The inspection items numbers 7-25 would take approximately 2-5 minutes to complete. I guess Rusnak's billing time is more expensive than we think.

 

Well your both right, sort of. Per the manual, if you're drawing out the oil from the top, there is no need or mention of replacing the drain plug.

If you are draining the oil from the bottom, you replace the washer seal, not the plug.

In both instances you replace to filter ring seals.

 

I think...just going by memory. JLR wants you to replace that seal after so many years. I think the seal and plug are inexpensive as a set. probably just a viton/silicone o-ring

 

I'm not hell bent on being right here and have no skin in the game. I agree that the drain plug and seal likely sold as a pair and am ignorant regarding the seal's composition (it's a metal washer on my 07 and I didn't replace it.)

That said, so others know what the service manual recommends per oil change:

Per the manual:
Draining -
CAUTIONS:
Be prepared to collect escaping oil.
Allow at least 10 minutes for the engine oil to drain.
NOTE: Discard the sealing washer. Picture refers to the drain plug

Filling
1. CAUTION: Make sure that the area around the component is clean and free of foreign material.
NOTE: Install a new sealing washer. Picture refers to drain plug
Torque: 24 Nm

 

My oil solution
5 quart container of Mobil 1 at walmart for $25 two extra quarts for $7.30/ea. Wix filter $13
Bring all to local shop, they charge $20
Tip the guy $5
7 quarts and new filter check dip stick right where it's suppose to be.

 

yeah but then you have that other $900 in your pocket to worry about. Dealer service guys need to eat too, and they eat well

 

You pay $80 bucks and have to travel to walmart and another place. This is the most expensive oil change I have heard of. Jag dealer charges $100, vacuums your car while you watch tv in air conditioning. And he notes the service records.

I change my own oil. They give oil away at the deep fried wings shops.

 

A really sleazeball Jag dealership, like Byers Imports in Columbus, Ohio will probably also ... "Inspect all glass to make sure it's still transparent", "Inspect steering wheel to make sure it's still round", "Inspect fenders to make sure there's still 4 of them" and they'd probably do those additional 3 things for a paltry additional $750. I've dealt with them and I wouldn't trust them with a roll of toilet paper! Don't believe me ... ask Lothar52! Find a good local indie, like a lot of us have, and your services fears and woes will disappear!

 

I have looked high and low for this "Critical bulletin". No JLR TSBs. Nothing on this forum or any others. Nothing in a Google search. The only thing that I can find that is even close is a Castrol marketing document in which they claim their new Edge 0W20 oil will meet JLR's specifications for 2013 and newer V6 and V8 engines, for which JLR specified 5W20 oil.

In my 40+ years as a mechanical engineer the only times I have seen or heard of "oil thickening" is from contamination. Other than when contaminated, oil will thin with age. If it is contaminated the oil and contamination need to be removed, not replaced with thinner oil.

Can you cite a reference for this new current memo/JLR spec/Critical Bulletin?

thanks,

 

Crikey, what a lot of precious owners here. I see it all the time with cameras, people who will spend $2500 on a DSLR crib about spending $50 on a battery and try to cheap it out with a $5 knock-off, sometimes with disastrous results.

I sympathise with you guys, I don't know about the US but in the UK we have fixed-price servicing for Jags over 3 years old - for an XK SC it is $288 for an interim and $375 for a major service at current (dreadful) exchange rates. Is there such in the US?

Just a few comments - Q+C is correct, it is common knowledge here, Jaguar have moved completely to 0w20 for XK. Like it or lump it, suck it up and get on with it, it's a fact. You are dealing with a 500HP engine with more demands on oil than your average plastic eco-pimple. There are many fine oils around (I'm a Miller's fan myself and hate Castrol) but deviate at your peril, you can ask five guys about oil and get five different opinions. My XK is under extended warranty, no way will I use anything other than the recommended fill.

Re drain plugs, often magnetic to trap swarf, heat and vibration diminishes magnetism, washer seals often compress under tightening and can't be relied on a second time. Don't know any dealers around here who suck oil out, that seems reserved for the 'quick and dirty' cheap change jockeys around here. Not sure that I would be confident that the crud in the sump would be washed out and if the drain plug wasn't changed you would get no indication of any metal swarf which might warn of an impending problem. Seat filters etc, a manufacturer can't be expected to make recommendations for individual vehicles so they generally go with what they believe will best prevent issues across the population. Do you really think Jaguar has a hidden agenda to boost profits by stiffing you for an extra $20 when you have an oil change? I think they are doing OK without that.

That being said, I think I would balk at over $1000 for a service but, like with camera batteries, there is often a lesser price which can be paid without sacrificing quality if you just look around.

P.S. On checking, according to the workshop manual it is only the sealing washer which is to be changed.

 

Nope, there is a specific JLR bottle of windscreen paste (I have half a dozen myself) and it is especially effective at removing the more stubborn contaminants regular screen cleaner doesn't handle without damaging the glass. It's easy to sneer but sometimes these things are there for a reason (such as test the horn).

Glass Surfaces

To avoid scratching glass surfaces, do not clean dirty glass with dry paper or cloth. Use clean, warm water and a chamois leather which is reserved for glass only.

