I see ttwotees post here and there but very rarely. He probably lurks more now a days like myself. I do recall he wasnt to happy with the port. Dont quote me on that but I thought I remembered a thread about it didnt seen like much of a gain and he had miscommunication problems about his throttle body. Like avos and a few others have said the Eaton is pretty near its peak efficiency so its not worth dumping money into porting cause thats money you could do something else that would probably do just as good and not take away efficiency. You can port it past efficiency and end up losing power. Best to just save up and hope for a twin screw. I'm hoping it will be out in about 3 years cause I'll be done with school and my STR will be paid off and ready for one.

 

I recall much the same thing. The steig port wasn't worthwhile and their "support" wasn't what you'd expect.

 

Looks like he is hanging out in the XKR and XJ Sections recently.

I believe this is the thread that you are refering too: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ite-kit-39802/

 

That would be it Rick. I was to busy with homework to try and dig it up. Maybe he is going to move to the coupe side and get an XKR. I knew I had seen him around on here.

 

Ok, first, I wanted to be sure that I did the job right. Well, it's been nearly 6 months and I haven't lost a single drop of coolant since.

The infamous coolant hose under the supercharger was leaking in two places:

The first leak was located at the larger port extension toward the front of the engine. This was a combined tiny pinhole and porous leak right through the material. The material had literally fatigued all the way through and was weeping coolant.

The second leak was located at the middle of the hose, near the 3rd cylinder from the front of the engine on the driver's side (U.S.). There is a rivet tab for the MLS cylinder head gasket that protrudes from between the block and cylinder head at that point. It appears that the foam sound insulation was pressing the hose down against this tab. Over time, it slowly fretted away a gouge into the hose. You will see it in my next post...

 

Photos of the engine valley BEFORE and AFTER.

Note the rivet (or eyelet) MLS cylinder head gasekt tab at the upper left hand section of the AFTER photo. The hose rubbed against the sharp edge of this gasket tab and was leaking more coolant in this area than the weep at the larger port connection. Also note the oil in the BEFORE from my leaking breather tube, upper left hand section, on the intercooler casting. The breather tube is the larger plastic corrugated tube at the top of the photo. I replaced it, along with several other hoses and gaskets as mentioned a long time ago.

Amazing what I little time, some rags, some glass cleaner, and a little elbow grease can do. Shiny.

 

Some more helpful photos:

Here are some precautionary measures I took upon re-assembly. (Duct tape to protect hose near MLS gasket tab, thermal sleeve to protect hose at large connector.) I also removed the sound insulating foam. I actually enjoy the increase in supercharger sound especially since it corresponds to the increase in power and really isn't that noticeable until around 3500RPM, which I rarely need to reach around town. Beyond that you know you are pushing it, so you might as well announce it. I love scaring the Audi boys that way.

I've also attached some shots of the intake elbow port bracket bolts located underneath the throttle body. Since there is one on each side left and right I called them the Frankenstein bolts. Aptly named because of the amount of moaning and grunting I did to remove them. Note the EGR mounting flange on the right side photo.

The left intake elbow port bracket bolt (er, driver's side U.S.) requires a blind reach with a long socket. I also had to use a long flat blade screwdriver to pry back the plastic bracket assembly behind the throttle body to make room for the socket. Such a @$%@&%@ pain!

 

More relevant photos:

I have dozens more, so I limited it to these few. The first is a close up of the plastic vacuum tube and connector. I broke the cheap brittle plastic locking insert that is part of the brass insert assembly press-fit into the lower intake elbow. I had to press out the old brass insert and press in a new one with a custom made tool. (I have access to a lathe.) Luckily the new one came with a fitted plastic pad to hammer on so you don't damage the thin plastic locking insert inside it.

So complicated! Why couldn't they use a standard connector!

 

Please let me know if there is something else you might like to see on this dreaded coolant hose replacement. I may have a photo pertaining to it.

Oh yes, if you attempt this repair, buy a new cabin air filter. You might as well install it while everything is apart. Get the good one with the carbon media to absorb odors and moisture. All tolled I spent around $700 to properly complete this repair with all new Jaguar parts, including the new reservoir and the supercharger pulley kit. Shop for discounts. I've heard estimates ranging from $2400 at a service shop to $5500 at dealerships.

I will post just a few photos of my 1.5psi supercharger pulley installation, but on another thread. Again, worth...every...penny.

Finally, I just finished replacing a leaking ZF transmission pan/gasket/filter assembly, along with 6 liters of tranmission fluid. Nice crisp shifts now, and no more squeaks or squawks during the 2-3 shift. Has someone already posted a thread on that? If not, I'll be posting my own with info and photos.

