George, I did not do a DIY for the oil pan. I beleive JTIS and or alldata does a good job of describing the procedure. The only thing, I chose to raise the motor rather than dropping the whole front subframe. Might as well do the IMTs aslong as you raise the motor for the pan gasket (you have to remove the cowl and crossbar to jack motor up enough to have the clearance to clear the oil pick up tube). Really not a bad job on your back I did it in 4 hours but I was drinking beers at the time to. I could do it less than 3 now. The AC pump, ALt, and rack and pinion have to be loosened BUT NOT disconnected or removed from vehicle.

If you need any more info just ask my friend. Autozone carries the pil pan gasket for like $35.00.

 

Well... I have a lift (well my brother does). I don't know if that helps or hurts things.

He had the car yesterday for an oil change, and when I brought his truck back to pickup my car it was still up on the lift, and he was like you gotta see this - and it was clear the pan was leaking - oil on the alternator and a/c compressor as well as some in the belly pan.

I see the two bolts on both sides of the pan - for the alternator and a/c compressor. Do the top bolts need to be loosened for those? - Didn't realize the rack and pinion had to come loose too, I guess that will make sense when we get in there. Also - How did you jack up the actual motor? I'm thinking a cherry picker from above (are there any lift points?), and sliding the pan in / out with the car on the lift (but low), then putting it back in the air to button everything up. Or do I loosen the subframe and just bump the car up with the lift?

Any gasket sealer needed? Or is the the newly designed gasket better?

Thanks for the advice...

George

 

On a lift you should have no problem lowering the subframe. There are 4 maybe 6 bolts (I can't remember) I do remember they were extremely tight and my pneumatic impact had quite a time. That is when I looked around (had a few beers) and decided I would takle it from above with one of these.

Our Autozone rents them.

The rack may not have to be loosened if you are going to go the subframe route, I cannot remember sorry.

As I recall there are 4, half inch beads of silicone needed.

Really this is not a tough job if you are a bit of a wrencher (which clearly you and your brother are)! Just go at it with the idea in your head that its about a 4 hour job. For just the oil pan gasket replacement, parts wise: oil pan gasket, new oil and filter and a couple of dabs of silicone. The gasket itself is made out of a collapsible aluminum when torqued, about an 1/8" thick (new).

 

George I just went back and looked at pictures i took and I am still unsure about the rack an pinion. When I removed the 2 bolts to lower it I was very careful to mark exactly where it should go when replaced. I did NOT have to get an alignment afterward.


One more thing the original Jaguar pan gasket is brown (see pic) it was taken prior to removal, if you go with the "new improved" Jaguar gasket it will be balck, Fel-Pro gaskets are blue and 1/3 of the cost from Jag.

 

George,

How many miles on your S-Type? I do not look forward to having to deal with a leaking oil pan gasket on our 2005 model (currently 52,600 miles and getting ready for one of my wife's solo trips to and from Tampa this weekend)....

If this cursed affliction strikes our S-Type at some point, I'm headed to Rick's house with a couple of cases of beer and some new gnomes for the front porch collection....

 

Make sure they are cheap and icy cold!

As for the gnomes....our little collection are starting to diminish. Our darling 2 year old "human wrecking ball" had taken aliking to her "babies" this past summer and fall, needless to say I have repaired the ones I could, and drank a few icy colds at some of their not so lucky cousins as we laid them to rest. The "greeters" are still alive and well! For anyone not "in the know", you'll just have to ask!

Hope Jan has a safe and trouble free trip.

 

Thanks, Rick. Her S-Type is running like a champ right now so I expect a trouble-free trip. Like the STRs, even the 3.0 V6 engines love this cold weather and perform so much better now than when it is 95 degrees with 95% humidity outside....

 

It's an '03 Nearing 104k.
(I have a 65 mile a day commute).

It's been probably seeping / dripping from the oil pan for a little while, a couple oil changes ago, my brother was like you had some seepage around the pan, I tightened the bolts up, it should be fine.

This oil change, he was like uh yeah.... you gotta see this. Remarkably the car only lost .5 of a quart of oil between changes. It's amazing how much of a mess a few drops of oil can make!!

If I were closer, and didn't have my brother's shop, I'd be on my way to Rick's as well. I'd even throw in a bottle of single malt, and some cigars (if Rick partakes in such vices).

It doesn't help that it's been frigid the past week, but I hear you guys down South don't have it that much better!

Stay warm,

George

 

Yep, it's been cold here too, but I love it. Lows in the mid-teens and highs in the low thirties. Snow and sleet today, so lots of wrecks out there on the highways by the morons who think they know how to drive in icy weather. There's a big difference in driving in snow vs. driving in sleet and freezing rain....

I didn't realize that your 2003 S-Type had reached 100,000 miles. Have you changed your ZF fluid yet? If so, what did you select as your fluid? If not, what is your strategy when you decide to do it?

