I have 2014 XJL 5.0. I posted about getting a lot of work done at the dealer recently and deciding it was time to do most of the work myself that I could reasonably do. It was not even 4 months ago that I paid them $1500 to repair a coolant leak from a broken gasket, and here I am again.

I'm a pretty handy guy and intuitive, and would rather buy a tool and DYI than pay someone to do something... but all within reason. 2 months ago, I did my first relatively complex project, which was replacing the driver side door actuator (I was going to even post a DIY thread... I still will when I find the time). I've also replaced the coolant reservoir myself which was pretty easy.

Anywhooo, i was wondering if i could get advice from you all to see if this was a project I should tackle or leave to the professionals.

Thanks!

 

We have many detailed threads with pictures to help guide you? First decide how deep you are going to go? The cooling system needs a massive over haul and I recommend using as many after market Aluminum parts as possible.

Your car probably has the SC snout clunk too. Common and not hard to repair. I recommend using the solid upgraded Eaton one as they made the SC and know what they are doing.

So do some searches to give you an idea of what's involved but yes DIY will save you many dollars and remember these cars are getting old and all the problems have been found out along with the repairs needed.

Get the service manuals and learn how to search for parts. But my number one tool for repairs is this forum. As the old commercial use to say "It's in there"!
Jaguar is a small car company so the engines/transmissions are used across all the models. This means for cooling repairs take a look at the XK,XJ,XF, F-Type and Fpace forums for added help.

Also remember that land Rovers used the same drive trains and JLR usually has a Jaguar and a Land Rover part number for the same item. For some strange reason I find Land Rover parts are cheaper? Don't know why but it has been posted that Land Rover far outsells Jaguar so they are just more common and wide spread.
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If you can replace the driver side door lock actuator (I've done this too and it's a fiddly job), you definitely have the skills to DIY the coolant overhaul. You can save yourself a few grand at the dealership and replace the parts with superior aftermarket aluminium components.

The XF I believe does have slightly different coolant piping regarding the supercharger heat exchangers and radiator. You can look the parts up online using the last 5 digits of your VIN. As mentioned above, Land Rover parts are usually cheaper but I've yet to find a reliable equivalence catalog.

 

As always, great words of wisdom and support.
But While I consider the best generation of the Jaguar XJ to be aging, I don't think they'll ever get old - not for me anyway, and I'm sure not for you either (and I'm confident that's not how you meant it).

I don't know how well any of the other forum members are acquainted with you and your abilities, but I do know that I can't speak for your abilities and resources.
I see many posts that ask for forum members to guess how someone we generally don't know will be able to handle a wide range of repair and maintenance tasks.
The truth is that only you & those that know you personally can gauge what you can do and have the resources to work on.
As Clubairth1 said, this and other forums can help you with a lot of testimonials of experience for pretty much anything you may encounter. These are massively valuable tools that you can read & take in to decide for yourself if it's something you can do or not with full consideration of what you truly know about yourself, better than anyone in The Forum.
If you've invested as much time in reading existing posts as many of us have, you know that forum members have tackled everything from air filter and windshield wiper blade changes to full engine rebuilds and even modifications.
Whether or not you can comfortably and successfully do any or all of these tasks is up to you to decide.
None of us know what YOU can do.

 

Tackle it yourself ,here is some XF VIDEOS with the same engine




you need to watch each video from beginning to end so you dont miss any vital tips

 

I did a pump and the front hoses and thermostat on my 140k mile XKR and it was easy, pump was weeping but the hoses and stat were all fine. You need a new pipe for the stat to the pump and a new pump bleeder hose as they changed the design of the bleed system and the old ones will fall to bits, but I wouldn't necessarily change the stat when I do the pump preemptively on my 70k mile X351.

Hardest parts of the job was wrestling a brand new belt onto the charger and getting the thermostat out of the bottom hose (it's damned tight!).

Change the bleed line to the coolant tank too, they're brittle and given to break.

 

I just swapped mine that was working perfectly when I replaced everything with an aluminum kit. You are welcome to it for free. Mines a 2016 xjr