Hello again, I would like to ask a few questions on the service parts for the XK8 please. As my new kitty has only travelled about 600 miles in almost 4 years I would like to service her as soon as possible, if you all think it is a good idea since she will be in storage until at least April 2014.
My main question is what oil to use as I was told the car was fully serviced when bought from a garage late February 2010. I drove it approximately 300 miles a few weeks ago and that should have loosened off a bit of the sludge on the engine ( it did in the gearbox which resulted in the fault already discussed ). I do not know what type of oil is in now whether is standard as per jag specs or semi/full synthetic. I have contacted a local auto shop and they suggested Comma Fully Synth, but EuroParts have a multiple listing of all types.
I am thinking about going for Shell Helix HX7 10-40, or Castrol Magnatec 10-40 but it is for both petrol and diesel engines ( more cleaners in diesel oil products ), or there is a Triple QX semi synth 10-40 which is listed.
Also should I use a flushing agent on the Nikosil AJ27 engine? Or is that asking for trouble?
Finally for years in all my cars I have added "Greased lightning engine/oil additive" when I do an oil change, was going to do the same with the XK8 unless others think it is a NO-NO?

Any thoughts please?

Kind regards,

ArtyH

 

You need to drive that car more often.

For engine oil, just get your preferred brand. The viscosity should be proportional to the climate temperatures in your area.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ations-101512/

Graham provided a chart from the owner's manual that gave a rough indication of what weight oil should be used.

As for the additive, I don't think it's a problem. The problem with the Nikasil engines is irrelevant now. The Nikasil would have a reaction with the sulphur (or was it phosphorus) of the petrol of the time. Now a days, petrol is devoid of those elements, which means there won't be an undesired reaction with the Nikasil. It can be said that the Nikasil engine lining is actually better than what was used in the newer engine. Let's just hope the chemical that caused the problem doesn't make a reappearance in today's petrol.

Just to be on the safe side, make sure your additive doesn't contain sulphur. Was it phosphorus? I'm not sure.

 

Sulpher. Water in the combustion gases combined with it to form suphuric acid, damaging the liner. (Thanks to Gus). To OP: if the car is going into storage, any oil will do. Synth only has an advantage if you are going to drive more miles between oil changes. If it just sits there in your car, it's as if it was still in the container, doing nothing.