 

My 32.5 mile (one way) commute that normally takes about 45 mins took almost 2 hours this morning because of freezing rain overnight that caused an 18 wheeler to literally crush a car into the concrete divider northbound on the NJ turnpike. I saw the aftermath including the crane trying to get the 18 wheeler off, but the 18 wheeler made contact with the divider, and there was a car basically crushed in there underneath it.

The problem we have here is pretty much every family has gotten an SUV for the winter due to our frequent snow, but these morons think they are invincible because they have 4wd. Sure you may have traction, and be able to pull through snow, but 4wd does NOTHING to help you with stopping distances when traction is compromised due to ice or snow... A lesson many learn the hard way.

As far as my trans fluid. Would you yell at me if I told you I haven't touched it yet?
The car has no leak from the trans sleeve (the ONE thing that hasn't leaked) and it shifts / drives fine. It has a bit of the "lurch" symptom of the abrupt downshift when coming to a stop, but only when having been in motion for a while and coming to a stop.

I think when I eventually do it I'm going to go with the lifeguard fluid, since the price has come down. I'm on the fence of whether to go with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school of thought regarding transmissions, or if a preemptive change should be done.

I'm going to take a Saturday, maybe when it warms up a bit, and bang out all the 100k mile stuff and the oil pan all in one day.

On the list -

IMT O-Rings
Oil Pan Gasket
Plugs (so the intake has to come off)
Should I do the coils on that side for good measure too?

You know I've had this car for 40k miles, and I've been lucky with it so far.

Here's my list of repairs over the last 18 months and 40k.

Coolant Expansion tank
DCCV
Replaced Passenger door glass due to attempted theft
Did window regulator at that time because one of the two tabs on the bottom part was broken.
Added aftermarket remote keyless, because key fobs kept losing programming. (they would start the car, but not work the keyless).
A wheel stud because i snapped a lug nut.

Other than that, a set of tires / wheels (well 3 sets but you remember that drama). Brakes, oil changes, two tail lights, and a battery (which was preemptive, i went with the biggest Optima Yellow top I could find).

The rest has all been my doing. - Stereo, hid head / fog lights, grille, window tint etc.

Take care,

George

 

I won't yell at you for not changing your ZF Fluid. It's refreshing to hear an example of a ZF unit going the 100,000 miles that ZF tech support tells me it should easily do with no problems and no leaks! Very encouraging and let's hope it stays that way for both of us. At 54,000 miles (when my wife returns from her Tampa trip next Thursday), I have no plans to change our ZF Fluid anytime soon. The only event that will hose those plans right now would be the dreaded sleeve leak. No sign of that yet, knock on wood. If our sleeve holds up, I'll start thinking about changing the fluid at 80,000 miles. I had decided to switch to Castrol as Rick did based on the research I've done over the past year, but like you, the continuing drop in Lifeguard6 prices has me rethinking that position once again. The good news is that I have plenty of time to allow it to drop further as long as my sleeve stays intact. I was hoping that Rick's car would thoroughly guinea-pig the Castrol fluid for the rest of us, but Joyce drives so few miles that her car will provide little data in that regard....

Good luck with your upcoming S-Type maintenance plans, and keep us posted as you accomplish them....

 

You know,
Judging by the fact that everything else has leaked in my car.

Two coolant leaks - DCCV and expansion tank, AND two oil leaks, IMT O-Rings, and pan gasket. I wouldn't be surprised if the sleeve was already done in my car when I got it, so it may not be 100% original lifeguard, although some of the torx bolt heads seemed pretty rusty.

The car is on the highway 85% of the time...

I think besides the leaks most of the problems with these transmissions come when they bolt much higher hp / tq motors to them. The STR with 160 extra HP and TQ uses the same trans as my lowly 3.0 v6, with NO modification. It's also used in a lot of German V8 applications.

I'll keep you guys posted on progress.

George

 

Hey guys if you want to copy and paste the RIP Riski signature banner, by all means go for it!

Rob "spitfire" made it up last night, Thank you again Rob.

 

I already did.... I didn't think you'd mind...

Thanks Rob as well...

 

I saw that earlier this morning Jeff. I received two PMs asking about it. That is why I posted above.

 

..George you mentioned your intake has to come off to change the plugs? Is that the same case for the STR?

 

I don't believe so jag79. On the 3.0 (V6) you cannot remove 2 coils or the plugs without removing the intake manifold (crappy design) which also means that you have to include another $30.00 in intake gaskets when changing the spark plugs.

 

George if it is not to late add to the list:
3 vacuum lines
2 rubber elbows under intake (you will need lower intake seals as well)

The above get through Nalley Jaguar $80.00 unless you source them through Ford.

On the coils, if it were ours I would change out atleast the 2 hard to get ones (under the intake).

 

This came and went this morning on my commute.

 

As you now learned, we don't have the rubber elbows under the intake

Let me know part #'s on the vac lines...

Take care,

George