Well, I noticed small coolant leaks under the car yesterday and decided to pressure test the system and check for leaks. It looks like it is leaking from the right hand side of the radiator (passenger side) but cannot tell exactly where. My suspicion is a cracked plastic header.

I used an old Edelmann No.98 Quick connect hand pump connected to a EverTough adapter 67086-A. This set-up worked really well.

I am planning to remove the radiator and have a better look. Since this is my first attempt at this car on a radiator retrofit, if you have any words of wisdom, I am all ears.

 

Check the Aux coolant pump
I had the same and it turned out to be the body seal in the pump

I just bypassed the pump as a quick fix and have not got around to putting in a new pump as it not needed in the Sydney Summer

PS I only managed to find it using and inspection camera. Let the car cool and all the leaked fluids evaporate. IE leve it overnight then go over everything look for the milky red stain left over from the leak. My pump was leaking between the body and the pump. So i could never have spotted it without the camera

Cheers
34by151

 

My apologies, but what is an aux coolant pump for, and where is it located?

 

I had the same issue. I went ahead and replaced the radiator with an affordable BEHR unit. No issues since. You can see my install on the link below. Hope this helps.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...estion-104471/

 

Very nice write-up! I did manage to get the radiator out yesterday but I just could not get it out of the way of the A/C lines to free it. I had to "evacuate" the A/C system to get the radiator out. I guess my patience was running out.

Did you replace any hoses while you were at it or anything else? I am thinking of replacing the auxiliary pump since it looks a bit cruddy.

It was quite a job to get the radiator out....

 

It is by the radiator, on the passenger side, below the radiator hose. I have some pictures and will post later. On the supercharged cars (such as mine), there is yet another coolant pump for the supercharger. So there is the radiator, A/C condenser, supercharger radiator, oil cooler and power steering cooler all sandwiched together.

 

After the install I did still have a minor leak. I noticed it was the hose that feeds from the passenger nipple of the expansion tank on top. A very small drop bleed leak. I didn't feel like ordering and spending money on a direct replacement. Instead I went to auto zone and baught a fuel hose to replace it with. So far so good.

 

I recommend flushing the system a few times while you're at it. I had the front end on ramps to to exhaust any air bubbles from the escape screw on top of the expansion tank. Make sure to have the heater on full blast during as well as the auxiliary pump helps.

 

Good lord. Thanks for the info. Where do they hide the s/c coolant pump?

 

On the S/C versions there is no need for a complicated filling procedure to remove the air

Just put the front end on car ramps and fill from the reservoir
Dont run the engine with the cap off!!!

Wait a bit after filling, put the cap on and run the engine up to temp with the heat on
Let it cool and top up if needed

Raising the front makes the reservoir the high point
IE no need to remove the S/C filler plug

Cheers
34by151

 

Before removing the radiator, I flushed the cooling system. I removed the thermostat, pulled the o-ring from the thermostat and sealed the thermostat housing. I drained the radiator, added a can of Prestone Flush and cleaner, added water and ran the car on idle for about 45 minutes with the heater on high.


I installed one of those flush kits you find in any auto parts store and flushed the cooling system while the car was running. I let it run for about 30 minutes.


After all that, I removed the radiator.

 

Some more pictures:




Old and new radiator



Auxiliary coolant pump (new)



Superchager coolant pump

 

I like the way you can just flush your coolant out onto the ground. Can't do that in Cali without taking a chance to get a big fine. Even using some rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip is considered hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly.

 

I hear you. I do recover coolant in its own drain ( which gets disposed appropriately ) before doing the back flush you see in a preceding photo. I typically drain (recover) the coolant, remove the thermostat, add water, let it run, recover again and then proceed with the back flush.

Its good practice for all of us to recover and recycle as much as possible especially as it relates to automotive fluids.

 

I managed to put the new radiator in and a new auxiliary pump. This was a bitch of the job on this car. Not easy. Lot's of patience and a helper buddy required.

I as going to run the engine with water first to look for leak but when I filled the radiator, it only took about 5 liters. So there is a lot of fluid left in the block from my flush last weekend.. is there a block drain on this 4.2 supercharged engine? What is a DIY way of getting most of the coolant out of the system?

 

Found the block drain. Rear of the engine (bottom) on the left hand side. a 17mm socket is needed to remove it and drain the block

 

The good news was that during my test of the new radiator/auxiliary pump installation I realized that the cabin heater is now FULLY FUNCTIONAL! It was like fix one problem and get one fixed for "free". Not quite, but I had resigned to thinking that the heater core was jelled up and would have to live with the heated seats which is really not so bad in Texas.

Evidently replacing the auxiliary pump fixed the heating problem on the driver's side. Plus, both sides now really put out quite a bit of heat!

However, this testing revealed another leak in one of the heater core lines. One of the connections from aluminum to rubber is leaking (right hand side of the engine, near the front). This would be another dollar and another weekend to fix. May be next weekend.

 

Is that drain plug plastic??!

 

No, it is metal.

 

Just a small update. The new cooland leak has been identified as coming from one of the heater core hoses, right at the connection. When I took the old one out, I realized that the o-ring inside the connector was deteriorated / smashed. I could have possibly gotten away by replacing the o-ring but the hoses seemed to be too soft and bloated. FYI for future reference...