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Hi Guys , i have been reading up on here every now and then over the years . It is a Great source of information . I like some of you have been thinking off doing a diy oil change to the supercharged unit. but on the car with the supercharger NOT taken off . As other great guys like Cambo and Bigal and a few other contributors had previously said its nearly impossible . As the drain/fill plug is at the back of the engine on the 5l model and not the front like the 4.2 model. And only armed with 1 photo of the external (kidney) shaped unit to trace on the engine supercharged drain and fill plug. By using an inspection camera on my engine i have found this plug and intend to try to drain and fill . Will update when i can over the next week or so
Last edited by George05; 08-05-2019 at 03:06 PM.
Reason: spelling
Found drain/fill plug down that gap in last photo. i will attempt over next week or so. have located many bust pipes on boilers in past never beaten. watch this space
Well i made a start this afternoon on this , What an awkward job to do Very tight space to start with only a few centimetres wide and mostly took up with a vacuum hose in the way . But after an hour or so of removing more screws Etc And the vacuum hose out the way , I then had to try and undo a further 2 very tight place screws to some metal bracket . Only then could i get access to use the extra long Allen key 3/16 of an inch . Took me about an hour possibly more, a mill at a time due to restricted area. but i got the drain plug out . eventually lol . Plan is to suck the old supercharged oil out and then replace the drain/ fill plug. that will be another big job lol I have taken photos of what i have done to date. Will post once job is completed
Last edited by George05; 08-07-2019 at 02:59 PM.
Reason: forgot to add
Planing on sucking out the old supercharged oil and then re-filling with new oil today . I had bought the kit from powerhouse (uk) comes with small bottle of supercharged oil and large syringe and 5 inch of tubing that is way to short . so shall be paying a visit to my local auto store before hand . for got to say my car is not a high mileage car currently on 52k . But the car is 8 years old . why i am doing this .
Last edited by George05; 08-08-2019 at 01:40 AM.
Reason: forgot to add
Job done . Took car for a quick run just to make sure all ok , No warning lights etc so all seems fine . Waiting on engine cooling down then will check for leaks .
You better, or this will go down as the greatest tease-job ever.
Did you notice any difference?
Was the oil fouled?
Ha ha . I live in a built up area so really not had a chance to open the taps up fully . Had a drive for around 5 mile . It was more or less to see if any warning lights would come on dash. But all was fine . Had a couple of quick spurts in sports . best i can explain is this . Much like driving car after having a service , It felt good . The old oil i took out was brown , i have taken photos of most steps so you and others can compare the old oil and new oil colour . the reason i wanted to change this was my car is now 8 years old . It has 52 k millage on clock . oil was dark brown and smelt horrible , Glad new oil is in now so ok for next few year. will do write up tonite A promise
As promised . I have owned my xkr for around 5 year now , I am the second owner , Car had covered just under 10k when bought , Any how on to the topic on hand . I am not a forum type guy , But i do look on here every now and then to see how other xkr owners are doing , Say once a week or so . now due to my cars age i had been looking at maintenance work being done like the transmission service . I had that done a few month ago costing £450 or $600 dollars . So on now to the changing of the supercharged oil . Mmhh not a lot of information on the 5 l cars . And in any direction , Looked on you tube, All manner of both jaguar and land rover forums no information at all , Only on the 4.2l cars and seemingly very easy to do but nothing on the 5l ones . Had asked my local Jaguar specialist about doing this change , His reply was . 100k miles or 10 years old . Mmhh and what would be costs i asked nervously , Price would start from £500 -up ($600 dollars) depending time it took . So over a few weeks and having lots of looks on this forum and reading guys like Cambo and others who know a thing or two , Only armed with this photo .
