My '97 XK8 sat on the driveway for a week or more during a cold snap. When the Low Oil Pressure message persisted when I started it, I shut the motor off. This began my introduction to bore wash. In the process of pulling the plugs to pour oil into the cylinders, I got some lessons on what age does under the hood.

1. Plastic does not age well. The list of broken plastic bits includes the alignment pins on the plastic top covers, the corner of one of the coil covers, a bolt hole on the air intake, and clips on assorted plugs. The plugs will be the worst part. That will be a lot of wires to splice to replace the plugs for all eight coil packs.
2. Things go missing. The hardest to reach bolt on the driver side coil cover was missing. The hardest to reach coil bolt on the passenger side was missing. A bolt on the air intake was missing.
3. Things leak. I was surprised by the amount of oil collected in the spark plug tunnels. There was a bit around the seal of both coil covers. There was much more evidence of leaking around my passenger side valve cover than the driver side. Honestly, most of my time was spent sopping up oil from various places.

The good news is, I got the car started. I get better fuel economy than I did before this adventure started. I think I have a make-do solution for the missing bolts, until I find correct replacements. I am also more attuned to the need to watch out for oil filter quality, and to run my car more often.

I am more painfully aware of how many things need attention under my hood: plastic plugs, seals, missing parts and some hoses. I hesitate to call this bad news. Knowledge is power. Hiding from the fact that I drive an old car would not be helpful.

I also want to add a shout out to Reverend Sam. Although our engine cover configurations are different, he has a video on YouTube that pointed me in a helpful direction.

Regards,
Tom

 

Ouch; we all feel your pain. There's so many surprises to face if you didn't buy the car new, aren't there? The good news is, when you get the old, age-related parts replaced, you will probably never have another issue with them. I'm the 5th owner of my 2005 XK8 and I've replaced many aged parts over the past couple of years, some "leaky," some missing, and some just because I didn't want to deal with a failure when I was 1,000 miles from home. Just crossed over 100,000 miles in it (17,000 miles in 2 years ) and wouldn't be afraid to jump in and drive from Las Vegas to New York City (or anywhere else). The only spare parts I'm now carrying in the trunk are 2 sets of rear wheel bearings (and a spare fan belt, just because I'm old school...).

 

LOL. I carry coolant, oil and bulbs. A cross country trip would wait until I have more oil leaks eliminated.

I have had it for about four years. It has had a series of repairs over the 35K miles I have driven it. It is a beautiful car and it is fun to drive, so I keep fixing problems as they arise. I think I am into it for less than a new RAV4, so I consider that a win.

Tom

PS I forgot to mention in the original post, if anyone has some spare bolts they are willing to sell, let me know.

 

Tom,

It's 22 years old. Back in the 70's an entire XJ6 could dissolve in less than 10 years so Jaguars have come a long way.

A new set of rubber seals and O rings should solve a lot of your oil leakage issues around the cam covers and spark plug wells.

Graham

 

Just in case it helps someone, here are the replacement plugs I bought for my '97 coil connectors when I found a few of them have pretty much dissolved.


Another thing that came up recently was the topic of coil covers that have lost so much sealing ability that they more hold moisture and oil in than keep it out. That stung me the other day when I splashed a little antifreeze while filling the reservoir, and it promptly flowed right down past the coil cover and down into the plug wells, causing a ton of misfire.

I've half a mind to decide missing bolts on the bottom of the coil covers is a good thing, letting liquids drain out!

 

Tom, check with forum member Jim Shaub at blsd247@gmail.com. He's parting out several XK8s and may be able to help with parts you need...

 

Thanks for the tip on the coil plugs. Even I can keep two wires at a time straight. I was hyperventilating about splicing in a harness for the complete side.

The thought crossed my mind that the bolt was out on the bottom corner to let it drain, but the other side didn't match.

Tom

 

Thanks!

There is a local junk yard with a couple of Jags that should have the fasteners I need. If that doesn't work tomorrow, I'll check with Jim.

Tom

 

The funny thing is that the driver side plugs were comparatively ok. The passenger side plugs were the ones that cracked badly.

Tom

 

One big bit of advice is replace all of your coolant hoses and hard plastic lines now. These engines generally are killed by timing parts or overheating. Not a single X100 car is young, and most probably could use EVERY coolant hose replaced.

 

Good advice. I had a couple of overheating events a year and a half ago, and I have been chasing gremlins ever since.

In other news, a local junk yard has a '99 XK8 in the field, so I got a few bits and bolts that I needed today.

Thanks,
Tom

 

I was poking underhood with a hot engine 5 years ago when my coolant tank failed on the hotplate welded seam. Still have noticeable scarring on the underside of my right forearm. I was wearing natural fibers and my hair was down. I was lucky all that stuff took the hit so my face and chest weren't jacked up. Learn from my mistake.

Nice on the junk yard! Ours never have Jags other than the occasional X or S types...

 

At first I thought this thread was about OUR old age, but then I remembered that we tend to discuss our cars here too.
I'm feeling a little older every day, but that's another topic.
I haven't had nearly as many age related issues as I read about here and I believe that being garaged is a big reason why. (The car is garaged, not me, unless I get in trouble in the house)
The garage reduces the temperature extremes and almost eliminates direct sunlight, and the car rarely sees rain unless I take it on vacation, maybe one week a year. It has never seen snow or salt. Most of the water that hits the car comes from a garden hose.
I've had a few problems, what appear to be the most common ones, but not many.