Hello everyone. I have an 02 X-type that is overheating after driving it for a bit. If I just poke around at 30 or 40 mph then it is fine, but once I accelerate the temperature gauge begins to rise, but if I park the car the temp hand begins to decline to normal and will idle without overheating. I checked the thermostat to no avail. I have read many forums on here and I see fan modules and water pumps as the common problem. Is there a way to pin point the exact problem without paying a mechanic to guesstimate because he doesn't know anymore than I do. I am not a genius by no means, but I sure feel like one sometimes when I am speaking with some of the Tennessee locals around here... Also, the fan seems do seem to sound much louder than normal. I have not seen any leaks anywhere, nor any bubbling of antifreeze in the reservoir. Thanks in advance. One last thing that may help; "The first time this occurred was when I was driving about 110 mph while fooling around on the open road, I am not sure if that is the cause, but I wanted to provide all of the information to insure the best accurate diagnosis.

 

Datdude, first off, welcome to the Forums. You will find lots of useful information here and tons of people willing to assist. However, we ask a simple thing from you. Please stop by the New Member section and give us a quick intro as to what attracted you to the jaguar line and a little about yourself. You will find that we are a very friendly bunch and we like to get to know one another. This is what separates us from the other car groups that you will find.

As for your problem, from what you are describing, it is not a fan issue. If you want to rule it out, it is simple. With the car parked after sitting all night (ie, block is cold), open the hood of the car and then get in and start the engine and then turn on the A/C to the highest fan setting you can get and the lowest temp the dials will let you set. if you get out of the car now and lean over the radiator some, you should be getting a really good breeze from the fans. if you are getting just a gentle breeze from the fans (ie, barely moving your hair), then that would indicate a bad fan controller most likely.

Assuming you are getting lots of air flow, you are most likely looking at a water pump that is on its way out and not providing sufficient flow. Replace the water pump and go from there. This is one of the easier cars to replace the water pump in. Remove the battery and its box, then remove the belt for the water pump. From there, you can remove the pulley on the water pump and then 8 bolts later (or something close to that), the water pump will come right out. Since you are this far into things, it would probably be a good idea to do a flush of the coolant system just to make sure that you don't have some blockage in the radiator.

Don't forget, you are going to loose about 2 gallons of coolant doing this job. So, be ready to replace that too.

 

Hello Thermo, I will say that; "when I first starting searching on these forums for the overheating problem, "it was your name that I seen/read the most frequent, in addition to providing the most accurate answers, based on what I read, so I am assuming that you are "the man" around here!... No joke, "I was really looking forward to your insight on this issue." Learning from some of the other posts I read, "I did start my car this morning and laid over the air flow of the fans and they seem to have been putting out a pretty significant amount of air. With that being said, they would further lead us towards the water pump, "do you agree?' Also, I will get to the intro section asap, and I appreciate your input and I hope this resolves the issue. "I must say that, "as a single man," a sweet looking Jag doesn't really look that good when it is sitting on the side of the road from over heating..lol. I am going to go ahead and order the water pump tonight. Do you have any recommendations as to where to order if from, or is Amazon &/or Ebay just as good as any.? Thanks again for the quick response.

 

DatDude, if the fans are blowing strong, then you are most likely looking at the water pump. As for where to buy it, there are lots of places to buy it from. One thing to note though, you will find that the water pumps come in 2 flavors: a plastic impeller and a metal impeller. Both have pluses and minuses. I would say to go with the plastic one mainly because the fins on the pump are bigger and they will tend to move more water, therefore provide better cooling for the car. That is what is fitted to your car from the factory. But, there is an understanding for the metal impeller as it will last a lot longer. I have the metal one on my car and it is running fine even on 100F days. So, it is not like you will be "limited" by any means with either one you get.

As for "being the man", I am just one that will spread the word as I see it. I have been working on cars for as long as I can remember (approaching 40 years). I have learned a lot over the years and I mix that with a willingness to learn even more. Take each day and try and learn one thing. Does't need to be something big, but when you run into a "hmmm, I don't know about that", take the 15 minutes and dive into it a little deeper. You will be surprised as to what you will learn over the years. I have also been blessed in that I have had jobs that allow me to use this to my advantage (nuclear plant operator that also worked on all the electronics and got into quality assurance and undetrstanding why things are built like they are and now I am working at a different nuclear plant that is allowing me to dive into different electronic systems but also playing with security stuff involving microwaves, infrared, thermal cameras, and motion sensitive cables).

Remember, the wisest man is not the person that knows everything, but the man that knows how little he knows and then seeks the answers to what he doesn't know.

 

Thanks Thermo, I will get the water pump replaced and give an update. I assume it will take a day or two since every where I have called does not have it in stock. Thanks again..



"To add to your ending quote," One of my professors once told me; "You do not have to know the answer to everything, as long as you know where to go get the answer to everything)

 

DatDude, that is a true statement.

 

Just a quick update for those with the similar issue. I did find a water pump without having to order one, and I replaced the old one with the new one. As Thermo mentioned in his earlier post, some water pumps have metal impellers and some have plastic impellers. Well, while I was removing my old water pump, part of the plastic impeller feel out because it had broken in half. Obviously, that's an issue and the new one has metal impellers, so maybe I will not have to endure that problem again. So far so good. Thanks and I hope this helps others.