This . I then decided to try and track this elusive drain/fill plug down . I removed the plastic engine cover and any spare time i had from business i done my best to track this down , Even using an inspection camera . I found it . Now to remove it and fill it with good fresh oil . Not a light task to under take i may add . The space once everything like bolts , brackets , Then that xyzz vacuum hose . stuck right bang in the small confined space . IT PULLS OUT But still left with very limited access . No wonder the Jaguar specialist wanted over £500 ($600 ) A black colour bracket that was screwed to the face of the kidney shaped unit ( a dead give away to the location) . Got the two screws out . With the use of some thing to jam in between this b...... bracket and in my case a set of long nose pliers . I finally got access to the Drain / fill plug . And with the use of special long Allen keys we had in our tool stock . I managed to move the fill plug a few mill a time. Took around an hour to full remove , Had packed the area under and around with blue paper towel . To catch any escaping oil , And more importantly the plug. In case i dropped it . Once out i had bought a metre or so of plastic 3mm tube from local auto place . As the tubing supplied was not long enough . Now on to draining the oil . I put in the tube and attached the syringe and put tube into drain fill location . Nothing came out . So had to think of what to use . A plastic straw the Better half had said . And she was right. after looking for plastic straws found 3 kinds .2 from cold juice packets and one from a wd-40 can . Wd- 40 cans straw was really thin inside it would have taken days to extract . So use the straw from drinks pack, Heated this up to a bend fashion as knew i had to get down inside the supercharged unit to extract the old oil from. You will see on the photos i had also mark the back of the straw with a black marker pen so i would know the straw was in right direction . Then onto extraction . Within seconds i had drew out a full syringe full 60ml Squirted this into an empty small juice bottle as seen in photos . Then done more and more till i drew out 210ml. then put new oil in . Then the problems began . Its not a job for the faint hearten so be warned , If wanting to try this do your home work first . Order the longest allen keys you can find (mine were from the USA . Refrigeration 12" long allen keys and get the longest slimiest set of pliers you can find. Also a few strong drink straws . Not the flimsy kind . They kink . And with determination yo will get there . Here comes the best part the Photos .
Last edited by George05; 08-08-2019 at 04:03 PM.
Reason: Typo Errors
A hard task to attempt , But i saved at least £500 ($600) over the space of say a days work. not easy. But none the lest its done. thanks for looking . Questions ?
Yes very hard to find is them extra long Allen keys , We had them in our Tool supply . Boilers Etc Imperial size . But the 3/16 inch one required for job . Was to big on bottom L shape (small bit ) so it had to use a bench saw to cut most of that away , I could have done with cutting a few more mill off now i know . A pig of a job . But happy .i was on top of the wing and on engine kneeling on a cushion to get to this Lol . My aim is to put back on here as over the years this place has provided me with good information. i will stick around for a bit then fade back into the shadows lol , Happy to help
Brilliant work. Hats off to thinking outside the box.
Is that really an imperial fastener? I would not have figured that one out. Where did you find the hex key set?
Been in our tool stock for years . Not sure were bought from. feel free to do a internet search they wont be cheap and you only need the 3/16 one then have to cut most of the L away as its to big . thanks for kind comments
PS that long telescopic magnet saved the day. i dropped the fill / drain plug loads of times but due to paper towels it never fell far . Then the magnet retrieved it .
Last edited by George05; 08-08-2019 at 04:34 PM.
Reason: spelling
Had the chance to take car for a long drive today , And gave it the beans when i could . It really felt so much smoother engine wise and did feel more responsive . so I am glad i done this .
That's an innovative way to change the oil but having pulled the supercharger on a 2012 XF, I'd say it would be easier to go that route. The XKR look like it has a little more room at the back of the engine (the XF is very tight and you have to remove the scuttle panel, wipers, etc.). Of course you incur additional costs for the gaskets etc. but you can then change out the rear heater manifold and the hose under the superchargers while doing the oil.
08-05-2019, 02:34 PM
DIY supercharger oil change
But still left with very limited access . No wonder the Jaguar specialist wanted over £500 ($600 ) A black colour bracket that was screwed to the face of the kidney shaped unit ( a dead give away to the location) . Got the two screws out . With the use of some thing to jam in between this b...... bracket and in my case a set of long nose pliers . I finally got access to the Drain / fill plug . And with the use of special long Allen keys we had in our tool stock . I managed to move the fill plug a few mill a time. Took around an hour to full remove , Had packed the area under and around with blue paper towel . To catch any escaping oil , And more importantly the plug. In case i dropped it . Once out i had bought a metre or so of plastic 3mm tube from local auto place . As the tubing supplied was not long enough . Now on to draining the oil . I put in the tube and attached the syringe and put tube into drain fill location . Nothing came out . So had to think of what to use . A plastic straw the Better half had said . And she was right. after looking for plastic straws found 3 kinds .2 from cold juice packets and one from a wd-40 can . Wd- 40 cans straw was really thin inside it would have taken days to extract . So use the straw from drinks pack, Heated this up to a bend fashion as knew i had to get down inside the supercharged unit to extract the old oil from. You will see on the photos i had also mark the back of the straw with a black marker pen so i would know the straw was in right direction . Then onto extraction . Within seconds i had drew out a full syringe full 60ml 
Squirted this into an empty small juice bottle as seen in photos . Then done more and more till i drew out 210ml. then put new oil in . Then the problems began . Its not a job for the faint hearten so be warned , If wanting to try this do your home work first . Order the longest allen keys you can find (mine were from the USA . Refrigeration 12" long allen keys and get the longest slimiest set of pliers you can find. Also a few strong drink straws . Not the flimsy kind . They kink . And with determination yo will get there . Here comes the best part the Photos .
