Long story short I got my car after it was in a nasty front end accident with a tree. It didn't set off the air bags so I bought a parts car and replaced all the front end parts. That includes the radiator and all the other cooling pieces up there. I then filled it with Jaguar coolant and proceeded to put 6,000 miles on the car. Until on my way to work one day it started to overheat. I have looked over the hoses and thermostat housing and it all looked good except the lower hose was a bit ruff. (but didn't look broken in anyway, Just swelled up a bit) So I replaced that and filled the car back up with Jag coolant. I then let it sit and warm up for 20 minutes with no issues, I then drove it for 2 miles without issues. I came out the next morning and found the coolant tank empty and my garage floor a mess!

It seems to be coming from the rear of the motor near the firewall. I have not had to time to take a good look back there yet but whats back there that I should be looking for?

2002 X-Type 2.5 with 152,000miles on it. It's in beautiful condition. You would think it has 50,000 on it so I 'd hate to say goodbye to it.

 

If you had no other issues before and it just started recently the first place to check would be the coolant reservoir itself. Those are know to split, especially up on the top nipple. Maybe that is all it would be. If so, you would be back in business with maybe an hour's time and a $100 or so for a new tank. Hope it works out for you. Keep us posted at to what it is.

 

I second the expansion tank being bad. It could be simply you accidentally hit the nozzle and it broke, maybe you rotated the retaining clip on that top nozzle and it came in contact with the hood (the spring clip needs to have its ears pointing down towards the road, not up where it is easy to access). Since you have a spare car, you should be able to grab the bottle from off of that and replace things for just the cost of the coolant.

On a side note, you don't have to buy the Jaguar brand coolant. Any of the name brands work just fine in the car and they all meet Jaguar specs.

 

Agreed on the above advice.

It has to be leaking from somewhere.....the trick is to find where it is.

If it drained out while the engine was off (overnight), I also agree it is probably the reservoir tank (though I would take a long look at the lower nipple vs the upper one).

My upper one was leaking, but that didn't drain the reservoir while the engine was off, it just sprayed coolant all over the engine while under pressure, which DID start to drain the reservoir.



It's probably something stupid and easy to fix, so don't despair.

 

Hmmmm only a few days and 200 miles before the issue occurred I was jamming my arm back in against the firewall to swap an 02 sensor. It is possible I knocked the tank in the process. I'll get in there and poke around soon hopefully. Sadly I'm working a lot of overtime lately.

Also I sold the parts car a couple months back so unfortunately I will have to spend the $100 or so to replace it if I need too. Thanks Guys!

 

So I finally had time to pull off the tank last night and I the bottom had dried coolant on it as well as stuff below it. But when I filled the tank with water I could not find it leaking and nothing looked cracked? I'd rather not throw parts at it.

I'm going to put vacuum caps on the tank nipples tonight then fill it with water and set a dry piece of cardboard underneath and see if maybe its really slow from somewhere.

But any one else have any ideas?

EDIT: I'll take the best look I can at all the hoses running around the engine bay tonight. If i can find a simple crack or swelling in a hose/tank then I'm considering going ahead replacing them all just for the peace of mind feature

 

Go rent or buy a coolant system pressure tester, put it on and pressurize the system to 15 lbs. If there's a leak you'll either not be able to get it pressurized or you'll hear it, which makes it easy to find. Once you find the leak, replace the part. BAMO done.

 

Finally posting back on this. After thinking I had fixed it the first time with the lower hose and having it leak out again I found there was still fluid in the upper half of the motor which meant it had to be the tank. Well when the tank wouldn't leak off the car, I just followed the line and FOUND THE LEAK! at the plastic "tee" just off the coolant tank. I replaced it with a 1 piece hose with a metal fitting from rock auto. I also replaced the tank just for piece of mind since it is a problem on these. I am happily driving my Jag again!!

Thanks again for the help guys.

 

Nice. I just had problems with my coolant tank not to long ago. Ended up replacing it with a new one and flushing out the coolant. I was afraid it might have been your head gasket so I'm glad you found the cause, and it was only the coolant tank. Congrats.

 

had the same problem and a new tank fixed it but how did you get you old radiator out i have a pen hole in mine and would like to replace it and infor would be a great help.