solid reliability of the first thirteen years will not continue indefinitely solely through lay-up procedures. Remember your ticket for the “burnt out” light. I'm sure you didn't wear it out!

Graham

 

You have a trouble free car for 13 years, clearly whatever you are doing or not doing is effective. I say change nothing and keep on keeping on.

 

Seems WE should be listening to YOU regarding care and maintenance!

 

JDS, let me add to Grahams fine point and emphasize these issues (learned across many BMW's of similar era).

Tire rubber stiffens and weakens as time passes, creating a danger on performance cars. There has been at least one high-publicity fatal crash involving old tires on a powerful car. If your tires are more than 7-8 years old, consider replacing them. Look at the date code on the tire.

Second item are hoses and plastics of the XK era. If the hoses feel soft or look expanded around their connection, consider replacing them. Look at your serpentine for cracks, as well. Serpentines don't always just drop off if they fail. Rarely, they wrap around things and damage them.

If you haven't replaced the coolant or brake fluid in that time, please consider doing it. Coolant ages, and brake fluid is hygroscopic, absorbing water from the air. Oil should be replaced annually, at least, since it also absorbs humidity. I don't know of any reason tranny fluid, differential oil or PS ATF should break down in that time, unless you tracked it during your ownership (kidding). These three degrade with high heat or heavy use.

Please take the tire thing seriously, though. Sounds like a beautiful car.

Best,

Panthera

 

[QUOTE=panthera999;2327631]
I don't know of any reason tranny fluid, differential oil or PS ATF should break down in that time, unless you tracked it during your ownership (kidding). These three degrade with high heat or heavy use.
/QUOTE]
Is this absolutely correct? On another thread some people said they degrade with age like engine oil does. Please tell me its correct, because with the mileage I do i might never have to change mine again

 

I bought my 2010 XK Convert. late this fall with 50K miles. Took it to the Jag dealer to service it before I put it away for the winter.
It had a very detailed CarFAX, that showed regular service but wanted to create a base line for my ownership.
Dealer said the age was more important than the mileage, so we did a 10 service vs. a 50K .
All new fluids, engine, power steering, breaks, rear end, didn't have parts on hand for the transmission, so that get's done this spring.
He said the belts and hoses looked good, but will take a closer look when transmission is serviced.
The short time I had it, it performed perfectly, hated to put it away, and now look for years of fun to continue.

 

As Graham points out above, length of time in service is a consideration when deciding on what maintenance needs to be done.

The recommendations already posted are spot on and I would also add:

1. Replace the water outlet and thermostat assembly whilst changing the coolant
2. Service the gearbox as ZF recommend replacing the fluid and pan/filter every 60,000 km or five years, whichever comes first.
3. Replace the brake fluid
4. Change engine oil and filter

 

i had gearbox and differential at 5 yrs, coolant and brake fluid every 2 yrs, engine oil every year...plus power steering, supercharger oil at 5 yrs or 50k

 

My 2014 has 26K Kms. I've done all of the above including changing the supercharger fluid, and all of the coolant plastic and rubber parts. This winter I'll change the rear brake pads, detail, and maybe the power steering fluid. I'll also go over everything for wear and age replacement. You must have replaced your tires or your driving on unsafe tires.

 

That's an extremely low mileage, what do you actually use the car for? I do less less than 3000 miles per year - a few local run outs for the kids, and a road trip to Le Mans once a year.

 

Sell it, buy a poster of one. Since you never drive it, why pay for all the maintenance and upkeep?
I don't drive mine NEAR enough, and it has 67,000 Miles. 107,826 km.
Looking at a car while not driving it on the road is akin to getting a Playboy magazine instead of a GF or Wife. Your arms get sore for no reason.

 

[QUOTE=wsn03;2327748]
Interesting question. IMHO, figuring 1Kmi per year, fluids only:

Oil: environmental temp changes cause condensation with steadily increasing water content. Boiled off in normal use, accumulates in low use until driven. Yearly changes.
Brake fluid: Hygroscopic. Probably low accumulation in low use, but change every 3-4 years. My guess is highest moisture ingress occurs around the piston seals on the calipers. I'd change regularly in humid environments.
ATF In steering and tranny: Fairly well sealed systems, mostly degraded by hard use and high temps. Low use probably means changing every five-seven years.
Coolant: varies a lot by application. Not aware of interaction between Jag's coolant and engine components. But I'd change it, just 'cause I'm that guy, every 4-5 years of low use.
Differential: Every time I've changed differential oil on my cars, it's been pristine. So, IMHO, 7+ years.

Synthetic fluids seem to be more stable over the long term, since they're likely to have less dino leftovers in them (paraffins, etc).

Of course, on any new-to-me car, I change all the fluids unless fully documented changes are available to me.

"Fluids are cheap, metal is expensive"

IMHO, YMMV

Note the huge difference between what the major oil sellers say and the independent/consultants say. This is oil in storage, of course.

Article: https://www.machinerylubrication.com...t-storage-life


Note big difference between majors and others




Note the big difference between what major oil companies say and what the independent companies say.

 

All great comments.
Thanks for the insight and opinions, it’s all valuable

 

I’m with Panthera999; change ALL the fluids. They are effected by age once put into use.
Beyond all of the technical notes; moisturize the interior leather.

and now that I’m back in Ottawa, really enjoying the -27 windchill this morning. Sure beats that “ho, hum, another day in paradise” weather of Melbourne;-). Much of my family isn’t far from you... they can’t handle the weather of the east.