Picked up a 199 XJ8 with 126K miles. Real real nice car with a complete service history. I've been lurking/reading for a couple of days here. Got a couple of questions/concerns.

Fan runs after I shut off the car. Can run for a few minutes. Owner told me he thinks its a sticky relay. Now I'm not so sure. He thought it only ran when the ac was used. So today drove it to work (22 miles) in moderate to heavy highway traffic w/out ac on.

Noticed the temp hovered above 1/2 way on temp gauge but went up to 3/4-7/8 a couple of times. After I shut it off, fan still ran. Its a high speed fan, not a low speed ( unless high speed is REALLY high speed).

Visual inspection of the hoses looks good. Doesn't seem to be any place where hose collapsed or leaks. But I didn't see a overflow bottle?

Is the pump on top of the motor? Aluminum housing? I know on my old benz the fins disintegrated and it was just cavitating in the housing and not really pumping water.

Could it be a sticky relay or thermostat? And if yes, i assume its in its normal spot on top of the manifold?

I can't believe the car should run that warm in the springtime.

 

Welcome to the forum. No, it should not run that hot. The thermostat should be changed, as they tend to fail in the closed position in the V8. It is possible the housing will fall apart, so replacing it is wise. Many oif us have replaced it with an aluminum tower, but that's not critical. I got mine from Welsh Enterprises, they include the thermostat.

If your records indicate that the water pump was changed, that's probably OK, but they're not expensive, and a easy swap. The temperature gauge is a glorified idiot light that should never go beyond mid scale. That fact that it did is cause for serious concern. I would avoid driving until changing the thermostat and maybe inspecting the pump.

Now to the last important issue: Have the secondary valve chain tensioners been replaced? There is plenty of discussion here if you do a search.

 

You have an early car -- and they had a few cooling issues -- changes were made to the later cars.

The water pump was updated twice -- the early pumps had a type of plastic vanes that did not hold up. The vanes would snap off -- this would obviously decrease the pumps ability to move the coolant .... also ... the plastic parts could flow through the system causing clogs. You need to check to see what pump you have - do a search on the forum -- you will find the posted technical bulletin number 303-60 - this will explain.

The early cars also had thermostat issues detailed in 303-54. Personally I would not use anything other than a OE part for this fix.

The coolant used from the factory was changed twice prior to 2001 - so issues can come up from using the wrong coolant when service was performed -- this can cause gelling and other corrosion/ blockage.


As other have indicated -- the upper housing on the non-SC cars is plastic and can cause problem ... not a bad thing to switch out when you check/ replace the thermostat.

I bet the fans are staying on because the car is running hot. You must check this out as you don't want to have this car running hot. The gauge is not a real gauge and one overheat can cause much damage. I would do some detective work prior to driving the car again. You have something a miss with the system that needs to be corrected.

 

The overflow tank is hidden in the fender well. When the engine is cold take the cover off the pressure tank. It should be filled to the top.

 

My sis in law's old boyfriend was a jag/landrover tech for several years. Now he's got his own shop. Dropping it off Monday. I'm probably going to finance his new place at the beach... well all those years of trashing his place and just leaving sunday nite will be paid back in spades. Karma is a f'ng bitch.

Weirdest thing, car would creep up the hot side, then cool off real quick back to the middle. Like it opens the thermostat. Ive never seen that before - shoot up then right back down. One time the light came on for a second and I threw the heater on full blast and opened the sunroof. Went right back to middle. He thinks its the termostat, who knows maybe its not hot, but the sensor is f'ed. I think it was t stat -too, cause it gets up to operating temp real quick. Overflow tank was 1/2 full. We'll see...

How about a cd player? I understand the cd module went in the "boot" on right side. Is there an existing harness by the battery?

Oh and what is the little box on the passenger side in the engine compartment? Reminds me of the first aid kit that used to come with benzes on the package tray.

I've been driving my vair for a while now and this cooling issue (since its air cooled) is new to me.

But your forum and community seem great, and the parts aren't 50 years old. I mean there are still OEM parts available not , NOS, love it.

But I do love this car. Wife has a scion and the jag was to be hers. Well its way too big for her ... HEr loss.

 

Oh and car is parked till monday.

 

Hi Blue hen,
Welcome to this forum, and to XJ8 ownership.
I installed the CD player yesterday. It fits on the left hand side of the boot, and you just plug the connector that is part of the wire harness into the pigtail that is on the CD player and you are good to go.
When you buy the CD player make sure that you get the mounting bracket as well as this bracket attaches to the boot floor with 3 M6 bolts. You will need to replace the boot trim as well.
I bought the CD player and the trim on ebay.
Attached pictures show the CD player and bracket complete with the amplifier which you do not need for the CD player installation and the trim the other picture shows the CD player and trim installed in the XJ8.

 

I'm sure the cd/amp module must be from jag (or ford) and only one or two years will work. I known back in 1999 6 cd's seemed like a crapload of music, but now not so much (Frampton comes alive, Physical Graffiti, Exile on Main St. - full) I'm sure I have no MP3 CD capability either. Nor Aux input.

Looks like I'll need to use some sort of cassette dock. - They actually have wireless one.

iDeck Integrated Cassette iPod Adapter | Overstock.com

I looked on ebay and there is a boatload of parts for these cars. Looks like there is some sort of GPS/DVD module?

 

Surprisingly it held a tool kit. It doesn't seem that many of the US cars have them. I have seen some on Ebay. A little pricey but I am going to eventually have one.

Vern Robinson
1998 XJ8
1997 XK8