I'll be doing my first oil & filter change on my wife's 2006 XK8 within the next 400 or so miles (probably two weekends from now). I can do our S-Type's oil & filter changes in my sleep, but I have yet to crawl under her XK8 so I face a learning curve there. Here are my questions:

1. Right at 8 quarts of oil are required to reach the "full" level on the dipstick. Correct?

2. There is no full belly pan to remove (our S-Type has one), but there is supposedly a shield (or air deflector) guarding the oil filter. It is held in place by only one bolt, and is located more towards the passenger underside of the car. Correct?

3. Is the oil filter mounted vertically or horizontally? Just wondering whether removing that oil filter always makes a big mess. In my experience, vertical mounts are always messier than horizontal mounts.

4. Supposedly, I will not be able to drain all of the old oil out of the oil pan if I leave the front end of the car jacked up (or up on my ramps). In order to completely drain the oil pan, the front end of the car must be lowered to the pavement again once the oil pan drain plug is pulled. Correct?

5. Any other tips to make this task easier and less messy? As I do on our S-Type's 6HP26 ZF whenever I'm underneath it, I'll be checking and probably tightening the two shift cable attachment bolts under the car in order to prevent the dreaded stuck gearshift which occurs when one (or both) of those bolts loosens up and falls out. I'll also be checking for the dreaded ZF electrical connector sleeve ATF leak. I'll be adding a 20-ounce bottle of Chevron Techron to the fuel tank, cleaning the MAF sensor with my spray can of MAF sensor cleaner, and I'll take the opportunity to rotate the new non-directional rear Yokohama YK 580 tires. I cannot rotate the front Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires because they are directional.

Thanks for any experienced suggestions to make my first XK8 service easier and less messy as I crawl around underneath the car....

 

Can't help you with most question, but I can give you several tips.

Take a flat head screw driver or punch or large nail and drive a hole into the filter, making sure you have a oil pan underneath.

Go to the parts store and get a new gasket for the drain bolt. Major cause of oil dripping is from worn out gaskets.

when filling, use a funnel that has a wide nozzle and make sure not to place the funnel on top of a valve, seen more people get oil all over the valve cover doinf this.

If you have oil around the filler cap, replace the cap. Engines need tight seals to make PVC system to function properly.

Clean your finger before putting new oil on it to put on the filter gasket, you do not want grit from your finger to cause a leak at the filter.

Pull lightly on the filter gasket before installing, twice I have had gaskets come loose and once almost ruined my engine.

 

You're familiar with S-Type oil and filter changes so you know the basics and have the appropriate tools.

1. refill on the 4.2 requires 7.6 litres
2. correct about the shield (called Alternator Cooling Duct) and location:



Dreadful photo but you'll get the idea.

3. oil filter is horizontal:

JAGUAR XK8 4.2 - Normally Aspirated.pdf

PDF shows filter and drain plug locations.

4. the rear of the vehicle needs to be higher than the front to drain all the oil.

I always use a new drain plug as the rubber seal isn't available separately in the UK. May be different in the US. Torque for the drain plug is 25Nm

The extended oil filler neck on the 4.2 makes refilling much easier and cleaner than the 4.0 litre engine.

Graham

 

Make sure the oil drain container will fit under the pan when the front end is lowered and the rear end jacked up. I was using a larger drain container because of the larger oil capacity and crushed it a little when jacking up the rear end.

 

I've never replaced the drain plug seal and never had a leak.

Take a picture of the air deflector, it's installation is counter-intuitive.

As long as you have the rear end on ramps, you might think about greasing the rear half shafts if they haven't been done. 4 Zerk fittings at the yokes. They can be a pain to get to. The spec is every 10,000 miles. For me, that's about every third oil change.

 

Where are the best jacking points, front and rear? And where are the best locations to place my jack stands, front and rear? Obviously, all the jacking hardware needs to be out of my way so I have clear access to the oil pan drain plug and oil filter as I crawl around underneath the car....

 

No doubt there'll be many who have always jacked under the aluminium crossmember and never had a problem or jacked up one wheel and never cracked a windscreen! This is the recommended procedure for the 4.2:

JTIS - Using a Workshop Jack.pdf

Positions for axle stands is the side jacking points:

Jaguar XK8 4.2 - Jacking Points.pdf

There's no need to crawl too far under the vehicle to the drain plug or oil filter. Both can be reach from the front once the vehicle is high enough off the ground.

