Hello Everyone:
Being a new owner, I have several questions for you.
1. After setting outside in the sun for sometime I noticed that when I start the car and turn on the AC that it takes a few minutes to start cooling. Is that normal? I may not know the sequence to turn on the AC or do I just turn on the auto button and wait?
2. I noticed that sitting in the car with the engine running, the radio turned off, the ac turned off, there is some kind of hissing coming from behind the drivers seat. It sounds like speaker hiss. Is this normal?
3. After I have been driving the car for awhile and park it in my garage, I think I smell antifreeze. I have looked everywhere and don't see any leakage. Is this normal?
Thanks for all your help as it will take awhile to get used to the car.

 

Welcome aboard!! How about posting some pics? As to your questions:

1. That sounds like it is very normal. It takes a few minutes for the air conditioning system to get to its normal operating temp.
2. Don't know about the hissing sound. Mine is a vert; perhaps somebody with a coupe will have your answer.
3. You may have a sick or dying water pump. Check your fluid level in the overflow tank when the car is cool and not running. See if the fluid level is where it should be. How many miles on your new ride. water pumps are known to fail sometimes between 35k and 50k miles are more. See if you can get a hold of the service records and see if the pump has been replaced. At any rate keep a close eye on the pump and look for signs of leakage or a strong coolant odor on a continuing basis.

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

 

I noticed the tell-tale aroma of antifreeze from my CPO 5.0L XJ and, being aware of the water pump issues, immediately drove to my Jaguar dealer who replaced the water pump under warranty. Don't delay, get it checked today.

On a hot day, the AC has to evacuate the hot air in the ducts before you feel cold air. It takes a little time for the cabin temperature sensor to communicate with the other components to get everything going. If it gets cold, you're OK. You may want to try adjusting the AC manually and see if it makes any difference from being set on Auto.

Are you sure that hissing noise is coming from behind the driver's seat? If not, then I suspect it's coming from your cabin temperature sensor - a.k.a the aspirator. If it's dirty, that may also explain why your AC isn't working the way it should. See this old thread:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-noise-111624/

 

I can give some suggestions:

1) The feedback provided already about cooling the hot air in ducts and taking a little to get things going is fair.
2) If you think it's a speaker, find the stereo fuse and pull it and you can test it. Could be elsewhere, but no juice to it and sound persisting would eliminate it from consideration though.
3) Mine is the earlier 4.2 XKR but this was happening to me with the bleed screw on the coolant overflow tank leaking ever so slightly while driving and making the smell but never making a puddle. Buy some UV dye and add it to the coolant, run for a while, then see where the dye is. The make cheap kits with a UV light and plastic glasses that help with this. You could also get a pressure tester and adapter and pressurize the system where cold to see the leak.

 

My car has maybe 40,500 miles on it. The antifreeze smell is faint but I still smell it. I will check the overflow today. The hissing. If I sit in the car with everything turned off, it is not dead quiet. I hear something hissing behind the drivers seat. Maybe I am to picky but my other car is a LS Lexus 460 and I am used to quiet. It sounds like a speaker hiss but the audio is off.
Is there some other way to check the water pump? The records show it has not been changed.

 

Set that up again, and climb into the back with your head on the driver's side? Or, if you're not a tiny dude like me, send one in there.

 

1. Being in Florida I never use the Auto unless I am on a long ride (hour). Typically temp is locked down at the lowest temp available and manually on the highest fan with recirculation on. With the Florida heat all I do is regulate the fan speed with temp at low.. I have noticed in Auto mode it takes a while before it decides to give you full max cooling so I never use it in daily around town driving.

2. I would almost think it could be your cooled seat fan, but you have to turn that on in order for it to be active. But it is right behind you in the seat. Other than that you will have to climb back there and listen around to see where it is originating.

3. I have smelled coolant for all 4 years of my ownership. Every day, every drive. Coolant has never changed in the reservoir. Had it pressure tested 3 different times by 2 different dealers while under warranty and not a leak to be found. I would have it tested for sure, if you are solid with no leak then pick your path, start replacing stuff or monitor and assess as you go. If you research there are plenty of folks with Jaguars who have reported exactly the same as me, a smell but no drop in coolant level for years.

