My brother's XJ8 has sprung a leak in that short coolant hose on top of the engine. It's leaking all the way down and has destroyed the serpentine belt as well. Looks like the plastic pipe on the front of the engine has to be removed to get that short hose off. How involved is this?

Also, the short coolant hose, will any short piece fit or should I find the proper correct hose to do it?


Top hose coolant leak Jaguar XJ8

 

The crossover pipe is not difficult to remove, and it is a good idea to replace that also as it becomes brittle with age. I expect any hose of the correct size will work, but if you order the crossover may as well get the hose from the same source.

Is that an aluminum thermo tower I see?

 

I don't know what an aluminum thermo tower is? If you are referring to the round aluminum just behind that short hose, yes it is aluminum.

My main concern in pulling that crossover pipe is, when loose, will I also need to replace some special seals behind it?

Where is a good place to order the crossover? I have not seen it on the couple of sites that I checked.

 

I ordered from sng barrett. Do you have the free parts catalog? It comes with the two o rings.

 

No, never heard of SNG. Is that a Jag dealer?

 

Welsh, Motorcar LTD, RockAuto,Amazon, eBay, some others all have the parts you need to do this job right. SNG Barret is a supplier and forum sponsor: they have a superb online catalog with pictograms.

The plastic cross over pipe fails at about the same time the short bypass hose fails (your brother's issue) from internal corrosion. Most folks take the opportunity to change the Thermostat tower, Thermostat, cross over pipe, antifreeze, top and bottom radiator hoses, water pump and drive belt at the same time since most of this stuff needs to be wrenched off to get at the stub hose. There are many Youtube that show the way, as well as many more threads on this forum.

Easy work, just time consuming. If you elect to change the plastic TST Tower, the job becomes a bit more complicated. But many threads to walk you through it and avoiding pitfalls. Most of the older hands have written lots of pointers for getting this work done.

Bacitracen will heal the cuts on the back of your right hand!!!

 

SNG Barratt - The Ultimate Jaguar Parts Specialist

 

The water pump has to be pulled to replace this short hose?

 

It is not the water pump in front of this hose; on the left side is the cross over pipe, on the right side is your (aluminium) thermostat tower.
So the answer is no.

However, as mentioned, there are some recommendations here:

1. Replace that small hose, you see it is bulging, and might let go any time,

2. You should be able to re-use the cross over pipe. However, they are also made of the same plastic as the OEM thermostat tower, and they get brittle over time. It also comes with a new coolant sensor.
As all these are critical parts of the coolant system, don't take the risk,

3. Replace your thermostat if not done in the last years.

All these parts don't break the bank, and will give you peace of mind on the coolant system.

PS. I use Rockauto for all Jaguar parts they have (which is most general parts).
They offer a wide selection of alternatives, mostly including the original OEM supplier, and hard to beat on price and service.
RockAuto

 

My question is are you going to do a video on it or is it going to be with HOWR?

 

Thanks for the update. I checked on RockAuto, I also use them for a lot of parts (not Volvo). I like to support suppliers that support the brand. My brain tells me that parts places that support the brand will have parts longer, especially if I (we) keep them in business by buying from them. They also usually care about quality which helps.

Unfortunately by brother is renting a car so I don't have a lot of time to wait for shipping. He has been in more accidents in the past 3 years than I have been in all my life (I'm 53) so he's not driving any of my cars.
I checked locally and can not find the parts. Tomorrow morning I'll check with the *******, if they don't have the parts, I'll have to order and request upgraded shipping.

I will advise him to get prepared to do some extensive maintenance, water pump, other hoses, etc. Hopefully he will have his daily driver back soon. Coolant from that top hose seems to have leaked all the way down the front of the engine, hard to tell what else if anything is leaking. The serpentine belt is about to snap. Only belt I have ever seen worse was shredded.

Dealer parts supply here are pretty sad so they may not have what I need. I'm pretty sure I had to order the valve cover gaskets a couple of years ago which seem to already be trying to leak.

 

Likely both. I went to the junkyard today to practice but no XJ8's had the same engine. The initial HOWR video post in the morning. lol

I have not been able to find a video showing it so far. Maybe a different model car has the same parts/issues.

 

If you're just looking to replace that short bit of pipe, it's easy and will take less than 20 minutes to do. Jaguar sell the pipe for less than £5 here, cheaper than eBay sellers sell copies. There are two 8mm bolts holding the plastic cross over pipe onto the block, should come off easily. There are two rubber O-Rings in the cross over which you could replace for piece of mind. Once that's off you can get the short pipe off.
Seeing as the thermostat tower has been replaced, you're winning so it's only another three 8mm bolts to get the thermostat out and replaced. If you're doing the stat as well the whole thing should take less than an hour, including opening the drain valve on the bottom of the radiator to let out some coolant.

 

When I first changed my thermostat, I just sucked out some coolant, first from the expansion tank, then a more from the top of the thermostat tower.
Way less messy than opening the radiator drain.
Off course, most of times it is better to change all coolant at the same time.

 

Hmmm, turned out the "extra" worm clamp was installed and the middle OEM clamp damaged the hose. All done, video coming soon.

 

There shouldn't be 3 clamps on that hose.
The worm clamp was added at some stage (perhaps cause your tower is now alloy?), and I have no idea why one of the others is left in the middle of your hose.

Anyway, worm clamps should not be used on plastic items.
Jaguar used the OEM clamps for a reason, to deal with expansion, and to prevent the plastic underneath from being crushed.

Worm clamps might solve a leaking problem (mostly caused by old parts) temporarily, but bigger problems might be waiting to happen.

 

Good eye, Eric. That tower is alloy, isn't it? Makes the replacement of the short hose easier. I would still replace the crossover. He will need to replace the belt, as well. Might as well do the thermostat, too.

 

Yes, I thought it was Al. Like Jim and I have said, replace the crossover, and the thermostat is a good idea. I have worm clamps, but don't torque them down, just check frequently after installing.

 

 

Robert's post was private some how. Thank you Robert for the upload, helps for a step by step video.