Hi Everyone,

I'm currently looking at purchasing a 2014 XKR and took it for a test drive over the weekend. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into the drive I had a "Low Coolant Level" warning pop up on the dash and then go away again. I thought it was odd but everything was running ok so I pushed on. A couple of minutes later said warning popped up again but this time didn't go away. I got off the road as soon as possible and on checking the resevoir it was empty. I let the car cool for a bit and managed to get a couple of litres of water into it. In the end I wasn't confident of getting the car back to the dealer without causing some serious damage. I'd already called them to let them know what had happened and they came and collected us.

I've checked through the threads here and I'm waiting to hear from the dealer on what the issue was but based on the threads I've read through here tonight I suspect that it's one of the pipes at the back of the motor. The car has a full service history and has done just over 100,000KM so I would have thought that at some point given this is a known problem that the pipes would have been replaced. I guess what I want to know is, should I just walk away at this point as this is a sign of more and major problems starting to rear their heads, or is this more an exception given the car has been a daily driver and has been well maintained (based on what I can find out).

Appreciate any and all comments on this as while I'm not new to European cars (I've got a 2014 RS265 Megane that has been my daily for the last 7+ years), I am new to Jag's and this would be the replacement for the Meg.

 

It was a Jaguar dealer that sourced a car with low coolant?? Then water was added??
And the same dealer states it was driven by an old lady (probably from Pasadena) and kept the service up to date??
And without evidence, you have already drawn a conclusion that its the coolant piping..

Am I reading this right??

 

Get all of the service records. If the car has been serviced at a Jaguar dealer the service records should be available. If the information is unavailable, I think I would walk away from this car.

 

Your looking at a 10+ year old used luxury car. Unless you can DIY the repairs and/or maintenance it will be VERY expensive to have it repaired at a dealership. Yes plan on repairs and maintenance.
Was this a Jaguar dealer? I ask because Jaguar has abandoned their customers and most dealerships would have refused to work on a 2014 model Jaguar.

But your in luck because it is possible to DIY everything using the knowledge available on this forum. Again it's an old car and all the problems have long since been found and solved.

XKR's a rare and cool so if you want one grab it!
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..... AFTER it is repaired by a reputable shop and fully documented.

 

Welcome to the forums Ascavilya,

2 litres of fluid to top up out of a total capacity of 10 litres is a very significant loss. There should have been a big puddle on the ground or a lot of steam from a leak onto a hot engine if this just happened on the test drive. If neither of these events occurred, I'd have some suspicion about the validity of the "full service history".

The Jaguar V8 can be wrecked very quickly by an overheat. I would walk away from this one.

Graham

 

Who knows what the CW level was to start with.
Service history is irrelevant,
the front x2 coolant water pipes, and the water pump are changed on failure., as is the back cw heater manifold. They could well have been changed already and failed again.
Look at the posts on the LR,XFR,XJR,F type forums for the usual suspects with the AJ133S motor.
See post No.4.
If you do not DIY, or have potentially lots of money and an accessible JLR independent repair person available, move onto something else.

Great cars if you can DIY, and do a bit of preventative maintenance, and can read up on the historical issues in previous posts to know what to expect.

 

So true Cee Jay!!
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Hi guys,

Thanks for all the feedback. That last update I had from the dealer was that it was a cracked coolant pipe. I did suggest it was worth them checking all the pipes but I haven't heard anything more since then. I did check the service history using the Jag website and it did show that the car had been regularly serviced at the Brisbane Jaguar dealership. Little disappointed that the online information didn't include any notes, just the "service components", but it at least confirms it was done.
Based on all the information I think it's worth leaving this one be. Appreciate all the help.

 

If one coolant pipe needs replacing, its silly to replace one without replacing all of them....Besides disturbing the cooling system when replacing any one part, age is a common problem with our cooling system. I had my entire cooling system replaced last year with my car having 14,000 miles. At least I know I have around 7-8 years before having to do it again... It's not a cheap job!

 

Water pump failing probably.It happens around 30,000 miles if you trying to buy 1 with around that amount of mileage on it.When that happens,coolant drains out like it aint no tomorrow

 

This is very similar to what my car did. After a short trip to the store (3 miles), the low coolant light came on for an instant than turned back off. I was about 1/4 mile from home and had just gone up and down a small hill. The level was about 4 inches below the minimum fill line of the overflow tank. I topped the system and kept an eye on it after every trip. It was slowly disappearing, but no puddles or evidence of where at first. At that same time, I was also trying to find a spurious underhood rattle. After a couple of weeks, I found some orange coolant on the hood liner above the water pump. One of the torques fasteners in that area had some coolant accumulated on it. The system was pressure tested, water pump replaced, and pressure tested again - all tight and the rattle is gone! I wouldn’t shy away from this car if you can confirm that it didn’t overheat. Coolant issues in these cars are serious but well understood. Perhaps you can use it as leverage with the dealer to get an extended warranty??? Hope this helps, good luck!