1965 Mk2 Jaguar - progress goes "boink"

It's been a while - been putting the Jag to use - went to Goodwood Revival and used it as a wedding car for my cousin's wedding.

So, having driven it to Suffolk and back without any hitch, I decided to drive it work while the weather was vaguely dry. All is well until I start it to come home, whereupon it graunches a bit and then has a constant rubbing noise. Hmmmm....sounds like the starter motor has worked loose.

Last Friday evening while SWMBO was out running, I thought I would check to see what was what. Now, the Mk2 Jaguar is possibly the most awkward and inaccessible cars to work on, so I peered into the depths of the engine bay to try and see if the starter motor was indeed loose.



Can you see it? No? Its the thing to the right of the wiring loom with two long thin bolts - the photo is taken later once I had removed the battery. Well, I poked it with a stick and the starter moved, so I figured, yes it's loose!

Last Saturday as it was raining so no gardening chores were possible, I blagged some time in the garage to sort it out.

In the meantime the rubbing noise had got worse so I didn't want to drive it, so pushed it far enough to get the jack in and jack up the front.



Removed the front wheel and slid underneath to see if I could reach the starter from there:



Hmmm - not really - can you see it? Its above the curvy bit of rusty steel! Easy!

So, there is no room for a spanner, but two ratchets, with various lengths of extension bar and long reach sockets I managed to tighten it up enough to start the car without it rubbing on the flywheel, but not after dropping the ratchet on my head and swearing. A lot.

Lunch hour over now - so more later.

Next installment!

So having got the bottom bolt of the starter tightened up, I figured I needed to also tighten the top one, on the basis that both must have been loose in order for the starter motor to be wobbling about. Refer to uncle Haynes for guidance:-

1. Disconnect the power supply to the starter motor.
2. Push the two front seats back as far as they will go and remove the seat bases.
3. Unscrew the gear lever knob.
4. Unscrew the knurled knob which secures the centre console.
5. Pull the centre console up and back.
6. Remove the side panel concealing the radio gubbins (I'm paraphrasing)
7. Disconnect the heater pipe.
8. Pull back the carpet
9. Find a circular access hole and unscrew it.
10. Gain access to the rear nut on the starter motor.....

Really! So, probably best to turn the car round as the garage isn't the biggest, and tightening one bolt seemed to have secured the starter enough to stop it rubbing on the flywheel.



Actually, it wasn't as bad as it sounds - the seat bases just pull off. But the aftermarket seat belt stalks got in the way of the centre console sliding "up and back" so off they came - then the console won't clear the seat back, but it came out enough to get to the rest.



Well, this circular access hole.....



Can you see it?



There it is - I was kind of expecting something you could swing a spanner in, but hey it is a Mk2 Jag! Peering down from the top of through the gap between the scuttle and the bonnet - I could see precisely nothing.



So out came the battery.



Now, I could see the top bolt - and see I needed to access the nut via an extension bar from inside the car. Pushing the bonnet up as far as it would go and propping it on a bit of wood meant I could squeeze my arm down between the scuttle and the bonnet I could just about get a spanner on the top bolt - what you do if you don't have skinny arms I know not!

Time for tea - back later

I hope so too - I've got heavy duty axle stands and jack, but would much prefer to do it on a ramp!

It's time for the annual Jag service! Well, not a full service, just changing the oil and filter- exciting stuff!



So did I learn anything from last time - well I put the oil drain tray well over to one side and not under the oil plug.  Carefully undid the drain plug and watch the oil squirt half way across the garage missing the tray completely!


So far so good.

Took the oil filter housing off and spilt more oil on the floor!

One thing I did remember from last time was the importance of getting the o-ring to seat correctly in the oil pump housing so it doesn't leak everywhere! Only minor problem was the new o-ring was much fatter than the slot it goes into and wouldn't sit in place - the old one was much thinner and was still in usable condition so that went back in. Put a bit of oil in the filter housing and popped it back on - so far so good.

Measured out six litres of oil and filled up the engine checking for drips - all good. Oil seems to be registering on the dip stick so back on the ground for a fire up. Fired her up - got some oil pressure - checked underneath and no oil p1ssing everywhere like last year - excellent!

Check the dipstick - oil is just barely registering on the bottom - so put some more oil in, check - repeat etc etc. Got up to 7.5litres of oil which is supposed to be the capacity of the engine, and still it is only up to the minimum mark on the dipstick - put a bit more oil in, check the dipstick - and something drops on the ground under the car with a cheerful metallic tinkle. I peer under the car - what's that black tube? Ah - the dip stick tube has only gone and snapped off where it goes into the engine! Damn and blast!



As is typical of the jag the dip, stick tube is singularly inaccessible - behind the exhaust manifold (why, given that all the early XK engine cars had cast two part manifolds of more or less the same design couldn't they have moved the dipstick hole a little further back to be easier to get to?).
It's down there in the dark!

The tube has snapped off flush with the casting, so I can't see any way of getting the remains out without risking getting debris in the engine. So it might be a job for the professionals. I also noticed that the oil pump housing where the oil filter goes on has a dent in it- I wonder if there is a more modern oil pump with a spin on oil filter which is a bolt on swap (XJ6 perhaps) - anyone know?

cheers Cortinaman

If its anything like every other job on a Mk2 it will be a pain in the ar$e! Good idea with the self tapper and slide hammer.

So I'm not the only one where a simple oil and filter change goes to rat-poo then?

I've got something blocking the sump drain, although I originally thought the oil had finished draining. Then filled up with 5.5L (it takes 6.6L with the filter, which I'd prefilled), dipped it and it's miles up the stick. Drop the plug again and only drips. So now it sits, with probably 7 or 8 litres of oil in it until my vacuum oil drainer arrives. Then sump off.

Bolt sounds a good method, just stuff plenty of grease in the hole to catch any swarf.

So, the excitement continues - I had a crack at getting the manifold off yesterday to get at the remains of the tube, but ended up not being able to get to to the manifold nuts with any sort of sensible tool! So I have admitted defeat and spoken to my friendly local mechanic, to see if he can help me out - he can but not until January (which is fine as I don't tend to use the Jag when the roads are salted). But he did ask that I source the parts needed, including the dipstick tube.

It is not something that is remanufactured and stocked by any of the major Jag spares suppliers, but it is just a steel tube with a funnel, so shouldn't be hard to remanufacture. I've spent this morning looking for suppliers of 7/16 OD mild steel tube (which is what I have measured the tube as) and so far drawn a blank. The closest I have come is European Tubes in Wigan who could sell be a 5.8m length at £59 +VAT + shipping. My local specialist metal stockist don't have any tube of the right diameter but did suggest machining down a larger diameter tube - which is always an option if I can find someone with a lathe.

Any thoughts on steel suppliers I might try? Cheers folks

Cortinaman

Thanks mrbounce - I'll give them a try.

Fantastic! This is what I love about this place - advice everywhere. I get so many tips and ideas from other peoples' threads I am so glad I could give something back! 
Good luck getting it sorted