Oil consumption and dipstick

[IDS]

Hi All
I'm a new member of the forum and new owner of a LHD ex US 1970 4.2 series 2 DHC. I'm living in France north of Toulouse and have just completed a 800 mile drive from UK. Car was checked over professionally before departure all levels etc but on reaching Dover(200 miles) I checked the oil and it was about 1/4 inch up the dipstick close to the E (E type not empty) 2 litres added and checked for leaks (nothing) and no obvious smoke, 150 miles later had to add 2 more litres and another 200 miles later 1 litre. Total milage 800 and the oil is back on the E again. Still no sign of leaks but on last few checks noticed that the dipstick had risen about 1 inch from the fully in position. At all times oil pressure has been good 60psi on start 40 in cruise and 20 at idle when hot. Temps all good.
Any advice would be welcome.
Another problem came up as almost the whole journey was in light to torrential rain even the French where slowing down. The wipers refused to stop with the switch off unless the ignition was turned off as they approached the parked position.
The good news was that the hood didn't leak and the demister was first class.
Many thanks in advance
Ian

[christopher storey]

First thing to note is that you need to wait a good 5 minutes after stopping the engine before checking the level . Second thing is that these cars often have the wrong dipstick, and the only way to be sure that the markings are accurate is to drain and refill with 14.5 pints and treat the level shown ( after letting the engine run for 5 minutes and then allowing say one hour to elapse ) as the full mark . Third point is that the dipsticks have a nasty habit of getting bent by being pushed in against the horizontal baffle in the sump, ( instead of going through the hole in the baffle) and you will never then get a reliable reading until it is straightened. I mention this because the dipstick assuming a position above the normal resting place is suspicious, although it could be accounted for by the 4th problem which is that these engines are notorious for poor/blocked breathers which then create crankcase pressure and blow oil ( and the dipstick) out . Consumption of oil is never good on XKs, and even good engines can easily get down to 150 miles per pint = 275 miles per litre, but your apparent rate of use is worrying. However, if the engine is overfilled because of a faulty dipstick, very heavy consumption can be the result without there being anything substantively wrong with the engine

PS I should have asked what oil you were using ? 20/50 is ideal, and the use of modern synthetics will almost always result in excessive consumption as the clearances are really quite wide by modern standards, hence synthetics are very unsuitable

[IDS]

Thanks Christopher
I have just been out and checked and although the internal part of the dipstick was straight it was in fact bent at the junction of top and bottom half
I have now found the correct angle and am able to get a reading just over the cross hatching. Oil is 20/50 and I will be watching very closely for consumption and if the dipstick moves out.
Now I just have to find the answer to the wiper problem. ( I hope)
Again many thanks
Ian

[christopher storey]

Ah, Ian, sorry I forgot about the wiper problem. Jaguar wipers have a very idiosyncratic park device whereby the motor actually runs backwards to park the wipers, the parking position being controlled by a switch which is situated underneath the crank for the centre wiper, behind the drop down panel. However, this switch is adjusted by a knurled knob which protrudes through the front of the lower face of the bulkhead on the exhaust side of the engine , just inboard of the heater water valve. If you try turning this each way with the wipers still running but the main wiper switch in the off position, you will find that it should be possible to find a position where the wipers park

[IDS]

Thanks again Christopher I will not be able to try this for a few days as I'm away but will let you know how it goes.
How many years has it taken you to get this extensive knowledge?
Regards
Ian Stait

[christopher storey]

Ina - I've had my FHC for nearly 19 years and my OTS for about 17 - but you never stop learning with an E !!

[ralphr1780]

Christopher,
I haven't seen this adjustment on S2, at least not on mine.

[christopher storey]

Christopher,
I haven't seen this adjustment on S2, at least not on mine.

Ralph - how very interesting : I've just been and looked at my S2 OTS, and mine has a grommet for the hole where the adjuster cable goes through on my S1 . My S2 does have the later circular motor, however, so i suppose that this is the difference. If Ian's has the circular motor, then I presume the adjuster will be on the limit switch assembly on the motor gearbox itself

As I said in my previous post - you never stop learning with an E