Big HELLO to all, first time poster and total newbie.

Vintage Jag with XK engine had a reputation of prone to overheating. It may not be justified, but it was out there, especially in tropical countries that I lived in the '70s and '80s. When any engine overheated, the usual suspects were be defective water pump, thermostat, radiator, hose, fan, or simply not enough coolants. But all those could happen to all engines, right? Why the XK were singled out? Could the block or head played a part? such as undersized water passage etc?

I am debating to get a XK150, but I live in Palm Springs, California now. Here in the desert, summer temperature, well, today is 115F or 45C. I am trying to get myself educated.

Any help and input would be highly appreciated.

 

Rose, Welcome to the Forums. Please stop by the New Member Section and tell us a little bit more about you and your dreams. You will find we are a very curious and friendly community. This will also give you a chance to meet those that make this place what it is. We pride ourselves in being a better car group.

As for your question. In a little bit of research I did, it would appear that the arrangement of the radiator has a lot to do with it. The lower say 1/3 of the radiator sees very little air, effectively making the radiator smaller than it actually is. Then it also seems as if the factory fan was not good at moving air through the radiator when the car was sitting still. So, these two things together seem to create a condition where the car is prone to overheating at slow speeds/sitting still. With that being said, there are also fixes for this. You can help with the overall efficiency of the radiator by stepping up from a 2 core to a 3 core radiator, giving more surface area for the warm water to get the heat removed. It was also recommended to go to an aftermarket fan (puller type is recommended, but pusher will work) in that it will improve the air flow through the radiator at slow speeds. Some people have even gone as far as "sealing" (using foam) to help direct air through the radiator and not allow it to flow around the radiator. A little bit of research will give you lots of ideas. Some people even recommend blocking off the recirc line to force all the coolant through the radiator all the time. It slows the warm up of the engine slightly, but helps with the cooling.

This is where you should also move over to the XK150 section of this forum and you will get a lot better answer than mine from people that have lived what you are thinking about and they will know specific parts and the pros/cons of each modification you do.