Okay, so I am having tons of problems recently, about 4 weeks ago I had gotten home from a 200 mile trip, the next morning I had class and drove there fine, leaving on my break I was hit with a low coolant light, so I stopped at autozone to get some coolant, was inside for about 5-10 mins I come out and looks like my engine is smoking (was coming from down somewhere hot where coolant was leaking and just burning (engine was not over heating), drove it right to the shop, when I pulled in turned car off fan was running for a good 4-5 mins and I say coolant dripping perfidiously, the guy took it in (drove it like a fool) and once he got it into the bay the lower hose blew off, the immediately said the head gasket blew. This is where it all went down hill
I got triple A to tow it, sent it to Triple A car center, kept it over night and said they did pressure, combustion and hydrocarbon test and assured me it was not the gaskets and it was just the temp housing which went, so I got my uncle (who is a service foreman at a dealership (big dealership 25+ bays) and has been working on cars his whole life to do the work, I bought temp housing and kit from welsh, a new coolant sensor, water pump and new upper and lower hoses, finishes it. Calls me and says it wont start (I hadnt driven car in 2-3 weeks only started it once but didnt wanna overheat it) He started it after cleaning fuel fouled plugs (probably flooded it from turning it on for 30 seconds and turning it off) Anyway after he got it started check engine light, i suggested to him to burp the system some more (thanks forums and google) no check engine light, so that fixed it.
Now I picked up the car and the car would not get to operating temp (stays quarter way takes like 45 mins at stand still to get full heat) and when I drive it goes down, when I took it on the interstate I was flying and check engine light and temp gauge went all the way to cold and restricted performance popped up (assuming its from not getting to full heat) my bleed hose ended up splitting and coolant went everywhere, towed again to triple A and they just connected the bleed hose for me with a heater hose check engine turned off after we bled the majority of the system.

Took it to Ford dealership for a coolant flush yesterday, I drive home and car is jerking a tad (maybe some air in system)

TODAY:
Drove car to work (opened it up a few times to see how it would go, no jerks at all)
Got to work and smoke (coolant coming from either header tank (maybe a crack or the hose directly below it was leaking onto something hot and burning)
Got it towed to some Italian guy in town (recommended by triple A because they said they have no idea whats wrong)

He has the car now until we find out and I have a replacement thermostat on the way from Welsh because I am assume the one I have now is stuck open


Can anyone shed some insight for me, my baby is starting to irritate me

 

Lots of spelling errors, I apologize for that, I also can not seem to find the edit button for the post to correct them

 

I had some problems with my XJ8, very long warm up times and cooling down to the bottom of the gauge going down inclines. The problem was that the thermostat had been fitted without the rubber gasket, so water leaks past it.

On the subject of your leak, how hard can it be to look where it is leaking, and fix the leak?

 

Was smoking, when I looked it honestly looked like the reservoir at the top cracked on the side, but wasnt too sure so I got it towed away ( at work now and will be until 12 est) I won't hear back until Monday, but I am assuming that the thermostat is just stuck open, I am assuming your talking about the Oring that comes with the kit from welsh?

there was some coolant under the car but car ran fine to put on tow truck and didnt look like anything was leaking when I took it off

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...eader-tank.jpg

according to that diagram there is no hose under the header tank, so I am fairly sure there is now a crack in the header tank, could this be from boiling coolant in the tank?

 

Well that diagram also calls it the expansion tank

 

If it were my car, I would replace the thermostat and all coolant hoses, including the octopus hose. Sounds to me like they are all starting to or have failed. Also replace the expansion tank.
Good luck.

 

Check the alignment of the overflow pipes. Sounds like they are crossed (in addition to a broken one 'fixed' with heater hose). Also sounds like a bad TST, or install, or temp sensor of the new Welsh parts is not connected or working. Stop and analyze what is going on: too cold running, turn it off and your start blowing boiling coolant; huh, how can that be? Google it. Good news, doesn't sound like a head gasket. Finally, why so many different shops?

 

Header tank/expansion tank where you top up coolant.

These are renowned to have failed,or about to in an 1998 308.

Usually at the back rear corner that you can't readily see. The coolant runs down the firewall and onto the bellhousing/exhaust and just burns up,depending how bad the fracture is.

