I’m lost again

My grandmother is the proud original owner of a 2006 jaguar S type 3.0 with 189,000 original miles. The car has been notoriously good tires. The only thing we’ve had to replace with a battery at about 160,000 miles. The other day we were in a bit of a rush because we got word of a family emergency. We put onto the freeway and immediately accelerated to about 70 and then I noticed a smell of coolant. We pulled over to the side of the road and saw nothing but coolant spraying on the floor with a puddle leaking behind us. I could see white smoke coming up from the hood. We sat their and had AAA come pick up the car. When he got there he saw a puddle of oil under the car as well. Does anyone know where this oil and coolant could be coming from? There are no check engine lights or anything on the car.

 

Here is a link to a common leak on the expansion tank from the "How to Guides". It may be your problem. Refill it with coolant if it needs it (with the correct coolant for your S Type) and look for where the fluid is coming from as the car warms up (make sure you check your oil before you start it up). https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...lacment-52090/

Hopefully the white smoke you saw was coolant on the exhaust as it was leaking. However, look at the coolant at the expansion tank when it cools down and see if there is a white oily substance in the fluid. If so, it could be a head gasket. But this is not a common problem. Also on the dip stick. If there is whitish colour in the oil that means coolant in the oil.

As far as the oil leak. It would help to know more about the leak. But, like the coolant leak, check where it might be coming from. You could do this as you warm up the motor while looking for the coolant leak. Once you have a better idea of where the leaks originate people will post in answers.

 

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams:

“Don’t panic!”

Do some basic diagnostics to figure out what happened. Sounds like you definitely lost some coolant. That could be as simple as a burst hose or broken clamp.

The oil puddle? Who knows what the tow truck driver actually saw. Maybe it was just any oily sheen on a puddle of coolant. Check the oil level on the dipstick. Look for any foaming, typically a light tan froth.

For the coolant loss, do a cooling system pressure test to verify the integrity of the system. This uses a handheld tester that looks similar to a bicycle tire pump. You apply a specified pressure and make sure it holds for at least 15 minutes. Whatever is leaking, this will find it quickly.

 

Had a similar problem with my X-Type Estate Wagon at the worst possible time (Summer, 90 degrees). Turned out to be the cooolant expansion tank and Iortunately I didn't overheat the engine. The expansion tanks are relatively cheap and easy to change out. The oil leak, more often than not, will be the gasket between the crankcase and the engine. Usually a fairly small drip leak. You'll learn nothing until you're able to clean up the bottom of the crankcase. I would put the car on jack stands and let it run for awhile and observe.

Good luck!.