Hi Members,

My new-like XKR-S 2012 blew all coolant out in a city center. It made a massive public and police interest with "smoke" all over.

Don't know yet why... pump, fan or other failure? Next it either broke a hose or the cap. Just saw the red overheating light come on, and after stopping, it blew.

The new models have very small volume of coolant, and no temp gauge, so these factors give it more a chance to surprise. I have a good solution for the temp gauge in my next post...

Is there any obvious reason seen or other similar cases like this?


Kari

 

Hard to diagnose without visually inspecting the vehicle, however the water pump has been known to commonly fail on the 5.0

 

Update: The broken part is a plastic Y-connector in coolant hoses. This is a secondary fault. Why the engine overheated will be studied once a new part is found and in place. I had seen the coolant red light come on once, and then I topped up the coolant with 0.3 liters of water. Just a leakage? Can a 0.3 liter low coolant level lead to this drastic and quick overheating in slow city traffic?

Can a blown head gasket do this - no previous symptoms were seen though, nor any leakages on the garage floor? An another annoying new car factor: there is no more a dipstick to observe the color of the engine oil as a routine.

 

There are 2 warnings in the 5.0L cars. The 1st one is the low coolant level switch in the coolant tank. So if there was a slow leak and the tank became empty then you would get this warning. If by adding the .3L of coolant eliminated the light then and you get the light after driving then you have a leak in the system. When the light came on again you must have blown the plastic thermostat housing. Hopefully you shut the engine off when you got the low coolant light. Replace the part and have the system bled and hopefully you don't have a head gasket problem. As for installing a water temperature gauge I use this method on my 2012 XKR.

 

I'd venture the plastic Y breaking is the primary fault and had been cracked / leaking for a while before the coolant got low enough to steam off. Post up some pics of the broken part. Specifically look for the plastic to be eroded away inside or look 'fuzzy'. That's a sure sign of steam damage form low coolant.

Plastic in the cooling system is one of the worst design issues on modern cars. If the wrong coolant was added at one time the whole system gets poisoned.

 

When coolant leaks, that space is occupied by something else.

I don't know for sure, but a slow leaking crack could allow air to pool into the system resulting in improper circulation. The cool down from elevated temperature might have resulted in the crack transforming to a complete schism.

The smoke was likely coolant hitting the exhaust.

Definitely something to keep an eye on as you may have more than one problem.

 

Thanks both.

The "coolant low" warning came on only for 15 sec, then immediately came the red light for overheating. After 200 m I was able to park the car. Hard to believe it was really caused by a leak only. I have had the same once, then I just topped up with those 0.3 liters, and it was ok without further issues.

As for the easy temp meter, I will, from now on, use as a routine my phone and a small wireless OBDII sender unit and e.g. the "Torque" app via Bluetooth. (I have an unneeded small and neat looking smartphone, I'll just fix that in driver's sight, then I don't even have to open the app on my main phone. Only issue is how to automate or if there is a neat unit available to read the data.)

 

One quick question, did you hear your fan kick onto high speed? If not the engine puter didn't know it was overheating and it happened instantly. If so, then that's your sign to pull over immediately.

When I got mine a coolant hose got nicked by the blower belt. I shoved in a length of pipe as a 'fix' and while looking over the car outside while idling within a ten second span the hose popped off puking coolant, the fan kicked on high and blew steam out the back of the car and the red over temp warning came on. I was standing behind the car when it did it. That's why I think your fitting failed and puked the coolant.

 

Thanks all!

Hoping the primary reason really is the cracked plastic tubing part, and the collected air theory is true... only this way it could be more than lack of mere teacup of coolant missing. E.g. the system could have been low, even with a full coolant reservoir tank, and with air in it all the time. Then suddenly there's an airlock, or just plain air in the pump, and coolant stops circulating altogether.

 

The system self bleeds. That's the purpose pf the little line that goes to the top of the expansion tank. The bottom hose feeds into the heater circuit. The height of coolant in the expansion tank is the height of coolant in the engine. Not a lot of leeway before the hot bits aren't getting cooled and steam comes into play.

