I have a 2001 XK8 that has been sitting in the garage during the summer, today I took it out for a 70 run and on the return could smell oil.
A mechanic has said that both the front and rear engine seals need replacing.
1. Are these jobs for the DIY in us?
2. Does the transmission have to be removed to replace the rear main...can this be done by DIY in garage?
3. Can the front seal be easily replaced?
4. How expensive is it for an indie to do these jobs if not DIY?

Many thanks for all your help....

 

crank seal is a walk in the park, you do it with the timing set. the one in the back could be the rear main but most likely the hex blanking plug. transmission has to be moved. at most shops the car is totaled

make sure it's not your valve cover gaskets or something simple.

 

Before you spend money try some seal expansion additive ..this softens and expands the oldseals 4% which usually does the trick.

 

many thanks for your quick reply!
Is there any particular additive you would recommend for the seals?
Is Blue devil one of them?

 

Thank you for your quick reply!

 

just be careful to read the blurb to make sure you are NOT buying a piston sealer rather than a seal expander ...as I am in the uk its difficult to know the brands. I have it in my engine and diff at 110k miles

 

liqui moly engine oil saver

 

Moly is not whdt I am talking about ..we are talking about an oil seal expander addictive !!!!
it should be described as for oil seals and gaskets.

 

that’s what it’s for. it’s a seal sweller

 

Excuse the Lucas brand, this is not electronics. Used it in my 97 and it helped for a while, but new seals is the only permanent fix. If the rear main or gallery plug is leaking you can confirm by removing the rubber plug at the bottom of the bell housing and put your finger in there (engine not running).

Engine Oil Stop Leak

 

Getting back to the original thread question.
Do any modern engines used rope seals ? No !
What seal do they all use then ? Answer - lip seals.
Does the Jaguar V12 engine use a rope seal ? Don't be silly, of course not !
So what seal is used on the front of the XK engine then ? A lip seal !!!!

The rope seal on the XK engine is a historic relic dating from when the engine was designed during WW2. Originally, there was no seal, just a scroll to "move" the oil back into the engine.Then when this was not all that good, the rope seal was installed, with the scroll remaining. So now there are viable alternatives to the rope seal, but which involve engine dismantling and machining of the crankshaft. This is expensive, so people continue to use the rope seal and put up with leakage.

Fit modern seals ! Sometimes there really is a good modern alternative.

 

I think you have the wrong car in mind. These cars do not have an XK engine, they have AJV8s with lip seals. And the leak is most likely coming from a loose blanking plug above the seal.