Hi All,
I am not good with this and wanted to get some opinions (or maybe someone has any experience to share?)
Last weekend, I drove for about 2 hours on the motorway and then parked my X-Type Spirit in the car park, where I noticed some water dribbling from underneath the bonnet. I turned off the engine and decided to have a look in the morning. By then, all the radiator fluid was gone and I called my friendly rescue man. He couldn't find a leak after filling up the coolant and turned on the engine when all the fluid came bubbling from the container. He diagnosed that I need a new head gasket, so I had the car town to my local garage who told me it was a big job.
Now he told me that he is waiting for quotes for the head gaskets (there seem to be several in a V6 engine???) including pressure checking. He said the last three places told him not to take on the job and he has only one place left who might give him a quote, but he told me today that even if I let it get fixed, the head will still be prone to splitting and my car might break down more often after the replacement, resulting in overheating. (basically suggesting to get a new car)
Is this true?
Should I try to get it fixed at a Jaguar garage and hope for the best? How likely is it to break again?
I do like my Spirit, but need a reliable car.

 

I'm not sure if I understand you when you say the water all the water came bubbling from the container. If you mean when the guy added water it all ran out from the overflow reservoir then more than likely that developed a crack or maybe the upper nipple broke off and you just need to replace that. Not expensive and very simple to do. Do a search on here and you will see that is a common problem with our cars.

Now, if you were low on coolant and drove the car with an overheating condition, then, yeah, you could have blown the head gasket because you ran the car with no coolant. Were there any light on the dash or did the temperature gauge go to the hot zone? Did the cooling fans stay on after you shut the car off? Did the car seem to run funny or sluggish before you turned it off? Without knowing a bit more it's hard to say if you have a small problem or a very big problem.

 

It doesn't seem like a good garage if they think that changing head gaskets are so difficult that they don't want to take on that job. You should let some other garage take a look at that. And no, if job is done right and cylinder heads are resurfaced then your car won't brake down more often.

If you say "bubbling out", was your car idling for awhile with expansion tank cap off? If yes then there was air in the cooling system and you could just have a leak somewhere.

 

Thank you Alfadude and 3lvis, I don't think the car was overheated in any way. No lights came on and only a little coolant was lost (about 100 ml the most) before I turned off the engine. It happened when I reversed the car to park. I know this as it was the third space I chose to park in (I am fussy) and there were no drops on the first two spaces, only on the way from the 2nd to the 3rd. Immediately checked the temperature gauge and it was normal and no lights on. And nothing on the message screen. The car was running absolutely fine before.
I am not sure about the fans though, as soon as I got out of the car and bend down to see where the water was coming from, a little steam escaped from underneath the bonnet (front left side), so I got scared and left the car.
When I returned the next morning, there was a big puddle of cooling fluid (although it did look a bit brouwnish) underneath the car.
The rescue man couldn't find a leak when he filled up the water and we started the engine, but nothing happened. If not for the big puddle of water, I think he would have assumed that I had not checked the coolant and let me drive again. Only when he raved the engine, bubbles came out as he hadn't put the tank cap back on.
So if I manage to get this car fixed at the Jaguar place maybe (hopefully - the mechanic still thinks nobody will take on this job), there is a chance it will be ok, as in drivable?
I don't mind if it is a big job, but I need a reliable car. I don't want to get it fixed and then the head cracks every few months (apparently this is a common problem?).
Thank you so much for your help. I am really worried as I do like the car and don't want to scrap it if I don't have to.

 

Head cracks are not common to these engines. I guess you just have a leak from some hose or connection and those bubbles where air that escaped the system. I wouldn't rush to change head gasket just yet. It's not that difficult job but takes many hours and can get very expensive. But you should change garage to someone who knows about cars because garage that doesn't changes head gaskets can't be any good.

 

get a garage to run a carbon monoxide test, that will detect combustion gasses in the coolant. its like a big syringe they stick in the overflow bottle and the chemicals change colour if there's a head gasket leak.

 

pressure test your cooling system this will hopefully show any leaks.
caution if you dont find any external leaks check your oil is not grey(milky) indicating coolant in your oil (head gasket)

if you find you are leaking coolant into the cylinder do not crank the engine you may do damage as the coolant will not compress
remove the spark plugs and find which cylinder has coolant in it.
I suspect you will find a leaking hose.
youtube has videos on how to do this very easy to do yourself and you can probably rent the pressure tester from your local parts store.
keep us posted

 

Sounds like more of a simple leak than a head gasket. Like someone else said, we very seldom see a post about someone have an issue with a head gasket unless the car severely overheated. Start with the most likely culprits first. Cooling reservoir, water pump and hoses. I would bet it would be one of those as opposed to the head gasket.

I would definitely take it to another mechanic as well.

 

Thank you all for your help. I decided to give the car another chance and had it moved to a Jaguar garage this morning. Awaiting their call now.

 

Any feedback from the garage?

 

Sorry, nothing yet. They believe it is not the head gasket, but can't say for sure yet. I am awaiting a call back this afternoon. Will let you know.
Missing my car....

 

Any Word on the leak...

 

Sorry, still no news at all. I keep calling Jaguar every day. Getting very concerned.

 

Well that could be a good thing. Keep us posted

 

I am so disappointed. Thought my car would be in good hands at the Jaguar place, but not really. Spirit is there since 3 weeks now. Every time I call, they tell me he is fixed and they will do just one more test drive before I can pick him up (and get to know how much they will charge).
They never call back and if I get them in the afternoon, they keep telling me that they were not happy with the test drive, will do some more work and then call me back (wishfull thinking). So far they changed the thermostat, the water pump and the latest was some flap near the water pump. I am calling every half an hour since Monday and they are ignoring all of my calls now (before, I managed to talk to someone at least once a day). I don't know what to do anymore, booked yet another rental car for the weekend. I loved my Jaguar, but believe me, I will NEVER buy another one!
I am moving to Spain next week, so could really do with my car - walking 8 Miles to work and back every day is taking it's toll. I don't know what I can do if it is not ready by the time I move, I just can't stay any longer for it to get fixed. What do other people do in this situation? Surely there is a limit on how long you have to wait before you can demand your car back? Are all Jaguar garages this slow?
Sorry to moan, but I expected a little more service to be honest.

 

You can just go get your car. They can not keep it. Pay the bill and leave.