It's secured by four metal tabs (2 x horizontal at the top and 2 x horizontal at the bottom) which locate in spring clips.

I use a thin wooden spatula. Insert in the gap between the top of the centre console and carefully ease the lower edge of the trim out. Once the lower edge is clear, the top edge can be released from one side then the other.

The veneer is on a metal backing so it's stronger than you may think but can still be easily scratched.

Graham

 

drain a qt out and add engine restore to oil or stp both improve/change viscocity and should restore your oil pressure at idle. and note. most all engines only need 10psi/1000rpm.

 

Yes to both Steve

Brutal - I will give this a shot - thank you!

 

Jonny,
I'm afraid those are typical symptoms of crankshaft journal/big end wear. It may be that the bits in your oil intake cut down the oil flow enough to damage the engine.
It needs someone like Brutal to say if you need to do anything drastic at the moment.
Something like a tractor engine will go on for several years with bearings worn enough to light the warning light at tickover but I wouldn't want to fly in a light aircraft with the same problem. Your engine is somewhere between the two. Sorry to be a Jonah.

 

dx3,

Steve is probably on the money. And the Jag mechanic is possibly partially right, in that running a heavier oil will probably help 'mask' the problem. At the same time, that hidden problem will be developing into a bigger problem when it again rears its ugly head. You haven't said how many miles you have on the clock, but I'm guessing it's a few, and my initial reaction reading your thread was 'bearings'. you don't have to pull the engine out to do them, but checking them is a job you need to schedule sooner rather than later, because once the white metal lining is gone from them you start to damage the crankshaft and then the engine does have to come out. Meantime, if you must drive it, BE GENTLE. Don't push the revs, keep them down.

Cheers,

Languid

 

In years past I tore down several engines with oil pressure that low, and they all had crank scoring. Replacing the bearings was only a temporary fix.

 

Hi,

I found this while searching the other Jag forum. A shot in the dark possibly but worth a look?

Barry


Newbie with oil pressure fix
I've been lurking this board for two years after I bought my 99 XK8 convertible. The advice has been tremendous in solving problems so I figure I can pay back with this solution to a low/intermittent oil pressure problem.

Car has 95K, recently oil pressure would drop to zero with no explanation. Mechanical gauge confirmed the drop. Shifted to neutral, cut motor and did a quick restart and oil pressure was back to 50 PSI. Oil pump looked great, pressure valve worked perfect. We scratched our heads for two weeks trying to figure this out. Owner of the shop took a smoke generator and forced smoke up the oil pickup tube. That's when we found the leak around the crank. Smoke poured out from around the drive gear in the pump. New pump was solid with the smoke test. Problem solved.

I would suggest checking that oil pump and not relying on thicker oil. Mileage may vary

Thanks again for this great forum!

Al

 

I agree entirely.
You've already had the oil pan off once - it wouldn't be a big deal to look at one main + one big end (he said, never having done it on a Jaguar engine).
If they look good it's possibly the oil pump.
I'm afraid, in my experience, it's always the bearings.

 

No, the Jag engine is unconventional. It has a 'structural sump', meaning the engine should be removed from the vehicle and partially diassembled to get to the bearings.

 

Well that knocks that on the head. I couldn't find anything in JTIS and I'm more of a tractor person so not into they new-fangled gadgets. I suppose it beefs up the bottom end as well as making things difficult.

 

man you guys just want to jump on the engine bad bearing bandwagon so fast. I dont get it. Ive been inside many many engines over the yrs. everything from stockers to hot street and race engines. I can tell you that many things cause low oil pressure at idle. just worn bearing and other "opened up" clearance inside the engine. as well as clogged oil pickup. worn oil pump tolerances as well as weakened oilpump pressure springs. any one or comination of these can give this issue. And a low pressure at idle that rises with rpm is not that big an issue. As long as you have some pressure, even then todays oil is very good at keeping oil films and protecting parts without pressure. Ive run 2 engines without oil trying to get them to blow and neither did, pulled them apart and the bearings were still in good shape. If it is something as simple as "stacked tolerances" on a worn engine or weak pressure spring, or small internal oil leak. Thinker oil indeed wont "FIX" these. but thicker oil will be harder to push out clearances. a leak with thicker oil becomes less etc... I think, IMO doing something as cheap and easy as using a thicker viscosity should be the first path of choice now. Do you really want to tear into the engine? what if you find bad bearing? what then, the best choice and fastest would be to get a remanned or salvage engine and swap out if indeed the engine is bad. sometimes its best to just run until it breaks. and the only thing youre gonna do in frame is look at a couple rod bearing. you cant pull the bedplate to look at the mains and the bedplate also blocks access to many of the rods

