Rough start. New member and posted to wrong forum. The were nice when they threw me out.

I recently purchased a 1996 XJS coupe in fantastic shape and I have started to drive it to work daily.
Noticed small oil puddle in front center and discovered that there is an engine oil cooler.
My question is," what is easiest way to get at this cooler and hoses? If I have to remove bumper is there a guide for this?"

 

That's probably a 95... what is the last six digits of your vin?

Very rare to have the coupe on a facelift XJS....

 

196874 are the last 6 digits of the VIN. You are correct it is a 1995. What do you know about replacing the oil cooler in the front? Can you replace it without removing the bumper?

 

First of all, you need to verify the source of the leak. Often it's at the connection of the pipe to the cooler. The bad news is that it's nigh on impossible to remove the pipe from the cooler without destroying the cooler. Some of the pipes are also NLA, so go into the job with your eyes open. Some owners remove the cooler and fit the bypass setup as fitted to the x300 saloons.

However if the pipes are intact, you can change the cooler without removing the bumper or the bonnet.

Good luck

Paul

 

Thanks.
The lines seem dry or only wet due to the the cooler coil which looks like it is generally wheeping. Good news that I do not need to remove the bumper or hood. Second problem is 100% of the parts shown on-line for coolers have the two base stems on the opposite side to the hose connections whereas my 1995 has them on the same side. Any suggestions regarding buying the correct part?
Bypass sounds interesting. IS there any downside?

 

This is an interesting issue. Would a modern oil cooler fit the original fittings (as in a straight swap)?

 

Original type part is easy to source. I will let you know soon as I plan to put it in soon.

 

Dailydriver,

If you were in the UK, I'd suggest there is no downside to running a bypass system on the AJ16 cars, assuming your overall cooling system is in good shape. As you're in SC, I wouldn't like to say. There have been other threads where this has been discussed. Remember the AJ16 is very different proposition to the V12. Unless you're hitting huge temps, I'd think you'd be absolutely fine. Next time my cooler or pipe lets go, I'm fitting the bypass kit that it's in my spares box. If it helps, the part number for the standard cooler fitted in an AJ16 XJS is CCC6982.

Good luck

Paul