Hi! I'm new on here and just wondered if there were any experienced persons who could answer my queries...

Basically I changed a coolant hose three days ago and decided to flush the system and replace with new coolant, needed doing. Three days later and I'm still topping up with coolant, I've not put in 10L yet but not sure i got 10L out any way... Is it possible that there is a bit of air working its way out? Can't see any leaks anywhere. By the way the bleed screw on the top of the water pump is corroded tight.

No milky oil anywhere, no pressure or oil in the coolant header tank, however the oil filler cap at the at the rocker cover has a funny taste to it, again no milky oil but has a funny taste awfully like anti freeze... I could be mistaken on this last point though. No steam from exhaust and no sweet smell.

It's a 2003 2.0d X-Type sport.

Thanks ����

 

Welcome to the forum mrjagger90,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X-Type forum. Even though you run a diesel variant, members here will be able to help.

Please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

The system is self bleeding but that does take awhile after a drain and refill. Warm the car up so that the thermostat is open, turn the heater on to the highest setting once that is going then work along squeezing the hoses.
The link below gives you the steps out of the Jaguar Repair Manual for bleeding.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...system-106516/

 

Hi thanks for your help that's great, tried to post in new members forum but it kept coming up with an error... I will try again tomorrow 😊

 

Thanks for that, I've done pretty much all those steps apart from the clamps on the heater pipes. What I have noticed is that if I squeeze the top radiator hose when the car is hot I do get the occasional bubble or two... I will keep an eye on it and post the outcome

 

ok so still losing Coolant this morning on the way to work, drove about 40minutes and lost about 200ml of coolant.

The oil filler cap is definitely suspect. There is no milky stuff but if I look closely it does have a very slight brown tinge to it and definitely tastes of coolant... The odd thing is that the oil on the dipstick is black and doesn't taste of coolant... And there is no oil or pressure in a the coolant header tank.
Could this still be a head gasket or cracked head problem????
X type 2.0d sport 2003

 

Have you had a good look over the radiator surface front and rear? I had a similar scenario and it ended up being a pin hole corrosion leak in the radiator , the coolant leaks and evaporates and leaves a crusty residue usually marking a trail down from the hole. You loose coolant but never see any as it evaporates away.

2003 radiator might be reaching its use by date. The one I did was in a very high mileage 2009 model light truck.

 

Thanks for your reply yarpos, this could be a possibility. I will definitely be looking at the rad before taking the head off... So you don't think it's a head gasket problem? I am also keeping an eye out for leaks round the coolant header tank too. It's mind boggling bit I will know if something is wrong if I have to put more than a total of 10l in it... I'm up to 8l so far since the coolant change

 

Coolant loss can be many caused by many things. Cant rule out a head gasket because they can fail in various ways.

I would just exhaust all the simple things before looking at head gaskets. You have nothing concrete yet pointing to a head gasket issue, no rough running, no milky oil, no overheating, white exhaust smoke, etc.

Another approach might be to pressurise the system cold and then have a hunt around for leaks when it cant evaporate.

Right now I would just keep checking and topping up to understand if you actually have a problem and the extent of it.

 

+1 on Yarpos suggestion. You are at the point where only a system pressure test is going to locate the leak until it becomes severe.
You can borrow a pressure tester from most auto parts stores these days or take it to a radiator shop and pay to have them pressure test it.
I wouldn't risk just topping it off continually, what ever is leaking may fail spectacularly and next stop is an overheated engine. Jaguars do not play will when overheated.

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I will rig something up and do a test, however didn't lose any coolant on the way home from work last night.... I will monitor it today to see if it uses any

 

it's got to be the head gasket I can now see the coolant on the oil filler cap... I will do more tests...

 

It is some what normal to have moitsure under the filler cap. Do not confuse this with coolent. Once you are done testing the normal / simple test, you can do a leak down test to check the head gasket in some ways they go bad.

 

Yeah im sort of thinking a certain amount of moisture would get in there via blow by gasses... It's just that it tastes odd...

So, I've done the pressure test all of this afternoon (left work early) and I'm still none the wiser, could not locate an external leak, and under pressure I did not loose any coolant. I pressurized it several times over several hours and did not loose any coolant. I pulled the sump plug out and it was just oil, no coolant at all. I did this after 2hrs of the car being sat there during the pressure tests.
Went out for a 20min drive and the coolant was maybe 3mm under where it was before I left. Marked it with a marker and lost no coolant on the way home from my dads ( did it at dads house as he has more space that me).

Mind boggling as lost probably 200ml on the way to work this morning.
I think a trip to the garage is in order when he gets back off holiday...

 

I would think if you have a head gasket problem the car would be driving like crap. It IS driving and performing well, correct? No lights or anything?

 

It's driving perfectly, nothing to complain about. Seem to have very slight residue around oil filter component... Disproportionate to the amount I am sometimes losing...
X type 2.0d sport 2003

 

Just spoken to a mate of mine and he said that the temperature gauge needle should always be in the same place... Mine moves from quarter way up to half way up and back and forth whilst driving. It does this all the time... Is this normal?

 

When you top up the coolant you are just filling it to a fill level mark arent you? I once had a friend who thought he was losing coolant but he was just overfilling and the car would puke up the excess as he drove along, which he then overfilled again. The car was new to him.

On a modern car yes the temp should be stable, but that could be about the sensor as much as anything.

Did you ever check the radiator over for leak trails?

 

You will never see anything like the amount you lose unless its a major leak. The bulk of it drips off or gets evaporated in the hot engine bay. Usually its just the coolant colour or a crusty residue (especially on the radiator) that gives you some clue.

 

Hi yarpos, yeah just filling it up to half way in between the min and max marks... It's now halfway down the header tank...

I'm going past the garage tonight I will see if someone can take a look. I did look over the radiator and could not see anything...