The following products will ensure glass surfaces and windscreen wiper blades are kept in good condition:

Jaguar Screen Clean Paste

– Apply to the exterior of the windscreen only to ensure effective operation of the windscreen wiper blades.

 

You are spot on mate, on every point.
I guess you are reading all this with a bit of entertainment and culture shock. And when the Germans tell them dont use any windshield washer fluid but the one from Germany, they listen.

BMW it right by insisting every product used on their cars come from them, down to the car wash. Because they know that people in their infinite wisdom to best the testers will use something inappropriate.

Castrol professional is actually fantastic oil, and for its sludge prevention properties alone its technically the cheapest, then there is the longevity.

They went to the thinner oil due to oil thickening and not flowing to the oil actuated cam fast enough during start up.

Are you certain the drain plug method gets more oil out? I am asking for advice not opinion. In a normal car with a sump the answer would be obvious to me, not so with the 5l aj8.

Incidentally, there is an excellent product available on this side of the water that breaks down the glue in oil as it were. Its made by Lubeguard, a highly regarded company. It an engine flush that truly gets the gunk out. Its effectively a friction modifier. Look it up. Just 10 mins in the engine before an oil change and its clean. Totally safe and expert approved.

 

U P D A T E (#1)
First: thanks, one and all. Did not expect to learn this much from this post. Great stuff guys. Other things:

- I've had warranty work done at Rusnak and it was solid. And they found something - front bushings - under warranty that truly did need replacing. Free! So while I think this quote is Jaguar-silly, I don't think I'm dealing with ripoff artists. Also, we've talked enough that they know I'm on top if it, as far as these things go.
- I may take the XKR on a cross-country drive in May (and who knows what happens after that), so I was thinking of one more "full boat, stem to stern" once-over at a Jag Dealership. If I get beat up a little bit on price, that's OK.
- I've already changed both the cabin air filter and the seat filters myself. I asked my service rep to barter out those two services for a brake fluid flush, and that actually brought the price down. Also, I said any service with the word "washer" or "wiper" I can live without. That brought the price down a little more.
- I've heard about the change to 0W-20 oil before, so I took it as a good sign that this is what I'd be getting.
- I'm on the fence about the "dealer recommended" service items.
- We are playing phone tag re what's to be done. I also have a few issues (including the rear-end shudder/vibration that others on the forum have discussed and I'm of the opinion that it's the electronic differential) to be looked at, so she (service rep) said "lets do the road test, see where we're at, and make a decision." I LIKE this plan, as at least it will put the rear end issue on record, as well as a few others. So if they don't fix them, Ive got record that I took it in, at least.

I will keep one and all posted as to the result. And I'll post the bill...

 

If you look at the engine cut away the 5.0L engine has a special tube under the oil fill cap. The tube goes to the lowest point in the sump which is slightly lower then the drain plug. I also suspect on the oil heat test that the residue left is most likely the additives that thicken the oil as it heats up.

 

Thank you most kindly for this most informative post. Been looking for that answer for quite sometime.

The lubeguard is a must if siphoning the oil. Makes it all flow back to the bottom. Its also important for cleaning the VVT. I will post some other day when time prevails- how Jaguar has a very unique patent on the VVT and while it helps in certain cases, it also hurts. But so as not to keep you in total suspense: Jaguar has a valve that does not allow the oil to flow back out of the vvt after shutdown. So that there is some oil there at startup- which it needs not for lubrication but for actuation. But oil sitting there in the vvt after shutdown also means that you have oil cooking and forming deposits.

You witnessed the detergent effectiveness of castrol slx in that video above. Straight oil varnishes- its how we season a cast iron pan, its the additives that then go back and remove the varnish/sludge.

p.s. the reason I try to get every last drop of old oil out, is because it takes very little old to contaminate new. I usually even chase the old out by adding a 1/4 quart of fresh oil. So your answer of of tremendous value.

 

Consider the following:

-Only a minority of owners have their cars serviced by the dealer, especially after the warranty has expired. Only a very small minority of owners agree to these add-on services.

-Cars that suffer from intake valve or injector contamination are pretty much unheard of.

-Jag specifically cautions in the owners manual against fuel or oil additives

-If there was an issue that can be avoided/cured by these add-ons why does it not appear on the OEM schedule? Given that Jag worries about the purity of the air blowing on your backside with the seat filters or the correct operation of the horn, it seems strange that they would overlook a vital part of engine maintenance.

It couldn't be that some dealers like to upsell people on high profit things like blinker fluid stuff could it?

 

Your logic might be a bit backwards there and potentially misleading. I suspect the air filter is there to protect the fan mechanism from dirt. And if it was filtering the air in the manner you describe- there could be an argument made that the air coming from our backsides invariably needs filtering.

Do you have this type of filtration on the fan mechanism in your car?

 

I really don't know so I'm open to opinions. I like the idea of a gush of hot oil washing out the crud but perhaps the pump method creates the same flow? Perhaps in practice there isn't a lot in it. My curiosity is piqued now and a service is only a few weeks away so I'll ask the service guys at the main steeler when I'm there which method they use and why.

 

That's a good point - in several decades of working with computers from laptops to heavy duty servers I can tell you that the difference in fan crud between those with a filter and those without is pretty horrific.

 

You can bet your bottom dollar that if they didn't there would be a flock of rant posts about it on forums like these