I have a 2005 S Type 3.0 V6. Car has been great until back in January. Had a rare cold Florida day and turned on the heater. Only cold air. I left it running hoping maybe it'd kick in eventually. After a bit I glanced down at the temperature gauge and it was starting to redline. Pulled over and let it cool off. Filled up with water and drove on to destination. It kept doing the smae thing even without the heater running. Then one day at a stop sign it started overheating and I heard a "pop" and pulled over. The fitting on top of the coolant line that connects by a small hose to the resevoir have blown off. I replaced it then noticed that after the car heats up a lot of steam and coolant spews out of the overflow side and the pressure had even cracked the nipple. Took it to a certified mechanic since I live nowhere near a dealership, they said blown head gasket,
which they replaced along with the thermostat. Put it all back together and nothing changed. I don't want to keep paying them to keep stumbling around in the dark, but hopefully someone here is familiar
with this. There's a lot of air pressure that builds up in the coolant lines and spew out of any orifice and pop fittings if that isn't enough. If I drive 15-20 miles I lose a gallon of water. Any ideas?

 

Very high pressure in the coolant lines suggests that combustion chamber pressure is finding a way into the coolant passages. A blown head diagnosis typically starts with the gasket but should include checking the head for warp at a minimum and checking for a cracked head is appropriate if one wants more certainty. Next likely suspects are warped head [should have been checked/surfaced when they changed the gasket, if not, find another mechanic], then cracked head then cracked block.

Unfortunately once your engine has been really roasted there are a lot of things that can go wrong, at this point a used engine may be a better solution. If the block is cracked it is most likely cheaper than a new block.

hope this helps,

TonyL

 

It sounds as though the shop didn't actually do the work, or it wasn't done correctly, or it was mis-diagnosed. Tony has it right, they should've checked everything when the heads were off.

 

I just had a head gasket job done on a similar engine and it works fine now. Did they charge a lot? With sparkplugs and waterpump my total was £1100, maybe 1700 dollars so I would want my money back if the job was done wrong. The test kit to detect exhaust gases was only a few pounds so I knew the bad news before I went looking for quotes.
My mechanic said it was hard to skim the heads on this engine and didnt need to but other people disagree.

 

Thanks everyone, definitely helpful info. They claim they checked for
warpage but I don't know about cracked heads or the block. I had actually considered finding a used engine and replacing it. I have some aptitude coming from a mechanical family and building my own racecars for years, but there's a big difference between a carburated 350 and
what I have now. Anyone have any online used parts sites that specialize in Jaguar?

 

Where in FL do you live. All Jaguar is a nice little shop in Longwood, FL, near Orlando. There are others, too, but these guys know their stuff. They may be able to help you out.


From your symptoms, it sounds like a blown head gasket as a minimum or a warped block as someone else said. I dunno.

Good luck.

 

Motorcars LTD or Coventry West. Welsh Enterprises comes to mind as well.

I would also check E-bay as well. Gawd. I hope that isn't next for me!

I have had enough cooling system problems for a lifetime.


You know, the problems you have had could have been because of your water pump. Make sure that if you get a new engine, swap out the super expensive water pump, too. Pressure doesn't necessarily change unless the pump is internally failing.

These cars seem to be a lot more complex that what I am used to, but the complexity is limited to the time it takes to get the other crap out of the way to do the surgery necessary to get the car running again. It takes time, preparation, patience and knowing a good mechanic as a backup. Knowing that, I am going to be better prepared for whatever hits later on.

Good luck to you.