Graham

 

Check Reverend Sam's jacking procedure video in the FAQ section.

 

If I can manage to take the car away from my wife for a few hours, I'll be doing this service tomorrow morning. Thanks to all for the tips and tricks you provided. I'll put them to good use. I already know I'll despise having to lower the front end to the ground after the oil drain plug has been pulled and raise the rear end in order to drain all of the old oil. That's essentially a front-up / front-down / rear-up / rear-down / front-up / front-down just to do an oil & filter change. What a freakin' hassle....

 

My thoughts exactly Jon. maybe hydraulic suspension would help.

Have fun tomorrow.

 

Thanks, Norri....

Anybody know off the top of their head what size the oil pan drain plug is? Checking my sockets tonight in preparation for tomorrow morning, I see that my 36-year-old Craftsman set goes from 8mm up to 15mm, then finishes with a 17mm (which I may have added many years ago and simply don't remember doing so). I don't have a 16mm socket. With my luck, the XK8 oil pan drain plug will be 16mm....

 

The oil & filter change and rear tire rotation is done. Not too bad a chore other than all the jacking required. Thanks for all the tips. Watching Sam's video on how best to jack the car in the front and the rear was also extremely helpful. I followed his advice and had no issues at all....

By the way, our oil pan drain plug takes a 13mm socket....

First thing I noticed when crawling underneath the car is that the plastic alternator cooling duct (which must be removed in order to pull the oil filter) is missing. I see the plastic scoop that it fits in (about 2 to 3 inches square), and I see the silver metal bracket for the single bolt that holds it in place. Someone did an oil & filter change in the past and obviously left the duct off the car. How much risk do we run without it? Perhaps the plastic scoop (facing forward) gets enough forced air to cool the alternator when the car is heading down the road at highway speeds, but I do not know....

The oil pan gasket looked to be in great shape, as did the ZF unit. No leaks or drips. That's always a relief with these cars....

I refilled with exactly 8 quarts of Castrol conventional 5W-30 oil. I may need to add just a bit more once the car is driven for a day or so. We'll see....

All things considered, not a bad job. You do need a good quality floor jack and some jack stands, however. It would be very difficult to do this job properly with the front end up on ramps as I am accustomed to doing....

 

Can you put the rears on the ramp, then jack the front as needed? Also with rears in the air, you may be able to grease the rear halfshafts. I've not done this, so was wondering.

 

I'm not surprised the alternator cooling scoop is missing I'm guessing this is not a common part on most cars. I would however get a replacement. There's a reason the design engineers put one on the car---me thinks the mechanical engineers weren't very concerned about the electrical cooling requirements of the alternator. If the altenator runs over temperature it will decrease the life of the insulation system.

 

It appears that jagbits.com sells these cooling ducts for around $33 plus shipping. They list a couple of different parts for this particular area, so I'll need to confirm which part I actually need. No idea yet if these ducts are new or used. Being plastic, I would rather have a new one. I'll call them later this morning and discuss the issue. Once I have the details, I'll post them here....

 

The cooling duct also went missing from mine.

Jaguar XK8 4.2 - Alternator Cooling Duct.pdf

Not realising there was a part number change, I obtained a used one from a 4.0 litre. The correct one for both our 4.2 vehicles is HJA4477AD but the earlier one has been fitted on my XK8 for three months with no issues.

Graham

 

Thanks, Graham. Did the proper securing bolt come with your replacement cooling duct, or did you simply find a similar bolt in your workshop collection and go with that?

 

I got the bolt with the replacement duct. It goes into a spring clip and not a captive nut so make sure this clip is still on the steel channel.

Graham

 

I called our local dealership parts department, and they'll cut me a break on their list price. The cooling duct will be $35.85 (down from $42.18), and the bolt will be 93 cents (down from $1.12). That's cheaper than ordering from jagbits.com and then having to pay for shipping. The parts should arrive at the dealership by Wednesday or Thursday....

As always, Graham's part number was correct - HJA4477AD. And yes, the bolt clip is still in place on our car. Thanks again, Graham....

 

crap, I got no duct either, I thought it was supposed to just direct air 'in that direction'. now its going to bug me!