Got a question,

Had Jaguar of elmhurst replace spark plugs, valve cover gaskets and O-rings after I had trouble with car starting. They said they found oil in the plug wells and reccomended above. About six months later the oil gauge dropped while on an expressway off-ramp and low oil pressure came up. Checked the oil and it was about 2.5 qts low. And ever since I'm burning oil. Never had to put a drop in before that

Definately burning the oil even though I don't see puffs coming out the rear except a few times under heavy accel.

So has anyone else had this problem or should I do the gaskets & o-rings again myself. Also found oil in three plug wells but they are the same three I have always found oil in. First is below the oil fill, and the other two are on the other side where the recirc comes out of the engine and where the recirc connects to the intake tube. Also Jag Of Elm was nice enough to break two of the coil connectors on me. Wow, the the last time I go there for anything.

Thanks for any help.

 

If the O-rings were installed correctly there should not be any oil in the plug wells. To burn that much oil you'd be smoking up the streets and your tailpipe would be oily inside. There are other sources of leaks that can happen, too. Have you looked at your intake and smog valve? There's a seal on the dipstick that can allow oil to bloow out, too. Do you have any evidence of drips where you park?

Is that 185k miles? Yeah, you might be up for a rebuild. Unfortunately, that would be more than the car is worth.

 

This car has nikasil treated aluminum cylinder walls. This oil use symptom could mean wear in that area. To check for cylinder wall wear, do a compresssion test to see if the compression is okay. If it is low, verify the cause. A car with this many miles could also have worn valve seals letting oil into the combustion chamber past the valve stems. If the car blows any smoke on start up, look at this. Look at the coolant to be sure oil is not going into the cooling system. Make sure the oil has no evidence of coolant in it either. When you had the low oil pressure warning, how far did you drive immediately after that? This warning shows essentially 0 oil pressure, the car should be driven no further than the side of the road and shut off. If the car was driven at all, you may have caused some serious issues throughout the lubricated parts. Are there any unusual noises such as a regular knock? By the way, oil in the plug wells is no big deal, oil will not cause the plugs to misfire, it is not a conductor. It is messy but not deadly.

 

Car runs fine except for the loss of oil. There are no leaks anywhere, and no smells of anything burning. The main cause of the bad starts was that I had changed the plugs about 1 year prior and apparently set the gaps to big, and the plugs wore. I used the spec's out of the manual which called for a .047-.051 gap for my year and NAS. Apparently the plugs should be at .037-.039 for the iridium spec. I don't have the NIKASIL liners as the engine was changed over at about 40K. When I did the plugs, I found oil in those three plugwells because the covers were not down tight and as I mentioned the locations of those plugs.

When jaguar had the valve covers off, I was told everything looked in excellent condition with only a slight patina. The timing chain tensioners were second or third generation, which was a concern of mine from reading about the 1st gen in the forums.

I do get a slight knock during acceleration in the winter before the car warms up, but once warm I don't hear it anymore.

I'm going through a 1 quart every month now and was wondering if the valve cover gaskets and O-rings could be the issue. I have problems with work done by them in the past, and like I said, before they did the work I never had any issues with oil loss.

I wish I lived closer to some of the jaguar techs on this sight, cause the one's by me don't seem very capable.

I don't have the equipment to do the compression tests, etc but I guess it might be time to invest.

And actually I'm over 190k now, and the car has been very reliable. As long as you take care of them properly, I find most cars are.

I just need to clear this up as I use Royal Purple oil and It's expensive enough without having to add in between. I understand I have a lot of miles and they don't last forever, I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Thanks for the responses.

 

Oh, when the oil pressure warning came on, it went off again at the end of the curve. It was only on for a few seconds. I guess I was going a little fast around the turn and the oil must have gone to one side.

 

Don't worry about the little knock at startup...probably just your VVT selenoids getting lubed up. I wouldn't waste that much money on RP oil...especially at this point. Lots of high quality oils will do the job fine for far less that RP costs. Perhaps you need the M1 "high mileage" formulation.

 

Try a can of 'Restore' which is a common solution to lots of issues on high mileage engines. Leaking valve cover gaskets would almost certainly leak on the exhaust headers and be very obvious.

The 'second' generation tensioners only added a spring to the same plastic first gen version and they are subject to exactly the same body and slipper failure.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I've never tried the mobil 1 but I did use the castrol GTX and didn't like it, or I should say the car didn't. Tried Royal after that and was car got so quiet I just figured that's what it likes.

I guess I should still do the compression test.
If I were to change the O-rings I take it I would need new gaskets too?

I just like to see if that actually corrects the issue. I guess I just can't believe that I would go from no issues to this. Seeing that it started after they did the gasket and o-rings. Maybe some bad parts, I know that seems to me more common these days.

 

My car uses a quart on average in ~1200 miles. I consider that acceptable for my engine with 165k on it. Not leaving any on the ground, not leaving trails of smoke, passes DEQ, the oil just goes away. Been that way since I got the car 45k ago. I do see quite a puddle of oil in the intake manifold below the throttle plate if I look in with a flashlight. I figure it's coming through the breather system and my valve covers don't have the good oil mist separator in them.
I drive about 600 freeway miles a week. I use OReilly synthetic 10-30, partly because it's cheaper. I've always been in the habit of checking my oil when I get gas. I'm guessing you've got into that routine now. If you're using 10-40 it will go past the rings faster as it's harder to scrape off the cylinders once it's warmed up. To someone like me, if I can get through a tank of gas without having to add oil it's not time to rebuild yet. I'm still getting three tanks to a quart. Oil is cheaper than another engine.. P-)
How many miles are you getting to a quart?

