Can anyone tell me if the cam cover on the XJ40 4.0L engine is made out of aluminum or magnesium?

Thank you in advance

 

Aluminum. .I have one that was cracked by previous owner who was a hammer mechanic.

 

I would like to buy or borrow this cover to experiment with it and see what modification has to be made to make it fit.

EZDriver

 

Make it fit What?

More specifics are in order.

 

HAH.

I reckon X300 (AJ16), due to their "dumb" magnesium covers falling apart.

My investigations to date are:

It will fit.

The coil mounting holes will need drilling/tapping/sealing, NOT hard.

You will need a late XJ40 cover with the oil cap in the cover, as with the AJ16 cover. The earlier AJ6 have the oil cap on an external filler pipe "I think". It has been years since I have seen under the bonnet of an early one??.

One day someone will leave the bonnet up on an XJ40, and I will simply swap covers HAHAHAHA, in your dreams Grant.

 

I am looking for a cam cover from a XJ40 which is made out of aluminum instead of magnesium. I tried posting on the XJ40 area and have not had success. One guy said he had a cracked cover that was made out of aluminum. I sent him two PMs offering to buy it or just borrow it to see if it could be made to fit. No response either to the PMs or the last posting.

Is this something that is possible to do? And has anyone tried it?

Thanks guys.

EZDriver X300 XK8

 

Ah...A tad slow on the old Divination

If this is the case, then 1994.

The early ones do have a separate side fill oil tube.

Although this being a Jaguar, maybe not such an issue.

Load her up with oil, bolt on your new old cover and hey presto 'sealed for life'.

Do ya think that the Jaguar engineers, will take it up? $$$

 

Very interested to see how you make out.

On a related note, do you guys think they used magnesium covers on the AJ6 based DB7s too?

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA, luv it.

Just like sealed for life transmissions, JOKE.

Fair dinkum, even some BMW's have NO engine oil dipstick, all ECU controlled, I want one NOT.

I like the Aston one in the X300 post, I reckon it would cost more than my house IF you could find one.

 

The 1988-1992 AJ6 cover will NOT work as the bolt holes are in different places.

The 1994 style head might be close enough to modify if the mounting holes line up.
The cover might be modified for coil hold down but I don't have a 1994 or X300 here to look at.

bob gauff

 

Sorry for the delay but i had to find it.motorcar man is corect in that the bolt holes are not in the same places and the newer one has more wit toyally different spacing. .

 

I want to thank all that responded. You have provided good info. I know now that I am looking for a 1994 or maybe a 1993 XJ6 cam cover. Keep me in mind if anyone has a lead. I'll repost as I make progress.

Thanks again.

 

The 94 is the one that has an oil filler cap,the others use the fill pipe on the side of the block.

 

Are there composite (carbon fiber) covers available?

 

UPDATE.

NO the '94 will not do. As suggested in another thread on X300 I think, the bolt spacings are tooooo far out.

It will fit, as in sit in place, but securing it is not possible, then add to that the coil mount issue, and tooooo hard, even for me.

My humble apologies for any confusion I may have caused.

My cover looks "ordinary" at best, and a '94 pulled into home today, so, MUCH measuring etc took place, too bad it was all in vain.

 

I am really getting tired of the blistering in my XJR6 cover - finding I am not alone in this. I don't want to use the coil over plug set up either and think Aston Martin took the right direction in keeping the ignition off the head. It seems not that difficult to use 6 separate coils mounted elsewhere and run wires to the plugs. By what I read then; the 1994 XJ6 cover is without Magnesium and with slight modification, will fit the 1995 - 1997 engine?

 

I have now merged the two similar threads. Information in one, relates to answers in the other.

A reader should read the posts above this one.

Grant measured the 94 version and came to the conclusion that bolt spacings are different, not to mention coil openings.

More than slight modification required.

 

I want to thank everyone for their great investigative work. It seems like we are stuck with the magnesium covers for the 95, 96&97 XJ6 cars. It is really a big mistake to have used that metal instead of aluminum. I can't understand what they were thinking. Electrolysis is a serious problem with magnesium. So, unless some after market guy starts making cam covers out of aluminum we are stuck with covers that will turn to dust some day.

 

Why can't the be blasted with aluminum oxide, baked, and powder coated, inside and out?

 

Would be very interested to know if anyone has successfully powder coated or even perhaps better, ceramic coated (e.g. Jet-Hot) the cover and noted if it seemed to help with the electrolysis and held up over time.

Also, what is the vapor recovery filter material under the cover made from and does it hold up to the heat for powder/ceramic coating?

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