Let the games begin? I've had my XF about 18 months now and ALAS, the first issue... Or can it be issues?

Two nights ago I started to hear a rattle from the front of my engine bay. After popping the hood it only made sense to me that this was belt related so I assumed I would be needing a new drive belt and tensioner. Yesterday nothing happened differently, today however is a whole new story.

Today during acceleration the car would start that "bad belt whining" that we all cringe when hearing it it. I made my appointment with a tech tomorrow morning and drove home cautiously from work in hopes that I can make it 30 minutes home and 30 minutes to the shop in the AM. While driving home the car starting jumping while idle at stop lights and it seemed to want to quit on me. I got into my neighborhood and that's when the noises took over immensely and my 5.0 V8 sounded like a diesel semi. I stopped the car and down she went. After about 20 minutes I started it up again, drove it 10 feet to my driveway and parked it. Opened the hood and noticed the smell of coolant, a little smoke but not enough for me to confidently think any major head gasket issues or anything of that sort. Then as I walk away I hear a loud "POOF" followed by the sound of pressurized air releasing, I look under the car and see fuel spilling out slowly basically right under what you could consider this steering column area.

My biggest worry however... Is that the drive belt is still attached. That's not a good sign.

The car will be towed in tomorrow morning. Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

Alright, being told it is the following:

- Water Pump needs to be replaced
- Belt needs to be replaced
- Tensioner needs to be replaced
- Connector needs to be replaced
- Coolant Hoses need to be replaced

- Low pressure fuel line cracked due to engine overheating, needs to be replaced

Altogether, with labor I'm being quote about $1,700 which seems on the rich side. I'm being told all parts have to come from Jaguar but wanted to hear outside opinions on that.

Thanks!

 

$1700 for all that including labor is a steal...lol

 

Based on the parts pricing I'm finding online it seems like I'm getting hit mostly in the parts markup, the estimate is written at $1173 for parts and $550 for labor. Grand total with tax actually ended up at $1,835.

I called a couple other local repair facilities including a Jaguar specialized shop to try and quote an identical job for comparison.

 

you wont catch any breaks on the parts markup from anywhere. Labor rate is where you might find a lower rate, but $550 for that job sounds fair.

 

Now I know the XF doesn't have any physical "guages" other than rpm and speed, but didn't it show some indication on the dash that it was overheating? On the X308, we know that by the time it does tell you, that its too late, but it does eventually decide the driver needs to know. If I bought an XF, do I need to order one of those 3-gauge pods from the Summit Catalog like an old school hot rodder to screw to the bottom of the dash?

 

The funny thing is people keep driving when you know something is not right with your car. While old cars could handle and occasional "I'm a just drive it untill?" Most new cars can't, and those that try and "Just make it too", usually get a big wallet hit from the Jag. Not trying to jump on ANYONE'S neck, because I'm definitely learning from this experience, as well as others.