I decided to give the car a tune up because she has around 85K miles and I don't think it was ever done before. I took off the manifold, everything went very smoothly, changed the plugs, gaskets, pcv valve and hose, checked out other hoses to make sure they Weren't dry rotted, etc. and everything seemed ok. Put everything back together and noticed there was a slow leak somewhere. The weird part is whats coming out is green and brown but the coolant reservoir looks like a red/orange fluid. Its leaking on the passenger side of the car, (left of the motor if your looking at it). I cant for the life of me figure out what it is. The only thing I can think of is either the bolts holding down the manifold go into the water sleeve and aren't sealing or the thermostat is leaking somehow but I didn't touch the thermostat. I really need to get this fixed so please, if anyone has an idea, let me know!

 

Not to ask a silly question, are you sure it is antifreeze and not windshield washer fluid? Based on what you are describing, it makes me wonder if it is even antifreeze. It would be possible that as you were messing with the intake, you could have bumped/damaged the lines going to the hood sprayers, which could then be leading to your issue.

There are no lines that run through the upper part of the intake that have coolant in them. The nearest thing is the throttlebody, but that is on the driver's side (right side of the engine as you are looking at it).

As for the thermostat, the thermostat is located in front of the engine (pinched between the block and the radiator). Where on the passenger side of the car is the fluid dripping down? That may help narrow down what the source of your leak is.

 

Thats a good point thermo but the fluid that is leaking out is green and brown, which is strange because in the coolant reservoir its a redish color.

The leak is definitely on the right side of the car (passenger side). Here is a link to see a picture of where the leak is.http://flic.kr/p/96KDPx.

Looking at the picture, just next to the motor mount you can see the T for the radiator hose assembly. If you follow the metal line to the motor, right next to the fuel rail/injector, it appears to be coming from this area. I think that is the thermostat. I cant actually see it leaking but if I take a flashlight and look below I can see where it is accumulating on the block and dripping down. The most frustrating part is I didnt touch anything in that area so idk how its leaking.

I will definitely inspect the washer fluid lines and let you know what I find. I will be able to get back to the garage where I am working on it by monday morning. I will try to get better pics as well.

Also I took many pics along the way of doing the tune up with intentions of creating a walk through of how to do this. Although I have a leak now, the car starts up smoother and stronger than it did before the spark plug change. I think it will help the Jaguar Forums community.

 

Rob, sorry...not to derail the thread, but where did you get the carbon fiber dash trim kit shown in your photo stream? Are they jaguar OEM parts?

 

tucking a clean white paper towel up where you think the leak is might confirm its location.

 

It is possible that as you were working on the car, you could have pressed down on the hose, pinching it and leading to a cut in the hose. That or you stretched old rubber and it tore that way. I would say to start with looking over the hoses in that area since you can see the coolant collecting and dripping away. As for the bottle being red but the coolant being green, this may just be staining of the bottle from having red coolant in there initially. I would say to pull the cap off of the bottle when the engine is cool and then see what is inside visually.

After the inspection of the hoses, then you will need to get out a flashlight and see what else you can find. As for the thermostat, if you look at where the top hose goes into the radiator, if you look down from there, a little towards the center of the car, you will see a football shaped black plastic piece in the middle of the hose coming off of the bottom of the radiator. This "football" is your thermostat.

 

Well, I couldn't make it to the garage this morning but tomorrow is my day off. I will inspect all hoses and thermostat then and report back. Im guessing its a pinched/cracked hose.

Mattsteele - The carbon fiber dash piece is OEM direct from Jag. I was referred to a guy named Justin, from Roveractive, who located it in the UK and had it shipped here. There are other people on the forums, I think exexpat, who used an aftermarket kit. It looks good and probably is the best way to go. My kit was very expensive to buy and almost just as expensive to install. Thats why its still sitting here...lol. As soon as I save the money I am going to have it installed and post pics.

sport30 - Thats a great idea! First thing tues. morning I am going to the garage and will try the paper towel trick. Thank you.

 

I cant see why the CF kit would be expensive to intall.. , The left side, (not airbag) just snaps in place. just a couple of screws to transfer the centre vents from the old to the new piece.

I have not removed the airbag cover, I am sure it is not hard, but there must be some sort of tether to keep the cover from bonking you in the head before the airbag reaches you.