 

The only possibility for this "everything off" sound is indeed the climate control aspirator fan located behind the small vent on the dash beside the steering column. This tiny fan operates the instant you open the door (in fact, the instant you pull the outside door handle) and it continues in operation for about 30 minutes after you shut the engine off. This is perfectly normal and correct. The fan may need cleaning, as you have been told.

 

Its like CEE Jay says, Gauges,gauges,get some gauges..or roll the dice. In regard to the coolant smell.

 

I have cabrio Bob's guage on its way. I can't wait till it gets here.

Thanks

Joe

 

Do you have a nav DVD inserted? Might have a noisy nav DVD player.

 

1. AC operation is not instant. Priority on cold start is rapid engine warm-up. It takes a couple of minutes for the AC to run and blow cold.
2. do you have heated/cooled seats? It could be the seat cooling fans
3. Coolant smell but no sign of leakage is usually where drops are falling on the hot exhaust and flashing off to vapour immediately. Check around the expansion tank area.

Graham

 

The hiss is probably the asiprator motor. It's just noisy and replacing it is a band-aid until that one starts hissing. Don't worry about it.

 

Jdog,
Concrats on your new Jag; but there are s 4 things You should have for your XKR:
A CTEC (or similar) battery charger, a code reader, a cooling system pressure tester and a good voltmeter.
They are wonderful cars to drive; so enjoy...........................

Cheers, Adrian

 

When new members post and read all the replies, then they see exactly what they are in for ....

 

Thanks everyone for all your input. What would be your suggestion for a good cooling system pressure tester, and code reader. I have the Ctek battery charger and voltmeter. Maybe on Amazon? I have had my Jag for maybe a month now. Woo ! I am learning to keep both hands on the wheel when I "punch it Bishop". Old phrase from movie Alien. It is a rocket. Back end will go sideways in a hurry. It has been awhile since I remember this from the old 60-70s drag cars. I posted some pics and info as soon as I got it on here. I will take some more soon and post. I got in the car today, cranked it up, a/c cooled immediately and there was no hiss. I will check again and see if there is any noise while parked. I checked the overflow and all is OK.

 

Mine is an Ftype R. And I'll say what all others do as to sitting. It takes a few to scale up. I'm in FL as well as a couple others. AS TO COOLANT, I, too, have smelled it almost every time I fire up the AC. There is no water pump issue (as yet, they ALL get them sooner or later, but mine checks 'all good' thus far) nor the Y pipe or other carry lines are bad. Simply put, the cabin temp is controlled by the 'heater' (which is run from the coolant antifreeze side of T-stat) with the AC. So, unless I have mine set to it's absolute 'LO' setting, it will give me a faint whiff of antifeeze, as this will kind of 'wick' from the regulating transfer (heater) elements. So, to conclude. DRIVE HARD AND LAY BLACK LINES EVERYWHERE. <grin>

 

3. I bought my XF with 50k miles, at 60 k had a coolant line blow while I was close to home. Before taking it to the dealer, I pulled the under body plastic to look for the leak and noticed the underbody trim has a pad on it I assume to absorb any fluid leaks. After the hose was fixed and before replacing the underbody, I washed it down, soaked it in soap, and dried it thoroughly in the sun... twice. I still smell antifreeze 5 years later on hot days. Yours might be an old leak that's doing the same thing. I've learned to enjoy the smell, my garage smells like my car and my car let's me know when I've had a little fun with her.

 

Jdog,
Harbor Freight is usually good enough for most non professionals; I am lucky to have a store a 1 mile away!.
I have their Al. Hyd. Jacks; battery load tester and disc brake retraction tools (needed for XK rear brakes). I do miss Sears! but Amazon is also very convenient to use.
So take your pick......................

Cheers, Adrian..........Founder member JDC Seattle

 

Most auto parts store have free rentals on many tools including cooling system pressure testers and they can make sure you have the right adapter for your reservoir.

Code readers - if you mean for the engine, usually an OBD II dongle from Amazon and Torque Pro or many other apps.

If you want a shade tree mechanic's OBD II reader that will read more than engine codes (chassis, body, etc), Foxwell and/ or icarsoft can be had for less then $300 on Amazon. They will only read the first five digits of the code but that's enough for most folks to drill down.