Mike
(just a few thoughts...)

 

At no point did your engine "just start burning oil". All engines burn oil. As they get older, they burn more oil and in most cases you don't realize that you're burning any because you're not measuring what you're taking out when you do an oil change.

Being 2.5 quarts low after six months... six months of what? If that's daily driver miles, 2.5 quarts after six months wouldn't be much at all I think...

 

I am concerned about the engine operating for some unknown period of time at two plus quarts low. Oil performs so many functions in addition to lubrication. I hope you can resolve this problem.

 

Hey Guys, wow, I think either I didn't explain myself well or we're just off topic.

Mine is a daily driver and I do about 25 miles a day, non-highway. I haven't exactly measured how many miles I get per quart but I think that would depend on how hard I drive it. It has alot of miles so I don't jump on it anymore unless required, but acceleration seems fine.

I know it just didn't start burning oil but I change my oil every 5-6k and before the valve cover gasket and o-ring service by jaguar and never had to add any in between.

My car was having trouble starting and I brought it in to be checked out. I replaced the spark plugs about 1 year prior and apparently had gapped them wrong, that was why it was having problems starting but I did not know this at that time. I gapped them according to the 97 NAS spec of .047-.051 and apparently I need the iridium spec of .035-.039.

Jaguar told me I had oil in the plug wells and reccomended the valve cover gaskets, o-rings and plugs. Why I gave them the go ahead I'm not sure, I was busy at work and wasn't thinking.

I knew oil developed in three of the wells as I had found this when I did the plugs. I expect oil developed in those wells because those 3/8" thick covers over the coils had been removed a number of times and weren't sealing properly. The locations were on the driver side below oil fill, and 2 on the pass near the entry and exit on the recir tube. I bought new covers about six months ago and when I went to change them found that there was still oil in those three wells even after they did the service and that they also broke two coil connectors on me. I know they broke them cause when I changed the plugs they were fine and they never mentioned find any broken ones while servicing.

Lastly, the ony reason I was 2.5Q low was because I wasn't use to adding oil between changes and when my oil pressure warning came on/off during the turn I checked it. I was stunned that I didn't get a reading on the dipstick and proceeded to add 2.5 quarts. The pressure warning only came up momentarily and did not stay on. I have not noticed any sides affects since then from the oil being that low.

I was just wondering how hard it is to do the gasket and o-rings as I haven't done this before. I wasn't having problems till after jaguar's service which is over a year now. I will do a compression check and post the results when I get a chance but I'm busy at work now and don't have much time for anything. I'm glad to be busy but it's hard to mantain a Jag that way.

 

At 190k miles, 2.5 qts of oil between 5-6k mile oil changes is pretty good.

The valve cover gaskets, which include the spark plug 'O' rings are not difficult to change. Here is a link to a pictoral description of the work.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...17/#post316489

 

hey Dpez, good to see you back, unfortunate in this particular fashion, however. I still love my lug nuts! (I make my tire shop use a hand torque wrench to remove and install...no impact guns )

If it were me, I'd redo those valve gaskets and o-rings, it obviously occurred as a result of their attempt, maybe a gasket rolled a bit, i have read it happening to others easily if not being really careful. The last you thing you need to worry about is keeping 3 quarts of oil in the boot at all times, just in case. best of luck!

 

Thanks for the links and info guys. I'll let you know how it goes but probably won't happen right away. By the way I only keep 2qts in the boot Matt.

 

Understand that the oil light is not to tell you to add oil it is telling you that you should have checked the oil and added it earlier or you have another problem. You did not mention the oil that is in the car (viscosity). If the oil is a 5w-30w you may want to move up to a 10w-30w or add Restore to the oil as suggested.

I hear the oil light is on or flashed far too often. When that light comes on it is telling you that you need to pull over and find out why. If you are low on oil then you must ask yourself why and to check the level more often.

I do not wish to be critical with anyone but you need to know that light is not a low oil indicator, the new XJ’s and I think XK’s have it but not the XK8/R.

 

Hey Gus, I don't use the low oil pressure as an indicator. It only came on that one time, and that's how I first found the issue. Since then I check my oil regularly and unfortunately have to fill it. I simply meant that if the needle drops and low pressure does come on you may want to check your oil and not assume your oil pump is gone. I have had a low pressure come on a few times in the winter when I start the car but it only happens for a second or two as it's very cold, never happens at warmer temps.

In regards to the oil I'm currently using Royal Purple 5W-30 as it's winter and during the summer I used the 10W-30. I have noticed it doesn't matter which I use as it seems to go about the same. I will be ordering the gaskets and hopefully take care of it over the holidays. I'll take some picts too.

 

Just a thought. I've changed from synthetic oil to non and it seems some leaks have slowed and oil consumption is way down! Sometimes the easier flow also make it exit the engine! A good high mileage formula works well! Good luck!

 

Great discussion on oil.

I also need to add 1.5 to 2 quarts between each 5,000 mi. oil change. Glad to hear that is normal for the higher mileage. Sticking with 5W-30 synthetic blend and not switching to full synthetic.

Anyone have less oil loss using 10W-30 ?

 

Got my parts in and will try to start working on it in the morning. Bought a new oil fill cap too as I was going to add some oil the one day and couldn't get the cap loose when the engine was hot. The new cap is from germany and actually says "Jaguar recommends castrol 5w30 on it".

The new cap seems to work just fine hot or cold. Maybe a bad seal on the old one, who knows, it was over 14yrs old. Figured it could use replacing.

here's the pic