I am writing this thread as a "potential" new Jaguar owner (would be a first time owner) of a 2004 Jaguar XKR convertible I bid on and won on BringATrailer.com. After placing the winning bid, I had a PPI inspection performed. The inspection performed by an ASE technician found there is leaking of oil down the left side of the oil cooler and what appears to be a small amount of oil dripping off one of the nuts which holds the oil cooler to the support post. The dealer who sold this vehicle on consignment on behalf of the owner said they had performed a pre-sale inspection of the vehicle before it was listed. I find that to be laughable as this is something once the vehicle was put on a rack that would have been easily seen (the PPI inspector I hired saw this by lying on the ground under the nose of the car). I also don't feel this leak is recent, rather, this has been ongoing for some period of time given the buildup on the oil cooler itself. It is worth noting the vehicle only has 21,659 miles.

My question to the forum is this: Given this type of issue which had to be detected after I spent $$ to have a PPI done, does this require the oil cooler to be replaced or is it possible that this might just be a hose or seal leaking. Looking for some advice from folks on this thread who most likely have much more experience with this vehicle and potentially this issue than I do. I have uploaded some photos to show where the oil leak is occurring.

Thanks in advance for any advice provided including how much this may cost to have repaired.

 

Are you certain the leak is coming from the cooler and not a hose crimp ?

Or the end o-ring ?

when the car is in motion the oil will travel in all directions. So it’s best to clean the area very thoroughly and use eyes on target to determine the exact location of the leak(s).

The hoses only have a 10 year lifespan, the low mileage on the car is a non factor. The hoses should absolutely be replaced, along with the cooler, should it be definitively identified as the source of the leak.

when my own hose failed it took less than two minutes at highway speed to lose all eight quarts of oil. So it can happen suddenly. Obviously the car should not be driven until the issue is sorted and fixed.

Z

 

I would second zray on this, clean it first (brake cleaner will likely do a great job), and let the engine run for a bit. The entire circuit is at full oil pressure, so any leak will likely show up pretty quickly.

It may be a case of fixing is easier than looking. To my knowledge from my own XK8, the bold just secures the fitting to the cooler, but the sealing is done with an o-ring or two. Given such an easy access, it might be easier to just replace them (triple checking to not pinch them) and test again.

Just like zray said, these hydraulic lines are arguably one of the few design flaws left in these later cars of ours. As these lines see full oil pressure with the engine on, it is a good idea to just replace them after 10 years. The failure mode is when the rubber separates from the crimped ferrule and your entire oil supply is dumped on the road in a few seconds (yes, really). These rubber/AL junctions might seep oil for a bit before failure if you are lucky to see it in time.

FWIW, some have replaced these coolers with after market units and better lines from race shops.

Altogether though, keep in mind you are looking at acquiring a 20 year old, well documented, but semi-complex car. There are bound to be issues developing that will need addressing one way or the other. As you probably know better than us, there are only so many of these cars around. If this is a car you like for the most part, a simple problem like this should not stop you from getting it. Honestly, take it as a sign of things to come, with likely many problems harder than this to fix in the future. If this is turning you off and you were hoping for a perfect car and done, you might want to give it more thought. Just my $,02.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

I followed this auction on BAT and it is a beautiful looking XKR. Even cars from BAT will have a few issues. Like the others have said, clean the oil off and then get a fresh look to see where the leak is coming from. You will have issues from time to time as these cars are 20 years old now.

Enjoy the car - they are special automobiles.