This forum truly rocks - so much info out there for Jaguar owners, a huge thank you to the forum and for all your help and tech advice.

I haven’t posted for a while, so time to get up to speed on my Carnival Red 97 XK8 (serial 11236) 99,400 miles.

I purchased it early Spring last year, after looking around for a while for an XK8 in my budget.

Car was originally sold by Thoroughbred Motorcars Jaguar Dealership in Nashville, TN. Looks like it lived its life with 3 owners in the Nashville area until 2014. I purchased it in Kentucky March 2015 from the 4th owner and transported it home to Central Illinois.

It had a major rear main seal leak, plus the usual ABS module messages, but the ZF 5HP24 trans shifted OK. Cream interior show lots of wear and clear coat on the driver’s side is peeling slightly. Apart from oil changes and recalls, it looked like some of the necessary XK8 preventative maintenance items were never completed.

As you can probably tell I’m a XK8 and sports car enthusiast, just like many of you out there.
First job was to replace the rear main seal.










Nothing like diving in head first into a transmission pull!
The rear seal was loose! No wonder I lost quart a mile on the test drive!





Old loose seal!

New seal installed, no more leaks.
Oil change & filter and trans fluid and filter changed. I used Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic Dex/Merc LV after countless hours researching and checking. Valvoline assured me that the LV is a suitable replacement for the Jaguar, ESSO, BMW LT71141 trans fluid.
I ended up creating an exhaust sleeve/cover for refilling/checeking the trans fluid level. Worked well and saved a few burns!





Temp cover on hot pipe during trans refill/level check.




Gave the car a thorough cleaning and polishing inside and out just in time for my sons Prom.







After driving it occasionally over the summer and fall last year, I parked her for the cold winter.
Next up would be the Secondary Tensioners and ABS Module.

Spring 2016 rolls around (last week!)

Module first. Solder joint broken on one of the usual two suspects. Sure was a ‘bear’ to open!


















Bad solder joints in the regular place!

Both heated and re-soldered for good measure. Hopefully it’ll last a few more years!
Looks like the unit had been repaired twice previously by BBA Remanufacturing.
Unit re-attached and brakes bled.




Secondary Tensioners.
Valve covers removed. As suspected, original ? tensioners, looking slightly cracked and very worn!







I purchased new ones from Christopher’s Foreign Car Parts via Ebay. Super-fast shipping and good price.
New ones installed using the excellent ‘Zip-Tie’ method.
I also coated the exhaust cam lobes, bearings and tensioners with Permatex Ultra Slick Engine assembly lube just to ensure a safe friction free start up.








Zip ties and black mark











Cracked and plastic guide totally worn off !







New valve cover seals and new spark plugs installed.

I noticed a slight weeping of the plastic outlet plastic cooling pipe, so guess what system is next!
I’ll change out the pump, outlet, thermostat & housing, belt, pulleys and hoses.
Stay tuned!

 

Alex looks better in his B :-) Good to hear you have the car up and going. Appears the Jaguar is becoming more popular with other sport car drivers. See you in May. Have a safe trip.

 

Hi Kelly,

He looks just as cool !
I'll be getting back from the UK, same time as the Townsend meet.
Hopefully I can swing by and say hi.

 

Great post!

Welcome to the forum!

 

Great pics! Keep up the good work.

And your son's vest is just too cool.

 

Thanks Pete. Great seminar on various procedures. Thank you. By the way love your garage. My next big task. Rich

 

It would be wise to remove the pan and look for pieces of the missing guide in the oil pump pickup screen. That's what usually happens when a guide is missing. It could affect oil pressure.

 

Pete,

Certainly made up for it. A whole year of posting in one go!
Great post.
Graham

 

Thank Gents for your kind words

RJ, that was my thought too. I'll drop the pan and take a look. Plus it'll give me a good excuse to seal the weeping pan gasket.

For ease of reading, the next projects will have separate posts!

 

Thought I was among the few who made the switch from the MGB camp to the more gentlemanly brand. I bow in respect to you, sir!

 

Welcome to the club, great post and pictures. And of course, you have the best color!