We just got a 98 XK8 with 107000 miles on it, After read all the post on the cam tensioners, I pulled the cam covers and guess what? Plastic tensioners and plastic water pump. the thermostat housing has been leaking before we got the car, When i pulled the water crossover pipe, I found stop leak stuck on the inside of the pipe, The intake has no oil in it, Thats good, so I have read,
My question is , All the metal parts in the engine, Cams, VVt, gears, everything all have this gold color to it, like cheap oil has been run in it, I can wipe it off with alittle break cleaner,
After getting everything back together, should I run a high detergent oil in it to help clean the inside of the engine?
Also can the oil pan be removed without yanking the front end out from under it

 

The orange tint is pretty normal. Darker and harder is not good. No reason to try to remove it. Use proper oil and everything will be OK.

You are about 40k miles beyond the expected life of the plastic tensioners. I would consider replacing them. If you have removed the valve covers you are very capable of replacing the tensioners.

While I have not been challenged to remove my oil pan it is reported that it can be removed with the engine in place. There is another casting above the pan that holds the crank shaft in place.

 

Thanks Test point
Tensioners and water pump will be replaced,
Proper Oil? 107000 miles on the engine, Don`t know what has been used in the past in this engine , I was thinking Castro`s high mileage oil, With this many miles don`t know if synthetic oil would be worth it. What do you think would be a good oil?
The car is my Wifes weekend ride,and i`m the cheap labor. really it`s a Sunny day car since it`s a convertiable, Low yearly mileage, I really like the car, but I REALLY like tinkering with it.

 

The oil pan is easy to remove. Pull the tubular X-Brace, and then remove the bolts running around the perimeter of the pan. I would have a new seal ready before doing the job. There are no crank seals, or anything like that to complex the project... its just a simple pan drop.

Also you are going to find all your tensioner parts down there. There are about three major oil galleys that drain from the cylinder head and the ones in the front are very wide. So all the plastic is down there. However, don't worry about them getting into the oil pump, because there is a fine screen across the pickup.

 

Thanks
Cam tensioner didn`t come apart, car was still running when I tore her down,
Cam tensioner are RED, is that 2nd gen tensioners?
what about using Dyno oil in it?

 

The plastic tensioners start out white but become red/orange with the oil and heat. Being a '98 they are most likely the first generation, without the external springs, and most likely to fail.

There is nothing wrong with dino oil (Oh . . . N o o o o, not another oil discussion).

My opinion is since Jaguar dealers use a synthetic blend that about the minimum I would use. Strange that the owner books, at least my '02 ones, only specify an API specification and weight and are silent on synthetic vs dino. Personally, based on my driving habits, I choose to use the full synthetic with 10k mile intervals.

 

There were early problems with VVT faults believed to be caused by the use of full synthetic oil. I personally have not seen this issue and have installed full synthetic oil in many customers cars for many years and miles. I would use what you like and just change it on a regular basis.

 

red = first gen tensioners. Get rid of them ASAP.