I have my "new" cat on the way (XF Prestige with V6 SC - MY2017).
I am ready to invest a bit at the beginning and counting with it. Question is if I should include plastic cooling pipes replacement. All over internet are posts about failure of plastic cooling pipes but that are in vast majority for 2015 and below when newer model have different design and manufacture process on these pipes.
Is it still concern on cars built in year 2016 and newer?
Or shall I rather go direction -> don't fix what's not broken.
Thx

 

I too have a similar 2017 XF. The car has just under 10k miles. This past January while waiting for my appointment date for the annual service and the premature failure of an oxygen sensor the plastic pipe leading to the coolant overflow tank split. Apparently these plastic coolant system parts only have a longevity of about 5 years and failure is a common problem. Like you, I am considering replacing all of these small plastic components prior to a anothera mess in my garage.

 

Here's my take on it ........ first, split pipes aren't common but it does happen. Talk about redesigned pipes/tubes supports the theory that it's a problem they considered happening enough to fix but it's hard to know whether your car has the redesigned piping or not. I think it's more prevalent in regions that experience extreme cold and plastic doesn't like going between heat extremes often. Hot areas are less likely to suffer the problem because it will never get hotter in a climate than the engine heat. Just my opinion. Probably trying to make myself feel better because I live in a moderate climate Water pumps do fail also and they are relatively easy to replace and less costly compared to the piping under the SC. I would leave well enough alone and not worry about it.

 

I've read in the XJ/XJL (X351) forum some members there replaced their plastic pipes with metal. You might as well google it if it's available for your XF. Good luck

 

Hi together,
can you tell if you have the old or the new version in plastic without removing it?

Thank you so much
Andi

 

I have a 2017 XE with the V6 and have the old style welded (plastic) pipes. they look like this:


Note the large seam on the sides of the pipes...

The redesigned ones look like:


I suspect you have the old (welded) type as my 2017 does... My XE is my daily driver and has 57k miles on it without issue. I am looking to replace them at some point as finances allow.

Hope this helps

 

if you have the money ,replace them ,10,000 dollars for a engine can be saved by doing preventative parts ,this will be peace of mind

 

Yes please consider upgrading to the Aluminum lifetime versions as posted above. There is also an upgraded Aluminum water transfer tube that goes from the WP to the oil cooler brick. At about $15 it's too cheap to not change. Plus replace the failure prone plastic elbow in the WP with a brass replacement. These are all common on EBay with multiple vendors.

If you really want to drool look at what this guy did!
Polished Pipes
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My first leak on my 2018 3.0L - might be doing the overhaul sooner than I thought.

 

Where did you get the "upgraded aluminum water transfer tube"? do you have a part number of link??? Thank you!
\

 

Sure! Try this?
Al. Water Tube
Here is the brass nipple to replace the crummy plastic one in case you want to upgrade that too?
Brass Upgraded Nipple
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How do you know this? Is there a way to see them in the XE? From what vantage point?

 

See post #6 and the top pic showing the "old" pipes.
The lower of those two pipes in the pic is the upper coolant cross-over pipe which is plainly visible across the top/front of the engine and in turn you can easily see the horizontal seam across the middle of the pipe. Seam = old problematic pipes, no seam/smooth = updated improved design.

 

With the cover of the engine off the visible (not the one under the supercharger) coolant pipe is easily visible at the front top of the engine.


As you can see here, my XE has the old style welded pipe... Hope this helps

 

Thank you both. If it was a snake it would have bitten me I was looking in the rear of the engine ..... I'm guessing that's where the other "Y" pipe goes and it looks like it's a bitch to replace (remove S/C & intake manifold?). I can see where replacement of these is labor intensive/expensive. I'll gamble seeing that although it's a common problem it's not prevalent .... I hope

 

Yes the front stuff is for sure more failure prone.
Just keep an eye on that rear water manifold you mentioned. It's not the "Y" pipe we talk about as that's under the pipe you can see in the above photo.
It's not an expensive part but as you mentioned the labor to get to it is costly. So try to bundle your repairs if possible as the parts are the cheap part compared to the labor.

We have not seen any difference in failures depending on where you live. You can pretty much count on the water pump, 2 front plastic pipes, rear water manifold to all fail. There is a rumor that the rear water manifold will be released in lifetime Aluminum as the 2 front pipes were.

The SC snout is another one but it's more of a noise thing as you can run thousands of miles with the SC clunk without problems. In fact I currently have the clunk on shut down and plan to replace the snout in the future. Since this requires the SC to come off I will also replace the rear water manifold at that time. Plus change the SC oil. Might do a couple of other things too. Not sure yet all what I want to do?

One good piece of advice is to regularly open the hood and just inspect stuff. Watch the coolant level as almost all cars will start with a small leak that is very easy to miss if your not looking for it. Remember these cars have extensive under body plastic pans that catch and contain a lot of leaking fluids! So you can't look under the car for leaks because the don't always make it to the ground.
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These pictures explain it all. I had it completely wrong in my head.

 

Finally got this all done:

Mechanic found cracks in both original version installed coolant pipes...metal units are there now (upgraded things like water pump, thermostat, belt, etc., other pipes, a known oil leak spot, etc.).

Got lucky on this one. To the OP, thanks for posting this thread. It alerted me to the issues and solution and allowed me to fix the car...probably saved an engine.


jb

 

I have the same engine ,here's how I tackled it

 

I know I am responding to an old post, but for anyone reading, the plastic pipes actually degrade faster than aluminum when exposed to heat and coolant. If you have ever spilled a fair amount of coolant on your hands you will understand how. It completely dries your skin out, removing the skins protective oils, as I am sure it does with plastic ( not sure if plastic has protective oils but you know what I mean). The coolant is made to be more compatible and organic, but it still causes degradation over time. That being said, the aluminum will take you farther, last longer, and if you have pipes in hard to reach places, I feel it's better to take care of it before it becomes an issue because the places are not only hard to reach, it takes a while for symptoms to show because they are out of sight and any small leaks will go into the splash shield so you won't see signs until its either too late or you do routine maintenance. Just my opinion and insight from the research I have been doing . I am about to open mine up and replace those plastic pipes under the SC. and anything else I can while I'm in there .