New 2003 S-Type 4.2L V8 Owner
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Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 7
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From: USA
New 2003 S-Type 4.2L V8 Owner
Hello, everyone. Hope you don't mind the length of this post but I figured I'd do a new-member intro along with a "State of the Jaguar" address.
I live in a rural area of Georgia, north of Atlanta. Never cared to work on cars much, but after trying a few things and saving thousands on shop labor charges, I kinda fell into being a DIYer when it comes that kind of thing.
Several months my father-in-law (Michael) passed away. My mother-in-law offered us their 2003 S-Type 4.2L V8.
Michael had told me before that the Jaguar was losing coolant and he was carrying around coolant in the trunk to top off as needed.
He also mentioned he had a mechanic that was replacing plugs and coils as needed - which kinda made me cringe. I've always been of the train of thought that if you're going to replace one, just get it over with and replace them all.
Anyhoo - My wife and I already had 3 vehicles and it's just the 2 of us. We have a 2001 Ford Ranger with over 330K miles on it, a 2012 BMW X5, and a 2011 Chevy Traverse.
As you can tell, I'm not what anyone would call "brand-loyal" when it comes to cars.
Due to the age and miles, I consider my Ranger a project truck and my experience with the BMW has been that it's always a project and just waiting on the next thing to break. The Chevy has been rock-solid up until recently when an AC line developed a leak.
So the last thing I was looking for was a new project car but my wife said let's take it - and you know how that goes.
So, we took the Jaguar. It occasionally would get a "reduced power" warning on the instrument cluster so I ordered a complete set of plugs and coils and replaced them. It seems to have helped, but I still get the warning occasionally so that's something I'll continue to research.
As for the coolant leak, I found that the radiator was leaking beside the main coolant line at the top passenger side. I decided to try some Barr's stop-leak on it and to my surprise, it actually worked. No more leak. But not knowing a whole lot about the history of maintenance on the car, I got the bright idea to do a radiator flush. Ever since I did that, I was unable to stop the leak with Barr's again. I tried the copper variant, the aluminum variant, and a different brand and none could stop the leak.
So it was time for a new radiator. I ordered a Nissens radiator, which arrived last week. I got it installed but then noticed the lower transmission oil cooler line was leaking from the metal part of the line just after the crimped rubber line.
I found the part number for the line, and apparently there is no replacement for a single line - the part number is for both the inlet and outlet lines and VERY expensive ($500-600). So I figured it couldn't hurt to try some JB Weld to repair the line. I used JB Weld Steel Stick. It comes out as a putty that you knead together and put in place and claims to cure in 1 hour.
Yesterday, I did that but figured I'd give it a better chance of success and let it sit overnight. I started it up this morning and no more line leak.
This is something I'll keep an eye on and also keep an eye out for a good price on doing the job right and replacing those lines.
So, anyway. That's the state of the Jaguar at the moment. I'll be putting everything back together today and taking her for a test drive.
See you guys around the forums.
I live in a rural area of Georgia, north of Atlanta. Never cared to work on cars much, but after trying a few things and saving thousands on shop labor charges, I kinda fell into being a DIYer when it comes that kind of thing.
Several months my father-in-law (Michael) passed away. My mother-in-law offered us their 2003 S-Type 4.2L V8.
Michael had told me before that the Jaguar was losing coolant and he was carrying around coolant in the trunk to top off as needed.
He also mentioned he had a mechanic that was replacing plugs and coils as needed - which kinda made me cringe. I've always been of the train of thought that if you're going to replace one, just get it over with and replace them all.
Anyhoo - My wife and I already had 3 vehicles and it's just the 2 of us. We have a 2001 Ford Ranger with over 330K miles on it, a 2012 BMW X5, and a 2011 Chevy Traverse.
As you can tell, I'm not what anyone would call "brand-loyal" when it comes to cars.
Due to the age and miles, I consider my Ranger a project truck and my experience with the BMW has been that it's always a project and just waiting on the next thing to break. The Chevy has been rock-solid up until recently when an AC line developed a leak.
So the last thing I was looking for was a new project car but my wife said let's take it - and you know how that goes.
So, we took the Jaguar. It occasionally would get a "reduced power" warning on the instrument cluster so I ordered a complete set of plugs and coils and replaced them. It seems to have helped, but I still get the warning occasionally so that's something I'll continue to research.
As for the coolant leak, I found that the radiator was leaking beside the main coolant line at the top passenger side. I decided to try some Barr's stop-leak on it and to my surprise, it actually worked. No more leak. But not knowing a whole lot about the history of maintenance on the car, I got the bright idea to do a radiator flush. Ever since I did that, I was unable to stop the leak with Barr's again. I tried the copper variant, the aluminum variant, and a different brand and none could stop the leak.
So it was time for a new radiator. I ordered a Nissens radiator, which arrived last week. I got it installed but then noticed the lower transmission oil cooler line was leaking from the metal part of the line just after the crimped rubber line.
I found the part number for the line, and apparently there is no replacement for a single line - the part number is for both the inlet and outlet lines and VERY expensive ($500-600). So I figured it couldn't hurt to try some JB Weld to repair the line. I used JB Weld Steel Stick. It comes out as a putty that you knead together and put in place and claims to cure in 1 hour.
Yesterday, I did that but figured I'd give it a better chance of success and let it sit overnight. I started it up this morning and no more line leak.
This is something I'll keep an eye on and also keep an eye out for a good price on doing the job right and replacing those lines.
So, anyway. That's the state of the Jaguar at the moment. I'll be putting everything back together today and taking her for a test drive.
See you guys around the forums.
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 121,051
Likes: 6,652
From: PHX some of the time
Welcome to Jaguar Forums Seismo,
Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
Veteran Member
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,797
Likes: 684
From: The wilds of Montana
From one S-type owner to another... Welcome. The S-type forum is populated with a very friendly group and contains a wealth of knowledge.
I hope you got that Bars-Leak out of the cooling system pretty quickly, as it has a reputation of not doing nice things to your electric heater control valve...
I hope you got that Bars-Leak out of the cooling system pretty quickly, as it has a reputation of not doing nice things to your electric heater control valve...
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