Hey everyone,

I am experiencing an issue, which seemed simple at first but seems more troublesome as I get it looked into. Last weekend I noticed the car temp gauge moving over where it normally sits (just under the 1/2 mark).
It was steady at about 3/5 mark for a good 10 minutes so I got worried and pulled over. The fan ran about 10 minutes after I turned it off. I started again and about 5 minutes later the temp moved up to the 3/4 mark.

I pulled over again and checked the coolant level under the hood. It was almost empty. I thought it was odd because I checked everything 2 weeks ago and it was fine. So I got some coolant at the part store and filled it up and it was fine again, right under 1/2 mark until I got home.
So, I drive it next day it's running great as usual with no overheating. After I get home I pop the hood and the coolant is down near halfway in the expansion tank. I don't drive it the next day and check it again and it seems to have gotten lower.

I look under the car and see what looks like a puddle but it had just rained the night before so it was hard to tell. So today I take it to my mechanic and he can't find anything wrong or leaking. Any ideas what could be going on? From what I read this seems like it could mean a head gasket issue if there are no obvious leaks, which is scarrrry I haven't gotten and engine lights or misfire codes yet and the car drives like normal. thanks.

 

Check your oil level to see if coolant is getting into it. The oil on the dipstick might look whiteish brown if water is in the oil. The easiest thing to do is have the cooling system pressure tested. Ask your mechanic if he can do a combustion gas test to the cooling system which can tell you if a head gasket is leaking. Good luck!

 

QUeen, I want you to check something for me. Open the hood of your car and find the line that comes out the bottom of the overflow bottle. PLace your hand on that hose and give it a wiggle. Does this line move or do you see a solid white line around this line? IF this is the case, it sounds like you have a crack there and you have coolant loss from this point. Unfortunately, the correction for this is a new overflow bottle.

If this is not the case, then I would be looking at the coolant hoses in that area and seeing if you have a hose that has a pin hole leak in it and you are loosing coolant that way.

 

thanks guys. I'm hoping for Thermo's theory as I rather spend 2-3 hundred instead of thousand... I did take a peek at the hoses but I didn't wiggle any of them or look for a white line. I am hoping that is what it is and will report back tomorrow. I may take it to a euro tech in the area instead of the dealer who is especially outrageous for an area that has low cost of living.
If thats the case I will ask him to try the combustion test.

The one thing that made me think it was the expansion tank was where I thought the puddle was under the car. But when my mechanic said he didn't see any leaks, that made me worry and think head gasket. The is the first "big" issue i've had with the car so I don't know if really trust my local shop for this. Thanks again!

 

Queen, where the tank cracks, unless you know what you are looking for, you probably would not notice/see the crack, hence the response from the mechanic you took it to.

Queen, if you are not afraid to do a little looking yourself, start up the engine and let it come up to temp while sitting still. As the motor is warming up, open the hood and look around the battery box and see if you can spot any leaks. If you are going to have leaks, it is most likely going to be in this area with the following problem in order of likelihood:

-cracked overflow bottle
-leaking waterpump (if you more info on this, let me know)
-leaking hose running from engine to radiator (look for a orangish/white powered near where the hose makes a connection, may be a greenish white powered if you are using green engine coolant).

 

thanks Thermo. I am going to pick it up from my mechanic today. Talking with them over the phone they did a "coolant pressure test" and found nothing. That sounds good initially but since I still suspect a problem with the coolant disappearing from the expansion tank, I am worried. I will look for the places you listed when I get it back and let you know. Thanks for all the advice.

 

Thermo is right about the expansion tanks leaking but there is somehting else you should look for. Take a a nice bright flashlight and look down around the base of the intake manifold below the fuel rail. Its hard to find a place to see down there but you will. Look for puddles of coolant on top of the engine block. There are several gaskets that are prone to leaking under your intake.

I just did the full repair on mine and it wasnt too bad. I also posted pics in my album if you would like to see or find them on my thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...acement-52382/

 

thanks stshots, you'll have to excuse my lack of car knowledge but I am unsure where those points to look at would be exactly. However, I did get it back just now. I talked more in depth withthe mechanic. They did the pressure test and nothing, also checked for leaks on hoses and nothing. He said it could be that either air was trapped and it was single incident, or possibly the temp gauge/thermostate is not operating, or the head gasket. He said to monitor the coolant level and if it overheats bring it back for them to check those things...

Before I came back into the office, I did some of the checks you guys pointed out real quick.

-There does seem to be some wetness collecting towards the center/center-driver's side under the car, but it doesn't look, feel or smell like antifreeze (more like water...) but again I am not an expert.
-If it is antifreeze however, it makes sense on how the coolant level in the expansion tank would go down even when the car isn't being driven.
-I checked hose coming from exapnsion tank, and it was snug with no white line.
-I inspected the other hoses near the battery box with the car running but did not see anything leaking.
-Also, I checked the exhaust and it does seem a little on the white side when it first was started but then looked normal.
-The oil from the dipstick looks normal in color and texture.
-There is no burning smell that I detect from the car.

