I had an oil leak so I took my 1999 Jag XJ8 into the dealership to have it fixed. It turned out they needed to go into the engine far enough that I decided to have them just change out the timing chains and tensioners since they all ready had the car apart. Well I've had it back for a couple weeks no issues. I parked last night and within 5 mins. of parking I heard a rushing sound. I looked and water was flowing under my the engine. I opened the hood and the upper radiator hose had just popped off. Guess they did not tighten it well enough. So I need to clamp it down tight and refill the radiator. Any advice on type of fluid to use and method? I suppose I just keep filling via the overflow tank? Your help would be appreciated.

 

Make sure the fuses for the cooling fans are okay, and the fans work. I was involved in an accident and the fans were replaced, but no one looked at the fuses. Later, the middle rad hose popped off in traffic. Not a happy time. If the thermostat hasn't been changed, you might want to replace that also. The hoses should not be popping off.

 

Make sure that that the thermostat cover is not damaged -- and the fitting where that hose popped off. This is a known problem!

How about the water pump history?


This could have been loose -- but you could have had an overheat situation that popped the hose -- you want to make sure because you don't want the engine to overheat.


Do you have any history on the cooling system? Did the dealer do the recent work -- they would have used the proper Orange Jaguar fluid ........ Some dealers sell the smaller 1L bottles -- others just the 5L. I use the proper Jaguar fluid. That car originally came with another NLA fluid and would have been changed out by bow -- hopefully properly

 

The dealer checked the water pump and felt we could easily replace it later since it is external and easy to get to but for now the pump looked and felt fine when they spun it. The car only has 50,000 miles on it. One of those well maintained low miles cars. The oil leak was minor but the dealership broke the housing getting the car apart. So they had to go back in and replace that. At that point since they were so deep in the engine is when I told them let's just go ahead and replace the timing chains and tensioners. Overall I only had to paid for the chains and tensioner parts and labor. I did not see any evidence of an over heating situation on my last drive home just before the hose popped off. I can tell you that I have always smelled a slight sweet radiator odor after any driving. Two seperate dealerships looked at that and could not find any leaking. I read here about others who have smelled that too with no absolute source found. I was just thinking that since the dealership had to take the car apart twice and do a major bit of work that someone just did not fully tighten this hose clamp. As disturbing as that thought is I hope that is all it would be. The rad fluid looked green to me by the way. I could change the thermostate pretty easily since I'll be working in that area. And I will check the fans and fuses which is good advice. My dealership is an hour drive away. I'm thinking I should be able to use standard 50/50 fluid since this is the same engine Ford used in the Lincoln. Thoughts?

 

Was this a Jaguar dealer? Did they check to make sure that it did not have the original water pump? This should be changed out if it is the original pump - the problem is not the bearing spinning -- it is with the plastic vanes -- they come off so the WP spins and does not move any water ... they need to be upgraded with the proper part from Jaguar -- not the aftermarket metal pump.

Some parts on the V8 used in the LS are from Jaguar - but the other parts of the cooling system are interchanged -- the car should not have green coolant in it ... who used that?


The system has a lot of hoses and connections - and some are hard to see especially those under the intake

 

Yes, a really large Jaguar dealership in Kalamazoo, MI. They do good work. This is my third Jaguar and they have always been my service department. I wondered about the water pump (I brought it up) as I have been reading this forum and knew about that issue. I actually had them do a number of other small things and it all added up so they may have thought since it was not giving me any issues we could afford to do it at a later date. I don't know for sure if it is green fluid. I'll look again as I'm sure it did not loose all of it and the residual on the drive way will certainly have color. So, if I can't get up to the dealership to get the Jaguar rad fluid what can I go buy locally?

 

The dealer should have checked the water pump. There was a TSB with how to check it and the ones to immediately replace. I believe a '99 would have the one to replace. If I were you, I would replace the water pump, the thermostat and the thermostat housing (with a metal one). There are lots of posts regarding this. Maybe they have some reason for not replacing the water pump, because it seems strange to do all that work and not replace it. It's not a big job and the pumps aren't terribly expensive.

 

Yes Jim I agree this is work I would have wanted done. I will reschedule a visit to the dealer and get the pump and the thermostate replaced and ask about the housing as well. I love this car and want to keep it a long time. The styling you just don't see any more. It is classic and in perfect condition inside and out.

 

Hubbs, I agree with you about the car and I share your enthusiasm (sp?). I just feel a little bad for you in the money you must have spent at the dealer, and they didn't check the waterpump part number - or maybe they did. But, here's the TSB anyway, I don't think there's anything wrong with posting the link -
http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/XJ/303-60am.pdf

Cheers !

 

The Jaguar does not use clamps that tighten. They are all spring clamps. They should be perfectly satisfactory if the plastic pieces they attach to have not deteriorated to the point of being soft which is the usual issue with hoses blowing off.

Even with a deteriorating plastic manifold the hose should not blow off without significant encouragement from a failing thermostat. Beyond the early years of coolant pumps shedding their vanes pumps tend to fail more from seal/bearing failure and leaking rather than reduced pumping capability.

 

I thank all of you for your replys. It's good to know I'm not all alone out here. The hose does have a clamp that tightens. This may have been added aftermarket I don't know. I have not owned the car from new. I can tell you it does have Prestone Antifreeze in it. I asked the dealer about this and they said it will not harm it. Well, they didn't actually use those words but the response I got was wishy washy enough that I felt it just was not that big a deal. Sooooo, I tightened the clamp and put a half gallon of Prestone 50/50 in and it has been fine ever since. I just belive they did not fully tighten the hose clamp after doing the final work. Remember they had to take it apart twice and I think that is how it got missed. The car never over heated that I observed and has not since. This is not to say that the recommended replacements should not be performed. Just that for now I'm ok and will make time in the near future to have the car back up to the dealer. I would like to have the pump checked by serial number and the thermostat replaced and the radiator filled with Jaguar fluid. I will then buy an extra amount to have on hand. This is my plan.