Easy to take off and test it though,certainly where I would start having been there.

 

You might need a new header / expansion tank, and make sure the hoses / lines are crossed (much in the forum search on this). Also, there are problems if coolant types are mixed - green and orange. The coolant system is very important on these cars, and you can't trust the temp gauge. Be careful. There is much in the forum about the water pumps and temp gauges and coolant types. We don't want to lose your Jag !

 

They are not crossed, I've been googling everything saw pictures and everything is in order, it boils over when it gets to normal operating temp or just under it, but when you drive it gets cold (my guess is stuck open thermostat)
Different shops because first one said head gasket where it happened and denied service because its a jag, second place triple A gave me a list (1100$ for parts and labor for temp housing) I got my uncle do it for me (hes only off every other weekend) so I had to wait until he was free, I don't want to wait another 2 weeks, so got it towed to triple A and they sat with me bleeding the system for like 3 hours and after we were done told me to bring it back the next day to do test (hydro carbon, pressure and combustion all turned to be normal) they didn't even charge me because they didnt know what was wrong ( i told them I just replaced Tstat) they recommended me to the guy who its with now, he had a 99 xj8 out front and some older jags, the advisor at triple A said this guy knows this engine inside and out, so when the expansion tank cracked I just sent it to him and told them what AAA told me, one of the guys also said he thought the radiator may be clogged but when I told this guy that he just shook his head and said probably not

 

Yes they were mixed, so I got a coolant flush yesterday from ford dealership, also how would I know if it was over heating, all ive smelt was burning coolant from being dropped down under and no indication of overheating what so ever
Yeah looked like a small fracture, but got it towed to the guy who knows all according to triple A, funny thing is I've never heard of the place, but looks like a reputable shop with all foreign out front, the guy also speaks fluent Italian

Told me the only people who come to him know about him, I'll most likely just get him to throw in the Tstat for me and ill order the new expansion tank any idea where to get one? Welsh does not have them listed

 

Just checked junk yard they recently got in a 2002 xj8, I'll pull the expansion tank from that tomorrow morning and get it put in monday

 

If you look at this thermostat, there is a rubber seal around the rim. That is what I mean.

New Jaguar Part s Type XJ8 XK8 Thermostat with Seal 1997 2003 AJ86484 | eBay

Btw, it is not smoking, it is steaming. The difference is very important.

 

I see, well I talked to welsh enterprises earlier and they are sending me a new one should be here monday or tuesday at the latest, will definitely update and I am going to get the expansion tank from junk yard tomorrow

Only have 113k miles on this and whole under body is nice, no rust

 

I just replaced the thermostat that came with the Welsh tower which I installed less than three years ago. I noticed the temp was a little low according to the Realgauge mod.
Put my Ultragauge in the car to get a digital readout and saw 175-180 deg. So I replaced the thermostat with a Gates unit and am now running at 190- 195 deg., which I think is correct for this engine.

 

Pretty sure they are supposed to be crossed. There are several threads showing
pictures of the arrangement.

The symptom is coolant blowing out from overflow tank at left front fender when
car is stopped after driving.

 

Siri and I are going to war with each other: they must be crossed! Plums (and my point, I thought until I reread my input), overflow tubes that are not correctly connected, is a most common cause of blowing coolant at shut down, all else equal. Then, how sure are you that the tank is broken?

Must ask, because ambient temp matters: where in the United States?

 

North Carolina, it was 55 degrees F yesterday, and its not out of the overflow its the expansion tank (the one at the top where you put the coolant in) it cracked I'm assuming from the boiling temps, but after I get this thermostat in and get the Italian to bleed the system 100% we will find out what happens after that I work until monday, so I will visit him tuesday and talk to him and find out if this car is operating correctly, I also get white smoke out of the tail pipes that is sweet smelling, but 3 different places have done hydrocarbon testing and all tested negative, normal pressure and combustion as well, but the fog is usually when its cold which is normal and it isnt heavy like a blown head gasket would be becuase it stops and heat also works

 

I'll triple check that the lines are crossed in this order when I get to my car on either monday morning or tuesday afternoon
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...eader-tank.jpg