Long story, but while driving low coolant warning came on then engine died. Car would not start so had it towed. Added coolant and could see it coming out from water pump. Found the plastic distribution pipe behind pump had split like others I have seen. I ordered the pump and pipe and replaced them. I tried to start the engine and it barely turned over a few times and then water came out my tail pipes. No water was coming out of the pump area like before, so I took off the air intake manifold again. I found water in the air intake holes leading into the engine, where the valves are. I vacuumed it all up, added more water and sure enough filled right back up. Any thoughts? I am thinking it is bad.

 

Overheated..lead to heads warping, caused head gaskets to fail, letting in coolant from water jacket....Sorry, but Yes it's bad...


Another reason Jaguar should have their engineer's asses kicked, for not putting in a water temp gauge..at least you can see it getting hot before it's too late..as in this case


Some self anointed fool from Canada once said that most people are too stupid other than him, to be able to interpret the gauge readings..Hence the reason for no gauge...

 

Yep, on a car I owned a few years ago I noticed the temp gauge suddenly shoot up.
I pulled over and discovered a blown coolant pump.
Got the car trucked home and DIY replaced the coolant pump, all fixed for not many $.
Without the temp gauge it's odds on I would have cooked the motor and ended up shelling out several thousand $ instead.

 

Thanks, figured...pissed off there isn't a temp gauge or even a warning of over temp. I guess I will take it in as I don't think I have the skills to fix that. Such a great looking/driving car, too bad I have had so many issues and no warranty. Time to get rid of it I guess.

 

What makes you say there is no overtemp warning? I am pretty sure the car will give a warning on the instrument panel for overheat. And... with a failure as described, a gauge, no matter how accurate is not going to give any better warning.

 

I totally disagree..A gauge being analog would show the increase of temp before it hits the critical point of no return..giving the operator a chance to shut down and salvage any damage to the engine...A High temp warning indication via idiot light (warning message) is also TOO LATE in these car's cases..

 

The temperature of the engine does not increase slowly with a massive cooling leak. The engine temperature remains esentially the same while coolant is pumping, then rapidly rises as the coolant is gone. So, be like the 80 % of American drivers who describe their driving abilities as "above average" and believe you will see the gauge rise in the 30 seconds the engine is beginning to overheat if you want to, but the fact is that a good warning light is far better than a gauge for most conditions, including any form of rapid coolant loss.

And.. the OP did not say how long after the warning light came on before he shut down. Not to mention that there must have been a strong coolant smell.

 

I'll not perpetuate the argument...and I still strongly disagree in most cases with your position...I'll refer you to POST # 3 in this thread instead.


Nuff said

 

I looked at #3. Your logic is completely flawed. All you said is your opinion is "odds on" the gauge helped. That proves nothing. I too have had cases of blown hoses and had no resultant engine damage. Odds on, I would have not noticed the gauge is I had not seen the steam and smelled the coolant and seen the idiot light.

 

I think we had this discussion...
no water = no gauge reading - water temperature gauges will read overheating, but with no coolant???

Likely a bad water pump should throw a "low coolant" as OP did. But apparently too late.

 

Sorry to hear about your engine troubles. The only suggestion I can offer is to use a cooling system pressure tester to help find source of the leak. You can borrow the tool from parts stores. You can pressurize the system with the engine off and be able to find the leak. The problem is that once you find it, it may be a big job to fix given the engine was overheated. But maybe you'll get lucky. There's a lot of plastic to break in these cooling systems.

I plan to replace the water pump and plastic in my cooling system proactively as part of a maintenance schedule. Can you do me a big favor and tell me the part number you used for the pipe behind the water pump, and what it was like to replace it? The manual is very sketchy on that pipe.

TIA

 

I know this seems like I am beating the proverbial dead horse, but the question remains, how long did the OP drive after he had the message? BTW, I suspect the ECU is logging that.

 

Sorry for not responding to everyone's replies, but here is the story. I did get a yellow warning about low coolant on the freeway in the middle of nowhere. I planned on checking the coolant tank when I got to the next rest stop (on my GMC vehicle, I have had these warnings before and look at my temp gauge to make sure nothing abnormal). I probably drove another 10 miles and then the car died; I smelled no coolant, saw no smoke, nothing. The leak was on the interior of the engine and only escape was through the water pump. I also never got an over temp warning until the car basically died on the freeway.


I had the car towed to the dealership and they checked the engine and determined it over heated causing a crack. The only way to fix is to replace the engine at $33k + labor. I complained and he escalated to Jaguar. They came back saying they would pay half of the part. I still think that is crap; at 4.5 year old engine that cracks due to a fault with their design. A plastic part with a seem (probably heat pressed together) in the interior of the engine (heat) that causes the engine to crack without any type of over heating warnings (except dying) until it is permanently damaged.


I was thinking of continuing to fight Jaguar for them to replace the engine for free, any thoughts? The car had a 5 year 50k warranty and I was at 4.5 years with 60k. My daughters cheap 2000 VW beetle has lasted almost 4x as long with 4x miles on the engine.

 

Sorry to hear about this.

My CPO warranty contract is pretty clear - they will not cover damage that is due to overheating. While I like the idea of fighting them to escalate the cooling system design flaw, it will of course cost time and money.That should be balanced against paying the dealer $16,000 plus labor to put in a new engine for you. How about checking with a good independent dealer to see how much they want - guessing it will be a few thousand less than the dealer? That might be the way to go if you don;t have much left to pay to own the car. You;re probably not going to get much by selling the car in this condition; plus what can you buy for $20k or so that will keep you smiling as much?

That is some tough luck there. Let us know how you end up.

 

I think the lesson is when you get a low coolant light. Pull over and shut the engine down. NOW. I don't care if you are in the middle of nowhere.

You read these threads and every single time you get a statement that yes I got a warning light but I just needed to drive home or to work or to the next exit.

That's why there is a low coolant light because you don't have time to keep driving. The car is in danger right now.
.
.
.

 

IMHO, the car isn't worth putting a new engine in, not at dealer prices anyway. But aftermarket, like eBay you can get an engine for 5k to less, you could get a supercharged engine with all the wiring and ECU and tuning for MUCH less than the 1/2 off price the dealer quoted.

 

I did learn my lesson on this car. On every other car I have ever had, you look at the temp gauge and can tell if the engine is getting hot. Jaguar definitely screwed up on its design of this engine.

I have called around and can probably get a used engine installed for $8-$9k, so going to go that route then sell this lemon.

 

Exactly..but some north of the boarder think we are too stupid to understand the gauge...So an idiot light was the answer for all us stupid people.

 

I recommend anyone with a Jaguar XF 5.0 to replace the outlet pipe (AJ89664) at least every 50k. This pipe is located under the air intake unfortunately and you have to unscrew the 10 bolts holding it on then lift it up slightly. It is made of plastic and mine came apart right at the seem. I have searched online and others have seen the exact failure. Class action lawsuit needs to happen here.

 

I kind of miss that moron