 

@Brutal,Relax, Man don't live up to your name!!
OK, it's the shear strength of the oil film that lubricates not the oil pressure but as a bearing wears the contact area decreases (think of a little 'o' running in a big 'O') so the force on the oil film increases beyond it's shear strength.
The low oil pressure is a symptom of the wear not the cause.
I too have run engines dry due to a variety of failures leading to loss of oil. They survived a few seconds.
I don't pretend to be a Jaguar expert but I've played around with engines for more than 50 years and putting thicker oil in them and waiting to see what breaks doesn't seem the right solution to me.
Sounds a bit on par with the old practice of feeding a pair of nylons into the diff to quiten it down til the car was sold.
I assume even Jag cranks can be reground.
Surely that makes more sense than waiting til the engine siezes and posssibly damages the transmission.
Anyway, just my two pennyworth.

 

Steve;

Gotta say I've never heard of stuffing nylons in the rear end (other than some wierd porno sites), but the item of choice around my town was bananas. For both.

 

Now that might raise the oil pressure!

 

Brutal,

Mate, easy! I admit that my experience of pulling Jag engines to carry out major repairs is from the days when the easiest method was to unbolt the front end (from memory about 8 bolts + the propshaft) and lift the body away, so I bow to your experience with pulling 'donks' from the more modern varieties. My partner's speciality is pulling low km's from cut in half 'wrecks' (I'll try to attach a couple of photos), and mine is now in selecting suitable whole cars to import into NZ, but suspecting worn bearings is pretty logical given the info provided. Agreed modern oils are a different universe to the one some of us grew up in, but in the end the problems that rise from an older engine will, after all the electronics are bypassed or discounted, be basically the same. If the clearances are too great, the oil pressure will drop particularly at idle. Equally, it is under acceleration that the most load is placed on the bearings, not when the engine is just 'cruising'. That's when the film can break down under the load and allow the bearings to 'hammer'.

Steve,

I must admit that this is the first time I've heard of stuffing nylons into the diff. A pair were always handy to get you home if the fan belt broke, but for diffs' & gearboxes the 'sharpies' used to use bananas nad "Holts Piston Seal" for the engine. Those were before the days of compulsory Warranties for used cars. (Sometimes politicians do have a purpose!)

Cheers Guys,

Languid

 

Are you driving at a constant high speed before idle? Because driving a car, in extremely hot temperature makes oil heat up more intensely, and this could have a negative effect on the oil pressure. Other possibility is, damaged or worn out engine bearings which can also have an adverse effect on the oil pressure in a vehicle.

 

Or, as I remember, Sawdust could be used.

Or, for Engine Noises/Low Oil Pressure, 50% STP would help.

As I write this, I realize that there really are lots of Old Crocks on this forum (I plead Guilty).

 

Gentlemen,

To answer some quick questions. Car has 111k miles on it and has had 2 owners. I probably have never gone over 3500 rpms in the car, so it is never driven hard or really much faster than the speed limit (blasphemous I know!)

A recap:

Start "cold" car and do not touch throttle - oil pressure good.
Car warms up to normal operating temp - oil pressure drops to red
Cold car driving - oil pressure good
Warm car driving (normal op temp) - oil pressure in red
Any throttle whatsoever - oil pressure good
Idle at normal op temp - oil pressure in red

 

New sensor didn't help. Drained a quart of oil and added the Lucas stuff (quart) and it didn't help either.

So how difficult is replacing the oil pump? Looks like that may be what I have to do - that or bearings...

 

The oil pump is only held on by four bolts. It's getting to the pump that takes the work:

Jaguar XK8 - Oil Pump.pdf

Think what you've read about 'tensioners' and that's the general preparatory strip down to get to it.

Graham