Filter Area Oil-Leak

[PeterDavisX300]

Hi Fellow-Owners

I have a 1995 X300 3.2. It's always had a tiny oil-leak for the last few years, but recently this started to get very much worse. The leak is coming from the Oil-Filter Area, to the extent that the underside of the oil-filter casing is soaked with warm oil in a matter of a minute. I suspect one or both of the gaskets holding the oil-filter head and the Oil-Cooler adapter on, or the by-pass head is leaking. Some of these parts are very hard to source, I've spent a lot of time online looking for them. However, a yank forum has touched on the subject, and it's suggested that the whole 'Oil-Cooler-Adaptor' can be discarded and the 'Filter-Head' bolted straight to the block using shorter bolts. This does-away with the 'By-Pass-Valve' (EAC2428).

My question is, does the oil-system need this 'By-Pass-Valve', or can I safely do as suggested? Please be sure of your answer, no guessing please.

Peter

[poprivet]

I notice you already have another thread running on your oil leak, however that by-pass valve in its housing only by-passes the cooler in case it gets blocked so yes the whole adaptor can be removed, However I tried that on my 3.6 AJ6 but couldnt get it to seal correctly.

[PeterDavisX300]

Pop, thanks very much for the reply. I think I'll just remove the adaptor, and make sure the faces of the matching parts are nice and smooth, then fit the gasket and hope for the best. I'll need to get new shorter bolts.
Thanks

[PeterDavisX300]

Update. Got the Jaguar up on ramps in the P-ing rain this morning, discovered the leak was in fact coming from the filter-head/oil-cooler-adaptor area. Removed the oil-filter, then the fours 10mm hex-head bolts. Removed the whole set-up by tapping it gently with a nylon hammer. Be prepared to have a lot of extra oil drop out of the unit and go up your boiler-suit arm! The bolts have a very slight shoulder on them, so I couldn't just run a die-nut down the rest of the thread and cut them. Fortunately they are a standard M8 x 1.25 pitch thread, so I got the right size and length of bolt (in-stock in my shed) and put a nice washer on them. The old gaskets were brittle, and the inner one was broken. New gasket on, (with blue-hylomar each side) and with the shorter bolts, just re-mounted the filter head straight onto the block. Screwed new filter canister on and top-up with engine oil. Easy job done, no-leaks..................Yet!