The old leaky oil sender, we all know that they leak but mine is dripping a little bit but there is quite a lot of oil under that part of the engine.
When driving does the leak get bigger? will it drip more?

Seems like a lot of oil for a small leak.....I have a new one just don't want to change it just yet.
How many beers is this job?

 

Well it can be a total ******* if the old one won't come loose. Start it up and watch the sender while you rev it. If it's let go you'll see a spray of oil at higher pressure; recipe for fire if it gets bad. The 'pedestal' holding the sender can snap off while you attempt to remove it. If that happens the there's a risk of snapping off the oil lines..ask me how I know. If I ever have to do it again, I'll disconnect the oil banjo from the pedestal, remove the pedestal and sender together and deal with it on the bench vise. Good luck.

 

They can get worse in a real hurry.

I had a real leaker on a PreHE, and while watching it, contemplating the task ahead, and consuming beer, the bloody end blew out, then I had a gusher, OOPS>

About 4 beers, not as bad as it looks. I took the capstan top off, and the balance pipe. The oil around the treads form said leak makes it easy to release.

The gauge one, NOT so easy.

 

Change it pronto! Mine had an invisible leak at tickover and in 200 miles blew out 2/3's of the oil. if a V12, remove the capstan tower and support the casting the sensor is screwed into against the undoing torque, or it will snap off very easily. tower out it is FAR easier and safer.

 

The cost of a few beers could quickly go to $10K for a new engine if it fails completely and dumps all your oil.

If it's leaking that much it should be well lubricated (as mine was), so not a big deal to get it out. Remove the crossover pipe and it's not all that difficult to get to.

Since you'll be back there, it'll be a good time to replace the heater valve if yours still has the metal OEM valve in it.

Just for laughs, after replacing my oil sender I "destruction tested" it. The pic shows what the innards look like.

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12

 

The gauge one, NOT so easy. - Sorry it is the gauge one leaking from where the wire spade is attached.

The oil pressure one has oil on it but i can not see a leak... it has a plastic cover on it which is no longer available.

The gauge sensor - any good tips about changing this?

Might as well do both..

 

NOW its 12 beers MINIMUM.

For sanities sake, remove what is needed to get that alloy pedestal up to the bench.

The gauge sender is a copper washer seal, NOT a tapered thread, so Rock Ape Tight is the norm from the factory.

Release the large banjo fitting, and the 2 bolts, and thats it.

DO NOT under any circumstances touch the Banjo bolts at the rear of the ehads. that will have the car ending up in "The Ditch". trust me.

I have only ever used the Smiths OE sender here, and JagDaim etc are the usual suppliers down here.
The smaller sender is the Idiot Light, and any 1/8" tapered thread, spade trminal sender will do. KE20 etc Corrolla, Ford, Mazda, etc etc. are all suitable.

 

A trick a dirt floor mechanic shared with me is to clean up the drip and put white typing paper under the car where the drip shows. Easier to ID the fluid. Brown, amber, red, etc. Not always an 'aha!' moment but a good starting point very often.

 

Yes. I would imagine as the oil thins with heat, as the oil pressure rises and falls, the small leak could get more intense. Mine leaked and what seemed like a just a drip at idle when I was poking my big head in there intensified while driving. I could tell because when I parked the continued runoff from what had accumulated (especially on in incline) was significant.

Are you sure that this is your only leak?
Just wondering.

I used a crowfoot wrench and after doing what Grant suggested in romoving things in the neighborhood, it wasn't that bad. I remember thinking that if I was feeling anything like LOTS resistance torqing it off that I would remove the whole thing. I didn't need to do that.

I've learned something. Took a while as I'm hard headed and don't listen. I get a huge amount of satisfaction and learning when I take everything thing that needs to be removed OUT of the way when I do stuff today. One thing is that often at some point in my past with the car,,, or the PO, I find something that needs to be done better. Another is I do LESS damage, another is that I feel more confident that things are right when I get it all back together (well, usually, lol)... And,,, it is always waaaaaay less frustrating! That X a multiple sometimes.

Clear out the area to do the job is good advise

 

This is really good advice. When you open the hood, it's an intimidating picture with how tightly everything is packed in. But once you realize that you have to remove some items to get to what you need it's not all that bad. If your XJS is a daily driver then it's a tougher job with the pressure of getting it on the road for work the next day. If you have the luxury of being able to take it off the road until everything is fixed then you'll be much more relaxed as you work through the process.
It' also nice that removing the hood is relatively easy because I think it makes a lot of sense to remove it if you have a lot of work to do. The 15 minutes it takes to remove it is worth the ease of working on the engine.

Also, since this is about oil leaks - UV dye in the oil is the best. Below are pictures from my V6 converted MGB when I thought my freshly rebuilt engine had a leak from the rear main seal. It turned out to be the cam backing plate that was the leak.

 

Maaaan,,, if I used that stuff in my XJS, I would have the constant feeling of being at a RAVE DANCE PARTY, lol...

That dye makes sense. Especially now since I've kinda gotten all of my leaks under control - thanks to y'all!

 

Hey I'm at this point now.....ya im back....

Does that banjo bolt at the back of the pedestal just come straight out? It seems to be turn the pipes with it. Don't worry I stopped as soon as it budged (which was lots of force to make it move)

I've sprayed the hell out of it with pb blaster so I'll try again tomorrow.

 

got it!