Hi all,

I had a hose clamp break on me recently. It's the one connecting the lower radiator hose to the thermostat housing on a 1998 XJR.
I was in Austria about to drive up a mountain and we stopped to take some pictures (just where the fog remained in the valley and the mountains stuck out like islands in a sea of fog).
Then I noticed steam and water dripping from the car.
I saw the hose was loose at the lower radiator hose to thermostat connection. Not having any tools or zip ties or anything and being 200km from home, we made do by jamming 3x 2cent coins into the hose clamp to keep the tension on and got down to the nearest place to get some form of clamp.

Does anyone know if this part can be ordered individually or if it only comes as part of the lower radiator hose?
I ordered JHC303020 from BritCar but its way too small. Is JHC303020 correct?

And anyone have experience of a part like this failing? I was pretty shocked, if it had gone 30 mins before when we were doing 200kmh on the Autobahn, that would have been problematic.

Cheers

Lincoln



lower radiator hose clamp held together with 3x 2cent pieces.

 

I've not seen one of those spring clamps fail but I have seen the hose blow off at that point due to over pressure due to failing thermostat or pump.

Mine did a few months ago going up a mountain. Perhaps your Autobahn sprint and mountain climb has a similar affect.

I ended up replacing the thermostat housing and hose.

 

what you need is JHC 302220

 

Cheers Luc, Test Point.

that makes sense now, I'll go ahead and order that now.
I was having an intermittent "Low Coolant Warning" where it only ever lost a tiny bit, mostly after extended high speed driving.
My thought was that some part was ever so slightly porous and with high engine bay temps it would leak a little.

I will fix this and try to track down the leak. Then once I fix that, I'll look into the Thermostat and pump (I seem to remember having them replaced but I don't have the invoice to hand right now)

Thanks a lot for your speedy help,

Lincoln

 

One other quick question: Is it fair to say the car didn't leave the factory with that Jubilee Clip on the main Thermostat Housing to coolant inlet?
(the silver worm screw clamp in the middle of the pic?)

I think that part is JHC301520

Looks as though there was some issues with the hose clamps already when I bought it. I better plan on doing the job properly and replace anything that's suspect. Pump, Thermostat, hoses clamps

I am right to say the X308 XJR only ever came with metal Thermostat housing?

I see a little bit of coolant splash at the upper radiator hose where it enters the radiator, so it appears something is not right in the coolant system.
I wish I had all this done when I had the head gaskets replaced 2 years ago.

Thanks

Lincoln

 

Yeah, the xjR came with aluminum thermostat housing and only the spring type clamps. Any worm drive hose clamps you find were added.