When I was looking for a XF last Spring, I took one for a test drive from a local BMW Dealership. While accelerating onto the highway steam started pouring out the rear, turned around and returned. A couple days later the Salesman’s called and said the car was fixed, said it was a pipe under the Supercharger. This was a 2015 with about 50,000 miles.

I found a real nice 2015 with 30000 miles last June and bought it. Last week accelerating onto the same spot on the highway the same thing happened. The car now has about 50000 miles on it. It’s cold and snowing and I don’t really want to deal with it hoping it was just a hose. Any how turns out to be the same cross over pipe under the Supercharger and intake manifold. I asked to see the part,
and of course it’s made of plastic. I asked if the had an improved part. They do. The old style looks like two parts glued together with a seam in the middle, and that’s where they apparently leak. The Tech said the new part is one piece and last a long time.

Does anybody know if this is indeed the case. Any one know of problems with this new part, or still the same old problem with plastic parts.

Thanks for any thoughts

 

Yes - that's correct. In about 2016 or 2017 they changed to the improved part without the seam. And that's the replacement part used when it fails on older cars. Given the failure is typically at the seam, it's fair to expect it to last a lot longer
However it's still a plastic part undergoing heat cycles again and again, so will eventually go brittle, like a number of other cooling system parts. True on almost all cars these days.

 

Not trying to be pedantic but that isn't the pipe under the supercharger, a small rubber hose, that is on the back connecting the cylinder heads.

 

Do you have a photo, I do not see how that part could be manufactured in one piece in plastic? I have bought two this year, both have joints.

 

Sorry, no, I should have asked to see it. I think there is a part number on the bill. I will try and find a picture

 

See attached link for the Jag technical service bulletin.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...42170-9999.pdf

Page 7 shows the old upper coolant pipe with a 'middle section'. Page 10 shows the redesigned pipe that no longer had that middle section with the big seam. Maybe there are small seams in other parts of it still - I've not inspected closely. But they redesigned it specifically to engineer out some of the problem area.

 

Different beasts. Those are all front pipes and on my car made of aluminum not plastic at all. It's the one on the back that usually leaks and I think that is still two piece construction.


Rear pipe


Front pipe aluminum


Front pipe plastic

 

I should have mentioned this is a 2015 3.0 SC AWD.

 

Same basic engine as 5.0, just two cylinders removed so I am guessing the pipes are the same.

 

There are some differences in the pipes - the 5.0 SC has a few differences vs the naturally aspirated and the 3.0 V6. Not many but a couple are metal vs plastic etc. easy to confirm with online parts catalogue search to ensure you get the right ones

The front pipe regularly leaks too (hence the TSB). I don't know what the latest design is on the rear one - if someone is replacing it perhaps they can post pictures?

 

Don't forget the "Y" pipe which is buried under the pipe you show.
It also has been updated from the blocky square shoulder seams to a smoother version.

Here are the old style pipes.



Here are the updated smooth seam style ones.





But they should have kept using the Aluminum versions!
.
.
.

 

Unfortunately, if you still have the Aluminum versions (like I do), the stubby "joiner" pipe with the o-rings on it is no longer available from Jaguar, and this is where it usually leaks due to o-ring breakdown or squashing flat after refitting the pipe/going hard over time etc.

However, I've successfully replaced both o-rings with 30mm x 3mm ones from a kit bought for like $10 off Amazon. No leaks.

 

Any 30mm x3 will work? Or do you have a link?

 

Dave, do you mean 30 id or 30 od? I used m3 x 27mm id, 33mm od. I measured then pretty carefully.


They went together very nicely with a smear of Vaseline, I tried 28s first, did not go together nicely. Maybe rubber hardness is the difference.