Purchased an 05 S Type R with only 55k miles. GA. car, almost zero rust. I replaced spark plugs, serviced trans, serviced supercharger, replaced supercharger belt, upgraded tensioner and pulleys, oil and filter. Reading so much about coolant hoses and how many there are. The propensity to leak, especially the one under the supercharger. Not having many service records, i do not know if any hoses have been replaced. I’m almost nervous to drive it. Should i take it to the Jaguar dealer and have them service the cooling system. Would that service tell me what hoses need or should be replaced? My apologies for this being so long. My first Jaguar and i love this S Type R.

 

If you do some wrench work yourself i could give you a starting point. If not you are in for a possible wild expensive adventure at the repair shop. The dealer may not even work on a car that old. Best to find a good indie shop familiar with these cars and go from there. A cooling system pressure check and a coolant hydrometer check are simple and should not cost over an hour labor

 

Thank you for your suggestions. I’m finding things are really tight under that hood. Pretty good backyard wrench, just Jag is a bit intimidating. I’ll make an appointment with a local All European shop, get the cooling system checked out and see if they make any recommendations.

 

Give this a try then. Get it up on ramps or stands high enough to get under easy. Take off the large plastic underbelly tray. It has 8-10 nuts and bolts. Then take off the black rad cover on top. It has 4 twist out plastic keepers. Now you can see pretty much the entire system except the 2 under the charger. Pressurize to the cap psi and start looking top and bottom with a flashlight. I have replaced all coolant parts including the rad over the last 6 years. The under charger hoses were the most challenging. Plus you can check the dccv heater valve out from the bottom. Really not too bad of a system because the main water connection between the heads should be metal. Nice find on the car by the way. Enjoy and get used to people looking at it. Feels good

 

Thank you for the response and suggestions. I just have to get more comfortable with the Jag. Coming off an original owned 2012 Charger SRT, Jag work and maintenance is a bit daunting. Your Jag at 183k makes me feel better about my decision, and yours looks beautiful. Mine is black and original paint is impressive. Zero orange peel and body gaps are perfect! Lots of compliments, and I have yet to see another R model in lower Michigan.

 

thanks. Yes the paint job from factory is quite amazing. I have only done a full wax twice but wow is all i can say for the results. It does look daunting but things are very doable. It is just crowded underhood. Get the digital shop manual and look thru it if you have a specific job in mind. And of course search this forum because there are many shortcuts and nuances that members know that are not in the manual. Especially regarding the entire cooling system for the engine and charger. You will find the only real specialty tools you need are the hose clamp pinch tools. Other than that have a good metric arsenal. From 1/4 inch drive to 1/2 drive sockets ratchets and extensions to standard end wrenchs and ratchet ones with flex heads

 

Thanks again Scott.

 

on an 05 it's just 1 hose under the sc. other leak points are 2 hoses that go the heater core with push button quick connects, dusty old radiator, also the tank if it hasn't been changed in the last 10 years

just drive the car the coolant level sensor will do its job

 

Thank you.

 

You can DIY it all with your experience. As you said the Jag is a bit intimidating but there are tons of good info on this forum to help you out.
I have had the under SC hose leak on my old 2005 STR. They don't burst and strand you or burn up the engine. They start leaking and the tell tell sign is the leak goes down the back of the engine. But many have had that hose leak a long time before changing it. But it WILL leak sooner or later!

If you take it to a shop it will be very expensive. The worst part is not many places will have even seen an STR let alone worked on any. I think you will have better results doing it yourself.
Listen to scotjh9. He posted a lot of good info!

I would add;
Get the JEPC-->J-Part. This is the parts catalog from Jaguar
Get the JTIS-This is the factory shop manual

Both are free on the forum but do require some work to get it all installed and working.
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At least get a cheap OBD tool such as elm327 and have a look in case there are codes (old ones don't cause trouble but hang around so you can see them) or pending ones. Don't do a code clear - you should now have (pending) P1111 but a clear will cause P1000 and that then stops lots of others being flagged.

Have a look at the sensors you understand via live data & also fuel trims. They're probably fine but best to know for sure. Hot engine, parked, at idle to start with.

 

One other thought. These cars can be electrical gremlins. Check every ground cable or strap you can find and also the fuse box in the trunk for any water intrusion. Bad grounds have been the culprit for many woes. Also the spark plug gaps are critical on the forced induction. A fraction too wide will cause troubles under high throttle/boost demands. I just went thru a learn as you go course on that. Stay away from those underhood cleaners and detail sprays. They are dirt magnets. I use a silicone spray once a year and rub down every rubber hose and plastic cover underhood i can get to. Unless you like looking at the plastic charger cover you can remove that too. Makes it a lot cooler for the engine stuff. Xalty is right on about just drive it and let the sensors do their job

 

Thank you to everyone with all the suggestions. Won’t be driving it too much with the Michigan winters, but come spring, i can approach the potential issues and maintenance.

 

Read threads about
quiescent current
so you know what it should be (max) and how to troubleshoot if it isn't
(most cars aren't a problem but you don't know yours yet)