Hi All,

I have noticed a slight seep of coolant around my expansion tank? Has anyone else seen this issue?



Thanks for your help!

 

The best sure fire method of determining where the leak is coming from is a static pressure test of the cooling system. Surprisingly the Harbor Freight test kit has the appropriate adapter cap to fit the Jaguar. It isn't abnormal to have tank leaks but without a pressure test you can't be sure if it is the tank and not a hose or pipe spraying onto the tank. Guessing on a Jaguar can become expensive and frustrating.

 

If you mean that pink staining around the fit between the hose and the body of the tank, I wouldn't worry to much about it.

Then, those clamps look like factory clamps and they have been on there a while. They are not adjustable and, when fit, they probably fit just right, perfect tension. But after 1000 hot and cold cycles, usual wear, crushing of the hose itself, over time, the fit just ain't as tight as it was 15+ yrs ago. Hence some seaping. If your worried about looks, for that, I bet a nice fuel hose clamp would be a nice fit and go right over the same area of factory hosing... Just a thought.

 

that's exactly where mine was seeping slightly. I replaced that hose, as well as the clamps. No leaks since, (about 5,000 miles).


Z

 

Expect the worst from the hard plastic line on the other side of this short rubber section. Either buy the replacement in advance, or have a section of suitable hose to replace it. It is likely VERY brittle and will snap the moment to take a look at it.

FWIW, I initially used a section of hose "from the garage" that ended up turning super hard and seeped coolant, so I eventually went back to a (new) Jaguar part. As everything coolant-related, there are lots of shortcuts and work-arounds to save you $, but, on the flip side, failed experiments leave you stranded...

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I have cleaned the ledge around my coolant expansion tank a few times and I am still finding coolant shown below.

Thanks for your help.

 

These plastic coolant reservoirs are known to leak due to cracking nozzles and separating seams. They have a difficult time surviving in the extreme heat of the engine bay. The most you can expect out of them is four or five years. My wife's 2006 XK8 is now on its third one....

 

If you don’t find a crack in the reservoir itself, I would take off the hose and at the very least replace the clamps. That’s all that was wrong on my car.


I replaced the hose also, but that probably wasn’t necessary, not to mention somewhat a pan since each end of the hose is a different diameter (on my ‘02 at least). There’s a lot of turbulence in the area of the overflow tank, without seeing a crack it’s difficult to know exactly where the fluid is coming from as the wind blows it around a lot.

Z

 

The coolant reservoir on my '97 had a small crack where the left hand hose in your picture connects to the tank. It was a small leak but enough to bother me since I take the car on some 500+ km trips in the summer and I didn't want to be stuck somewhere if the crack got bigger. I replaced the reservoir and had no problems for the rest of the summer..