Now all I have to do is the front suspension bushings, replace the rear e-shocks, a new fuel filter (where is it?), an AC service...

Cheers!

 

Fantastic! Thanks so much. I'm sure others will need this doing and even if they don't DIY at least they can get an appreciation of what & where the problem is.

I reckon a separate thread for the ZF would be useful. There's some stuff already but more would help.

 

I wish i had the place like that to do the repairs. I don't need it for this car. With only 25K miles I'm hoping it's a mileage thing and not just age.
But I'm not so sure.

Thanks for providing another set of data on the failure Up to now they've all been just in the larger end of the hose.

There was another one recently, sorry I can't remember the name, and he took the stock hose and substituted the larger end with silicone hose. Was that you?

It looks like you've found the culprit for the the other (long) end of the hose.

This really is a **** off. What a lack of engineering attention to detail with very expensive consequences. Jaguar is not terribly impressive here.

Duct tape? I question that because it just goes bad so quickly. There must be something better we can come up with that won't deteriorate?

But I really want one of those padded working platforms!

It looks a bit small for someone of my girth and length 6'1" 240 but I have seen a similar rig used for working on Lamborghini Countach but in that case the actual mechanic was a very small as well.

I want one! The photo isn't quite good enough to read all of the branding off of that thing. Can you find out more about it? All I see is Tech-Lift.

Thanks so much for following up this.

How can we get the rest of your photos on here as a resource?
I think it would be very useful.

 

Thanks for that, all good info for the R guys when they get bitten by the hose.
Please post up your ZF experience, you can never have too much information!

 

.......My thanks for an amazingly thorough post to Classic_Engr!!! Holding my breath on my 04 STR at 56K miles.
.......Classic_Engr mentioned in a post "--did it by the book(thanks to
Mitchell)" What book, generic/non-generic??? I thought JTIS was it!!
.......Any non-generic books applicable to our S's out there???
Thanks all.

 

There are several subscription options including Mitchell (google it) AllDataDIY and of course jag's TOPIx.

 

Great thread and info something hopefully not to look forward to ...

 

>>>>

I know, I know, duct tape, how ghetto. Or so I thought, until I saw the new roll of super heavy duty duct tape in our shelf. Fancy. Then I realized, I needed something that would expand along with the hose itself at high temperatures yet provide protection against abrasion IF it should come into contact with the sharp edge of the gasket tab. On that front...

I found that after removing the sound insulation foam, the hose was no longer pressed down and against said tab. I actually spent time checking this theory with the foam and the new hose. That was the primary reason I removed the foam. However, the hose could move as it expands with heat over time, so the duct tape is really there to provide me with a little peace of mind in the event that it should eventually contact the tab.

As for a lack of engineering detail on Jaguar's part, I really don't think so. I think it was perfectly understood on the drawing board. Having done a fair share of design on cylinder heads and other engine components, I found that this sort of Achilles Heel is often considered in the design phase, but Ease of Assembly at the factory and initial cost take precendence over the ease of repair, especially if it can last the duration of the warranty.

A simple metal tube could have been coupled with a fitting at the front port casting and run along the engine valley under the full length of the supercharger to protrude out behind it, with a more accessible short length of formed ("bent") hose connecting it to the throttle body. But that would have cost more upfront, AND if would have eliminated this high-dollar repair opportunity at the dealerships, that I found was quite commonly known at the 3 dealerships I consulted with on parts, etc. Replacing a $14 hose for $2500-5500 certainly keeps the lights on that month.

It's like the piezo speaker for the reverse parking sensors. A simple access hole pre-punched in the parcel shelf panel could have made replacing it a 10-minute job. But why, when you can prevent easy access and do it "by the book", and charging anywhere from $500-$1500 to supposedly removed the rear seat (not necessary) and various other interior components to access this $12 part? A coincidence? Not a chance.

 

I'll check for information on the Tech-Lift truck engine creeper on Monday. It made life much easier.

 

A big glob of RTV over the offending rivet tab might have worked. Just squirt it on and let it cure.

 

Wow, funny that you mentioned that. I thought of the exact same thing!

But I worked on MLS head gasket design at Dana Corp. years ago, before my time in turbochargers, and remembered just how much combustion heat is transferred through the gasket layers. With my luck, the RTV would eventually melt and fall off, or the hose would just stick to it--forming a nice hot spot eventually damaging the hose. Again.

Hence the tape...

 

I've seen another sort of tape that I think I'd feel more comfortable with. It's a kind of silicone tape, I'd have to look through my web browser favorites and see if I could find it. A very big job! I just see what happens to the duct tape I leave in use for very long and it's not pretty. Is the stuff you're using something out of the ordinary like the stuff used in racing for temporary panel repairs?