Just purchased my first Jag (1960 MK2 3.8) last week and could not be more thrilled! This car was preserved in a garage from 1975 to 2012, so while the body is in great shape, there are so many jobs to do. The seller had a mechanic get the motor running (as cheaply as possible), but that's about the extent of their restoration before they ran out of money.

Anyway, I'm starting small and doing the easy stuff. Air filter, oil change, etc. I've removed the sludgy 1975 oil and filter. As I replaced the filter in the downward-facing canister, I had trouble achieving a good seal. After several attempts, it's only leaking slightly from the base of the canister.

Any tips on ensuring the filter doesn't leak? I've got the canister really tightened down. Don't think it would be wise to go much further. The new rubber seal looks to be in the correct position. (Why the Jag engineers thought fighting gravity with an upside down filter was a good design is beyond me.)

Thanks in advance!

Rob

Submitted by Charles@thebre… on Sun, 03/24/2013 - 16:50

In the UK, they did not have lifts. The way that most cars were serviced was via a 'grease pit'. These were also common in the US many years ago. Early Jaguars were designed to be worked on by someone standing in a pit, with the car over them. The oil filter is not the main thing accessed this way, wait until you try to set the timing and you will curse the grease pit approach.

Enjoy your new purchased and welcome to the fraternity of Jaguar owners/lovers.

Submitted by MikeEck@optonl… on Sun, 03/24/2013 - 14:43

Hi Rob,

Congratulations on your new purchase! I bought mine in 1970 as a daily driver. The filter faces down so a mechanic can easily change it while the car is on a lift. The direction it points has nothing to do with its propensity to leak. If the seal is bad it would leak no matter what, since it has as much as 60 psi of pressurized oil inside it. Usually a leaky canister is caused by someone not removing the old o-ring seal before installing the new one. Take the canister off, remove your new o-ring and dig in the groove with an awl to remove the old one. Then when you get that one out, continue digging to see if there is another one under that one. Stop digging when you hit metal. Clean out the groove, install the new o-ring and reassemble the filter. If you have the car on a lift this can be done in situ, but otherwise it is much more easily done on a bench after removing the oil filter assembly from the engine.