Thermo, would a leaking water pump cause the car to burn up more antifreeze and create the wetness at the bottom? Is that something possible for me to spot check?

stshots & Thermo, now that you mentioned it I kind of noticed a shallow wet spot at a low point between where the engine sits and the expansion tank. It looks like on top of a flat metal bracket. But again that seems like water and not coolant.

Thanks for all the recommendations-- on a side note, that could be a gift or curse, replacing the head gasket would be $1800 at my mechanic which is far less than I was expecting.

 

Queen, if you look to the left of the battery box (near the air filter box), you will see a belt and 2 pulleys. This is the water pump. If you look near there, you may see some water/coolant in that area. If the coolant is orange, I can see where that might look clear. What you can do is to use a paper towel and dip the towel in to the "water". That will tell you if it has any color to it or not. But, based on where you are talking about seeing fluid, you are looking at a hose right in the area that I am talking about. It could be the water pump is leaking and it is flowing down the block and collecting where you are seeing the water.

As for the water that you are seeing near the firewall, odds are, that is from your A/C drip pan. You can see water dripping from that any time you are running the A/C or defroster. So, that is normal.

If you have more questions, keep them coming. I will try to explain things to you as best as I can and if you are not sure about anything, say so. I will explain it different ways so that you can understand what is going on.

 

You may have hit on something! the collection of "water" where you told me to dip the paper towel is orange (under and to the right of the water pump). it is not that much and doesn't look particularly fresh though. I wonder if the water pump is leaking on the underside where I can't see from under the hood. Does this sound like a possibility for a cause? Feels good to make progress

 

Try to dry up the area with a paper towel and then keep an eye on it for a few days. Things alway leak from a place you can't see!

 

Queen, yes, that does sound likely. Replacing a water pump is pretty easy. So, if you have some basic hand tools, you can do this job yourself. The big "trick" to this all is making sure that once you get the old water pump off, you get the area where the water pump seals against the block, you get this cleaned up really good. Using something like Scotch-Brite pads will make this job pretty easy.

If you need more info, let me know.

 

i agree, I am going to monitor it for a couple days to kind of confirm things for me. Thanks



Thermo, sounds great. I am curious though, wouldn't a pressure test have caught that when the mechanic tested it? Just seems like an odd thing to miss. I am going to try and concentrate on this over the weekend and get the parts, it looks like the replacement pump is pretty readily available at local parts stores.

 

I am attaching a picture I took of the area where the coolant is collecting near the water pump, marked with a red circle. Hope this confirms what you are thinking.

 

On your picture, from the circle, go up about halfway to the top and then left about halfway to the edge. Shine your flashlight in there under the hoses and try to get a good angle to see on top of the block. When mine went, I had antifreeze on top of the transmission in the same place you do. It pools up under the intake and then runs down the side onto the transmission.

On this car, you've got at least 5 gaskets and o-rings from the water pump to the engine block that will flatten out over time and slowly leak. I was shocked at how bad mine were when I replaced them at 80,000 miles.

For the pressure test, it’s hard to say. Mine had been leaking like yours and still holding enough pressure to not show a clear smoking gun until one day I walked out to a BIG puddle of antifreeze under the car when the worst of them finally let go completely.

Like thermo said, it’s really not that hard to fix if you have a little mechanical incline.

Good Luck!

Hope this helps!

 

Any update yet? Just asking because I have a very similar problem. Mine seems to be a very slow leak so I am hopeing it is just a bad O-ring.

 

Hey,

This might not be your issue but wanted to show you that hose with the T-Fitting that had a slice in mine, where I couldn't really see it. Check out the picture I attached below. Ever since I replaced it, That pool dissappeared for me, but always under a watchful eye.

Hope you guys/gals can get this fixed up.

 

Sorry guys. I had to go out of town, came back to it today and I can't say anything good has developed. In fact much worse. I started it up, dorve for a 1/2 mile and the CEL light started flashing. Immediately turned around and came home. I parked it and there's a burning smell. I'm gonna call the euro tech tomorrow and see what he can do. Not sure if this will be worth fixing, the burning smell can't be good. If it's not the thermostat or water pump i'm guessing its more along the lined of headgasket, coils or cat converter.

 

there is a glow additive you can mix in your coolant, let it run then trace it with a black light. then you can better see where the leak comes from.
there is also a separate one that is designed to trace oil leaks.

 

Not sure I'd panic just yet. If its been sitting for a week, there could be some things bathing in that leaked cooland that aren't happy about it. Get the codes read and see what you've got. It may direct you closer to your problem and may not be too bad.