I've had a coolant leak for two days now and trying to find it has been a nightmare. With the engine running to get the temp. and pressure up, trying to find the leak was impossible, even after raising the car on my lift and removing the belly pan, it was coming from at least three or four---maybe more---places at once, but mostly from the front portion of the engine.


So today I went to Advance Auto and rented a coolant pressure tester for $212 (will get that back when I return the unit). That sounds like a lot of money, but remember the 05- XJ8 has a screw on radiator cap and the standard press and turn types wont work. This tester has adapters for most all vehicles and is top grade equipment. After pumping to the correct pressure and doing a little look-see here and there, I found a drip-drip of coolant coming from behind the water pump pulley. That was the reason it was so hard to find with the engine running--the pulley was slinging the stuff all over.


I've taken a couple of pictures and if I can keep it up (remember to take the pictures), and once I get the pump and continue the job, I'll do another post and include pictures with explanations--hopefully, I've never tried that before.
Cheers..........

 

sounds like the front seal on the pump is the problem Chuck. I just did my water pump, it wasn't leaking but I was 'already in there'.
It doesn't seem the Jag pumps leak any more than any other make, but the thermostat housing and coolant reservoir leaks occur quite often. I replaced all of them...and the serpentine belt, idler and tensioner - again, because I was right there.

Not a hard job (WP) at all once you get all the things out of the way; there are a few pictorials around here on the thermostat housing and I'd look at those.

Good luck,

Ross

 

I replaced everything myself a year and a half ago, the thermostat housing, water pump, idler pulley, etc. As Ross said, nothing hard once you get in there (with the notable exception of that stupid little coolant hose that goes under the intake manifold--I procrastinated on that one nearly a year). The only thing in the cooling system I didn't replace was the radiator and expansion tank (and now my radiator is leaking and I can't get it out of the car...

Anyway, I'd replace as much of the stuff as you can while you're in there. It's all pretty easy (except for that hose and this darned radiator).

 

After I started the procedure and trying to take pictures, I realized that it was rather boring for anyone to do that, seeing that it was quite simple.
So attached are the few pictures I took and they might give someone the courage to tackle the job themselves.

The first picture shows how I found the leak.--pressure pump and yellow adapter for screw on caps.

The second just show the nose of the water pump under the large water hose that has to be removed--simple, just open the clamp and slid the hose off and push out of the way. You'll loose about two q's of coolant, then a little more when pump is removed.

Third is just another view.

Fourth is of the bugger it's self. Remove the wiring plug out of the way and you have access to the bolts. There are only five (5) bolts that hold the pump on--two on each side and one below the pump. and they are the larger of the bolts you will see. The other smaller bolts hold the front of the engine cover on.

A side note: After ordering a new pump and finding out it wouldn't be delivered until the 5th, I started looking at different auto parts houses, but they all had the "Made in China" pumps with the plastic impellers, but I was wanting the metal impellers and at last found one at PEPBOYS that was made in Germany (BOSH) and it had the metal impellers. I felt a little silly running all over town in a blinding rain storm once I removed the pump from the car----it had a plastic impeller. Oh well, maybe that explains where it came from and why it failed.

Cheers

 

Funny, I did the same thing Chuck - went to a metal impeller and saw the original was plastic

 

Is this the drip, drip you found on your veh, a rusty, gunky orange liquid?

Just noticed this on mine (this is a zoom in ) :-(



The wet look on the above pulley is WD40 (disregard that).

 

That would be right in the area Trosty, sorry! Looks like you'll have to break it down to figure out exactly where, but if it's the rear seal or the front seal- it's going to need replaced.

 

Ah, hopefully it is only going to be a seal and nothing more. I may end up changing some of the hoses while I am in there.
From the look of it, my thermostat and water pump have recently been changed too, so hopefully they are good.
Another job to add to the list.

 

trosty,
recommend you rent a good radiator pressure system (one with the correct adapters for screw on type radiator caps) as I did. Saves an awful lot of guessing and with just a little pressure, you'll be able to find the leak and then once you do that, your good to go.