Hi everyone,

Well, after nearly 60,000 miles of trouble free driving, my 2005 X-Type 3.0 has developed its first real issue. I'm certain the nipple on the coolant expansion tank is cracked. Does anyone have advice on the best place to buy a replacement reservoir?

For the last year or so, I've been slowly losing coolant, but couldn't figure out where the source of the leak was. By slowly, I mean the level in the expansion tank would drop from the max line to the min line every two months or so. Not being able to find the source and because the loss of coolant was so gradual, I just replenished the tank and was good for another couple of months. Then today, I drove the car to work. As I parked and turned off the engine, I could smell a faint whiff of coolant and noticed that the radiator fan was still running on high even with the engine off and the engine temperature gauge showing normal...Uh-oh. I popped the hood and saw that the expansion tank was completely empty, with coolant residue splashed all over that area. Crap!

At lunch, I used my wife's car to go get more coolant and distilled water. I left my car parked until the evening to let the system cool down enough for me to check the cap and open the reservoir without getting scalded. First I verified that the cap was on really snug - it was. WTH? I refilled the reservoir to max - it took about 2/3 of a gallon of coolant mix to do it. No obvious signs of leaking and the engine sounded fine, so I drove it straight home. Thankfully, the car was driving normally and the temperature was normal.

When I parked at home and opened the hood with the engine still running, I saw a steady drip of coolant coming from the expansion tank nipple. There was also evidence of an upward spray of fresh coolant which splashed on the hoses, underside of the hood and windshield trim, and the reservoir level was also back below the min mark after 12 miles of driving. Ok, well this is different and now we're gettin' somewhere. I turned off the engine and looked closely at the nipple where the drip seemed to be originating from. It was drooping slightly and I suspected that there was a hairline crack right where the nipple met the tank. To verify, I pressed on the nipple lightly and heard steam escaping from the coolant reservoir. Loss of pressure, and now obvious that the nipple has a hairline crack in it.

I'm attaching photos for others for future reference to aid in diagnosing this problem since it's such a common failure point on the X-Type. For those of you who have been through this, any recommendations on the best place to source a new expansion tank? I don't want to pay the extortion rates charged by Jaguar dealers, and am hoping that over the years, someone's found a less expensive replacement source. Please let me know if you have advice on where to shop for a replacement tank. Thanks!

 

Hmm, this Dorman tank looks interesting - Dorman is a solid brand for non-OEM replacement parts.



It looks like the Dorman tank has a metal sleeve reinforcing the problem nipple. I wonder if this is an improvement to the Jaguar design or if it's something the Jaguar part also has? Has anyone installed this unit? I don't mind going with a non-OEM replacement for the expansion tank, particularly if they've improved the defective design of the factory reservoir.

 

Also found this brilliant insight on another site, which might explain what causes the nipple to crack over time:

"Nipple for return line cracks due to clamp, when clamp is installed the ears of the clamp are turned up, when the hood is closed the lining presses on the clamp, after time the nipple cracks. I turned clamp around (ears down) problem solved.Has 117000 now, still ok"

The ears on my clamp are facing up too. I'm going to replace it with a screw on clamp, or install it with the ears facing down.

 

Had the same problem on my Wife's X-Type, purchased a replacement on July 19th and had her car running by the 25th.

2002 to 2008 Jaguar x Type Water Coolant Overflow Radiator Reservoir Tank | eBay

 

This appears to be very common I also had mine break off.
All I did was tap a 3/8 npt hole and screwed in a brass pipe fitting with rtv sealant (had some left over from changing the bearings in the transfer case) for added security as the bottle is pressurized.
been working fine for just over 2 years now.

 

Yeah it's very very easy to replace, it's just a few screws and just try to unhook the hose and catch the antifreeze but it comes off easily, I had to replace mine a few years back.

 

Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to order the Dorman tank later today. But Paul, your solution sounds interesting as well. A few questions for you:

1. What tool did you use to tap the 3/8 NPT hole? I'm assuming that the hole was threaded to accommodate a screw on fitting?

