Is Sea Foam additive a good thing to add to a 1989 xjs

 

Probably not gonna hurt anything.

Probably not gonna help anything.

 

Agreed.

I am NOT a snake oil type of operator.

If the New Kid In The Fleet has a grubby internals of the engine, I mix 1/2ltr of ANY El Cheapo ATF with 5ltrs of engine oil, and IDLE IT IN THE DRIVEWAY for 1 hour, AKA Beer O'clock.Shut it down. Drain it as HOT as you can without burning yourself, AKA Common Sense. Let it dribble out until it stops, sometimes overnight. Refill with new filter, and DRIVE ON.

I have used Liqui Moly Cera Tec in them, and I did notiice some difference. Using it in the later V6 beasts, yes, a marked difference.

Remember that V12 was designed and Speced in 1954, and very little changed in its long life span. These newer V6 things are tighter tolerances etc, makes sense I suppose.

 

Don,

You haven't said if this is a 5.3 or a 3.6 engine?

If it's the V12, I'm also slightly cynical. High octane modern petrol with a better degree of detergent is probably sufficient to cleanse some of the carbon deposits.

I think the aftermarket additives probably have more benefit on more modern engines such as the AJ6 / AJ16 where aspects such as inlet tract cleanliness are quite critical.

And of course, really regular oil changes never hurt anyone!

Cheers

Paul

 

I have given both of my Jaguars with AJ16 engine an flush (with Forté). Have good experience with it.
Both engines have started to run more efficiently. Engine oil not dirty when changing.

I have never added additives. Always use high octane gasoline (98 in Europe).

 

I’m not a big fan of additives either. My father always scared me with stories about knocking off big chunks of stuck on goop which will float around and gum up an oil pump pick up, or mess with your rings or get inside bearing passages or somehow muck up the system (stuck valves) and may make things even worse. Of course the idea is to dissolve the Gook so that it’s now more soluble in the oil that you’re about the drain but ive got visions of big carbon chunks breaking loose from his stories.

That being said the most he would do is the old transmission fluid trick as someone else had mentioned up above. I guess it all depends on how bad dirty your engine is.

in the olden days Engines had lots of blowby or would pump nasty exhaust gases ladened with carbon back into the intake track and they would leave nasty hard deposits in the valve covers or on your intake valves so It could help or it could hurt so it was always a last ditch effort to save a motor that was already suffering

what’s the inside of the engine look like. What are you trying to accomplish

 

Nothing has changed except now they call it EGR - Exhaust Gas Recirc and crankcase venting has also achieved new levels of complexity.

The market is awash with snake oil and the media too full of 'influencers' prepared to pedal it. If an engine is really black inside then poor maintenance is likely the cause, some gunge is normal especially on engines fed a lifetime of dianosaur soup, modern synthetics don't break down so readily.

I like the sound of Grant's fix though I've never tried it as my fixes tend to be significantly more radical - off with the rocker box and the sump and in with the paraffin / diesel and a brush ...

 

OK, appears to be more interest in my Shade Tree method that expected.

Let me explain, so no-one gets upset.

I drain whatever is in there. remove the filter. Let it engine drain, maybe a full 24 hrs. Refill with ElCheapo oil (20W50) in this engine. It takes 10ltrs (near enough) including the filter. So, 9ltrs, then 1ltr of ATF, start and let it idle, I NEVER DRIVE THEM WITH THIS BREW INSIDE. An hour or so later, shut it down, let it coll a tad, drain it. Let it drain over night.
Replace the filter, refill with clean oil.

THATS IT

The 1976 V12 got done again about 100K kms later, just because. That engine has now topped 750K kms, and still does what it does, OK, it leaks a bit at the tappet blocks, and the Sandwich plate, who cares??, not me, I consider that all part of the "Jaguar Anti Rust System". I will not touch that thing until it stops on its own accord, and the way it is going I will probably stop before it does.

ALL my Jags since the Mighty MK VII have been treated this way. The later AJ16, and the S Type, X Type, were the dirtiest internals I have ever seen, and took 2 flushes before I was happy. They still have semi clean oil at ever drain, so care factor is low at best.