Remember they build the entire car station by station, each one just a minute or two of time.

 

Ok so I found the leak... Im still working on the car but decided to come inside and post an update. There is a part that looks like a bell housing on top of the lower intake manifold. There is a hose that breaks away from the "T" that connects hoses to the radiator and motor on the left side (looking at the motor) that goes to this bell housing. Inside is an O-Ring that was bad and happened to start leaking. I went to the Jag dealer and picked up a new one for $2.75 and its fixed! Definitely the cheapest fix I think I will ever see on the car...lol.

Since I lost some coolant I am also going to flush the system. So far I replaced spark plugs, PCV valve, Hose to PCV valve, Fuel filter, Cabin air filter, and am planning on doing the TC and rear differential fluid soon. I did the manual transmission fluid the other week, which was very easy.

Ill post pics of spark plug change/tune up tonight when I get home.

Thanks for all your help everyone! I hope I can do the same in return for someone on this forum.

 

Here are 2 pictures of the O-ring I replaced.

http://flic.kr/p/97Qt7E
http://flic.kr/p/97MkXr

 

Thanks, you jinxed me! I just changed the spark plugs and IMTV o-rings a few weeks ago. I just put the car on the lift and found I had a water leak and guess where it is coming from! Of course Ford doesn't use the o-ring setup on their cars so I'll have to order one from Jag.

 

Thats a bummer Razkid. Be very careful taking off that aluminum water line/ T when changing the o-ring. The water line is very thin aluminum and will bend easily. I bent mine and ended up having to buy a whole new part. My best advice, and I think a lot of people will agree can be applied to all projects, be careful, take your time, and pay attention to detail.

One other note, I thought the o-ring fixed the issue because after I replaced it I let the car run and warm up to operating temp and saw no leaks. Its when I took it on the road the leak came back. So after you replace the O-ring just drive it around the block once or twice and check on it again.

 

So you still have a leak? Try putting some Permatex Ultra Blue Silicone on the flat side of the flange that the bolt goes through. I don't have a dealer near me and the Ford 3.0 doesn't use an o-ring at that point so I'm going to try and find an o-ring that will fit at the hardware store. If I can't find one then the Ultra Blue is what I'll try.

 

The leak is gone now, I ended up replacing the aluminum water line that the O-ring went bad on. It wasn't too badly priced at 40 bucks so I thought it would be better just to get new.

Permatex is a good idea tho. The jag dealer told me thats what they do a lot of the time. It saves buying a whole new part. He said just apply it at the o ring and right behind it to create the seal.

 

I found the fitting port on the engine that the water line with the o-ring go into is eroded with pits in it which is probably why it leaks. Did you look at that before ordering the new water line? I used some 1500 grit sandpaper to try and smooth it out and then put the Ultra Blue around the outside flange. I couldn't find any o-rings with a flat outer edge at the local hardware stores so reinstalled the old one after cleaning it. Now to let the sealant cure and I'll keep my fingers crossed when I add coolant later today!

 

Good Luck!! I did look at that. It looked ok as far as I could tell. I cleaned it up with a rag, no sand paper, but it still leaked. Thats when I went with the new part. Hopefully this works for you. Ill also keep my fingers crossed.

 

The exact same thing just happened to me. I went to the dealer for an oil change yesterday and this morning I noticed a green and brown puddle near my front right tire. Is this just a coincidence, as there was no leak before I took the car in.

 

Could be Sara. Your car has about 3K fewer miles then mine for the same year. This is where the leak occured in mine and rhriczko's (see arrow in image). The brown could be oil that didn't get cleaned off of the block or crossmember when they removed your oil filter. Some old oil will come out of the filter while they are removing it and run down the block and onto the crossmember. Unless it is wiped off it will drip onto the ground for a few days. It could also be an oil pan gasket that is seeping oil, but I hope not! $$$

 

I got an 03 X-type with 74k miles. getting ready to do the plugs kinda scared now after reading this lol. how commen is this problems?

 

Okay, so I took my car back in and it was my windshield wiper fluid. The technician filled it up during my oil change. They told me it would stop when it gets back down to reservoir level and its not hurting anything. So I made it out of there unscathed!