Ok, this is my first post for help so bear with me! So, following a period of very little use, I took the car ('98 XJ 3.2 Sport) out for an 'Italian Tune Up' on the weekend which consisted of a fresh tank of super unleaded, some injector cleaner and a heavy right foot! I guess this was no more than 4 or 5 miles of sport button fun but within seconds of turning the ignition off on the drive it dumped it's coolant on the floor. I had previously checked the coolant level before heading out but being warm this probably wasn't an accurate reflection of it's true level. The temperature guage also read 'normal' dring this time but having probed various posts it would seem this is not an accurate reflection of it's true level either! I have since drove almost 200 miles of trouble free commuting with no indications of Saturday's hickup....

A similar thing happend approx 2 years ago after a non-stop run down the M5 to Devon but has not reared it's head again since. However, I have been told that over the last couple of weeks, it had been showing a low coolant warning when parked on an incline.

I have filled it back up with some VW Quantum anti freeze as it was immediately to hand (with a view to flush and change out ASAP) but was wondering if there is anything 'typical' that I should investigate that would explain the random nature of the overheating...? It has had a recent replacement water pump and thermostat so I figured on flushing the coolant system (including the rad) and checking the cooling fan operation etc....should I be worried about headgaskets following the over-boil?

Sorry for the 'war & peace - like' post!!

Cheers,

Gavin.

P.S. more to follow on persistent starting problems but I will save that for another day!!!

 

Items that typically fail are the thermostat and cracked t/stat tower, old/faulty header tank cap and cracked header tank. Your car has the potential of an early waterpump, the impeller is black and falls to bits, so check this - I think you can do it by engine number, someone might chime in with exact changeover with the updated white impeller version.

May I point you in this direction...
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...t-offer-82239/

Also check the engine oil. If you start getting misfire codes, rough idle, steam out of the exhaust, it's time for a compression test and sniff test for exhaust gases in the coolant for signs of head gasket failure. But if you've not experienced any of these symptoms in the last 200 miles I'd breath easy and fit the realgauge (cheaper than a replacement engine)

Finally the 3.2 option wasn't available to our USA brothers, and as this is the USA based site, I'd suggest posting this issue in the UK forum also for more ideas and feedback - hope this helps