 

Ranchero50,

Good to learn it should not be the air caught in the system possibility.

I have never heard the fans of this car.

My first theory was a faulty fan (switch etc) as a possible reason for the overheating. Both times it was slow crawling city traffic when I had the light on.

 

My mode of operation is to check the water in the tank and then check the oil on the screen. I then am ready for my cruise/ride for the day. Also note unless you have a major leak you will not see any fluid on the ground as it gets collected in the under belly pan. Last if there is any loss of coolant in the tank it's time to investigate.

 

So true, you need to be on top of things.

Jaguar sales guy said "there's no more a reason to open the hood on new cars"... famous last words!

 

Assuming you find and fix the leak, then do a careful road test. Best if you have an OBD II reader that will read coolant temp. If temp starts to rise well above normal, stop car and check for a stuck-shut thermostat. To check merely hold your hand over the thermostat. Not necessary to actually touch - close enough to feel the heat will do. Then do the same over any portion of the radiator. If the radiator is comparatively cold, your thermostat is likely stuck closed.

 

That's one of the funniest things I read on here in a very long time! (He probably gets commissioned on every repair and maintenance sale.)

 

Waiting for the part...

A major Jaguar garage has never heard that plastic Y-connector had failed before. There's also another plastic Y-connector under the supercharger.

If it was cracked, it would cause a minor leak first (which there probably was), then under hot conditions (slow in city) the pressure is all gone, and boiling after shut-down would result in the blow of coolant through the cracked part breaking..?

Yes, and once all will be back together, I need to check that all cooling system parts will function, and even then, I will drive with the phone displaying the OBD data continuously.

 

Hell broke loose...

The primary cause is the electric fan has failed, so it overheated in the slow city traffic. Slow driving 200 m to an emergency stop after the yellow and red lights came on, and 30 min later, when restarted, all flew out, from two broken hose parts.

Repair bill will be about 3000 euros (the hoses go under the supercharger), or actually 10 000 euros total, since the charger is now bad - audible bearing noise at 45 000 km only. If this is due to overheating or something else I don't know. I asked them first to see if there is any oil left in it. The older blowers had a handy nut on the top to open and even change the oil (at least most), this one apparently has none.

And the lesson learned is:

Lack of temp meter caused a 10 000 dollar damage, as there is no early warning for a failed fan (or water pump or what ever)! It could toast the engine too...

Therefore, watch your temperatures via your phone app!

 

Fan on the early cars is the same as the S type and the blowers are rebuildable. No reason to replace it unless there was a rotor collision. There is an Allen plug on the front of the blower housing for checking the oil but on mine it was hidden and a real risk to strip out. I'd bounce the part numbers around to make sure your repair shop isn't gouging you. Honestly sounds like they are.

I'm curious what died in the fan. There's a comm link between it and the engine CPU. Mine got cut from rubbing on the road which caused the fan to run all the time. I want to say there is a condition to force the fan on but I forget what it is right now. Temp all the way up or down with max AC if memory serves.

 

The S/C noise may only be the Torsion Isolator coupler. There is a repair kit and total to install w/parts s/b under $1,200 Euros. Search the forum for info on it. I agree with the comment that this repair shop may be screwing you.

 

How to build a temp alarm

Originally Posted by GaryTheViking
"My XKRS blew all coolant after bursting a plastic part, all in a few minutes after first light came on. So watch the coolant temp, as there's no early warning indication."

Here is an elegant way to do it, thank you Aonsaithya:

For this very purpose I have an OBDII bluetooth scanner fitted permanently to the port via an extension cable, on which I've cut the power wire and substituted it with a fuse tap. That way the scanner is on only when the car is on, and won't keep draining the battery. On my phone, I have YouBlue set up to start Torque Pro when the scanner is detected, and Torque has an alert set at 100°C / 212°F coolant temp. This way I have essentially automatic logging & alerts whenever the car is running.