2. Where did you apply the RTV sealant? on the outside of the reservoir, around the brass pipe? On the threads you used to screw in the pipe? Something else?

3. What kind of brass fitting did you use? Did it have a screw one side (for the reservoir) and a smooth surface on the other side (for the hose)? Was it screwed on both sides? Was it smooth on both sides? Something else?

Thanks in advance for any additional insight you can share.

 

Matt,
I used a 3/8 npt tap and a pipe fitting see pictures you can get these from home depot.
I applied the sealant to the thread to act as a gasket/glue to seal it in place Hope this helps.

 

CORRECTION.

I used a 1/2 inch npt here is a pic of mine.
still going strong 2 years on

 

Thank you very much, Paul. I'll try your approach this weekend! It's a really clever solution and should work well.

 

You might want to remove the tank and inspect it for cracks before re-using it. I had planned to try a similar repair using a plastic welding machine but found these cracks on the underside and decided to purchase a new tank instead.

 

Thanks again all. I ended up buying the Dorman replacement tank on Amazon, and had it shipped overnight for $9. Even with shipping, it was under $100 and about 40% to 50% less expensive than buying the OEM reservoir or ordering the Dorman unit through a local auto parts store. I replaced the expansion tank today, and wanted to post some additional learnings for anyone who runs into this issue in the future (or is trying to avoid it).

1. If you're replacing the tank, buy the Dorman unit - it looks identical, is a perfect fit, is much less expensive, and unlike the OEM and other aftermarket units I looked at, it has metal sleeves inside the two small nipples to strengthen them. The plastic at the joints is also tapered thicker to make the nipples stronger.

2. Install the clips upside down - It's easy to do and putting the ears upside down reduces the overall profile of the tank. This should help to reduce the odds of the lining pressing down on the nipple and eventually breaking it (per my earlier note)

3. Check your hood lining - I noticed that the underhood insulation on my car was sagging, even with all the screws in place as they should be. I think this is just something that happens naturally over time as the lining ages. I'm convinced that the combination of the sagging lining + the ears on the clip facing up contributed to stressing the nipple joint and cracking it. I'm going to let the lining dry out over the next week, and then glue the backside of the lining to the underside of the hood using trim adhesive or construction adhesive. That should keep it from sagging and go a long way to reducing the possibility of the new tank nipple breaking.

I'd recommend that all of you do #2 and #3 as a preventative measure now - they're simple to do and will eliminate the most likely contributing causes of nipple failure on the coolant recovery tank. I'm going to keep my old tank since it's in decent shape, and see if I can tap in an NPT fitting as Paul suggested. That will give me a back up reservoir in case I experience this problem again. The tank's in good shape, other than the broken nipple.

 

Having the same problem with vent nipple on top RH side of reservoir.
Will attempt repair soon. Found some good ideas on this X forum, Thanks.

Wish me luck!!!

Regards,

 

I recently purchased a coolant reservoir on eBay from ImportPartsDirect for $38.45 including S&H. The top two nipples have metal sleeve reinforments inside. I can't attest to how long it will last, since I just installed it. But the seller's eBay feedback rounds to 100% positive on over 23,000 sales, so they must be doing something right.

reyesl is correct about stress cracks in the bottom of the reservoir. Attached are pictures of the old coolant tank from my 2002 X-Type with ~125 Kmiles. The cracks are the dark lines in otherwise white plastic, and they allowed coolant to slowly leak whenever the system was hot and pressurized.

Thanks for the good suggestions to turn the clamp ears down. I'll do that in the morning.

 

Correction: The eBay vendor is ImportPartsDepot. Here's the eBay listing with a new coolant reservoir for $38.45 w/ S&H:

Jaguar Coolant Recovery Reservoir Expansion Tank Cap Premium Quality C2S861 | eBay

 

Just replaced mine yesterday after living with the leaks for a year. Had 3 cracks at the bottom and both nipples broken. I kept hoping to find a good deal on eBay for a genuine one (pops up every now and then). Ended up paying a $100 for a genuine, not too bad considering the others run for ~$60+. The part that sucked was the Jaguar coolant...cost me $80 for a gallon.