Left Cam Cover Oil Leak/Part Load Tube and Mr. Clean!
 

My 2000 XKR is in relatively good shape with 74,000 miles on her. Her previous owner (19,000 miles to 71,000 miles) was very generous in giving his maintenance records to me when I purchased the car this past April. The history shows that the car had been serviced regularly by an independent shop.

I joined the forum in early May, and I read the forum threads nearly every day. My wife was maybe a little suspicious of my new found internet pastime. I told her not to worry, that I was just getting some schooling on how to take care of my mistress, that lives in our garage! (Read…XKR!)

That being said, the previous owner spent nearly $17,000 in maintenance, repairs, and tires over the past six years of ownership. The thermostat, housing, water pump, springs, starter, purge valve, steering/suspension parts have been replaced, among other things. He experienced the dreaded "Green Shower" last year. But in spite of the big bucks spent on upkeep, incredibly he had not replaced the secondary tensioners. (I have that scheduled for next week.)

Over the past year he has been chasing a cam cover oil leak. Now I am chasing the leak, too. Both cam cover gaskets were replaced a year and a half ago. About a year ago the left cam cover developed a leak. The gasket, washers, spark plug seals, etc. have been replaced 3 times in the past 18 months. The gasket has started leaking oil now that I own the car, too. After reading threads and sticky notes, I decided to look at the full load and part load breather tubes as a possible cause or at least a contributing factor.

I disconnected the Full Load Breather Tube from the RH cam cover per the Jaguar TSB covering Cleaning the Full Load Breather (Found in the sticky notes). (Yes, I can see the metal plate holding the separator mesh!) I then started the engine and placed a flat piece of paper over the full load breather tube. The paper was sucked against the full load tube stub, indicating a restricted part load breather. I shut down the engine and then disconnected the part load tube on the left cam cover and used a 3/32” drill bit per the TSB to remove the restriction. Reconnected the hoses.

I’m thinking that the restricted part load tube is causing higher pressures in the left cam cover and could be the cause of my chronic left cam cover gasket leak!??! I’ll know next week after the tensioners are replaced, along with new cam cover gaskets.

Since I had the air intake tube disconnected from the airbox and the throttle body, I took time to inspect them. Structurally, the intake tube was sound, no cracks, but was a bit dirty. I washed it in soapy water with a brush, rinsed and dried it thoroughly. The throttle body butterfly and throat was filthy. I cleaned it by spraying a clean lint free rag with throttle body cleaner and carefully wiped clean the dirt. (DO NOT SPRAY CLEANER DOWN THE THROTTLE BODY THROAT!!!)

I also removed and carefully cleaned the Mass Airflow Sensor with MAF sensor cleaner and cleaned the connector plugs with electrical connection cleaner. Sticky notes to the rescue, again!

I put a cherry on top by replacing the stock air filter with a high-flow K&N factory air filter replacement. I carefully buttoned everything up and cleared the Check Engine Codes with my scan tool. I am happy to report THE CAR IS RUNNING AWESOME!!! The throttle feels so much stronger and more responsive. The test drive was the best part!


Here's the deal. I know that upkeep on Jags can be costly, but I don't have $17 Grand laying around to spend on repairs and maintenance. I'm a DIY guy. I wouldn't have begun to know how to do any of this maintenance, had it not been for the Jag Forum. I am totally blown away with the wealth of knowledge that so many of you possess and openly share to help one another. As of late I've been reading the sticky notes. Wow! What a collection of "Everything you wanted to know about XK's, but were afraid to ask!"

So many people to thank. A collective tip of the hat to all who share their knowledge and experience!

I will give an update on how my cam cover gasket repair is holding up, soon.
Cheers!
Jon

Well done! I wouldn't have bought my XKR without this forum. The cars are so complex with so much to go wrong it's a wonder they run at all.
All I've done so far is
Change headlights to RH dip
Sort out the door microswitches
Change the rear suspension bushes
Put in a pump pressure relief valve
Change the plugs and clean up the air inlet.
I've got the kit to change the transmission sump and oil and I'm waiting to have the aircon fixed.
I couldn't have done any of this without the information here.

Sounds like you are on top of it.
If you deducted the labour costs from that 17K what would it come to?
Doing as much diy as you can is the key to keeping the maintenance affordable.

Norri, the labor costs were $6,800. Keep in mind that the shop also charges List Price or MSRP for all the parts. There are several internet parts distributors that offer some parts discounts, some of the forum sponsors offer parts discounts, as well as some Jaguar Dealers are offering some parts discounts. Another savings for the DIYer!

I know that I don't have the skills or shop area to perform all the repairs that may be required. But, what I can do myself without getting in over my head, will result in a tidy savings...and make my Jag ownership more affordable!

BTW, let me just say that I am not beating up on the professional auto repair shops! I still use them. I take my cars to an awesome shop. It's an expensive proposition running a shop. They have tremendous costs involved. The revenue stream from labor and parts mark ups is essential to them staying in business. But that's another story for another day.

It's a beautiful morning...I'm going out for a drive!



Jon