Hi fellas,

I wonder if anyone knows common coolant hose leaks on the 2004 XJR? After driving my car, I noticed smoke coming out from the driver side headlamp, when I opened the hood and the smoke came from the side of the engine....it's only smoking for a few seconds and then done...I tried to let the engine run but no more smoke.....when I point my flashlight in between the engine the shell(?) I don't see any sign of wetness nor any fluid dripping to the bottom. It smells like coolant but i could be wrong...the smoke is like boiling water smoke..so I know it's not oil related which I assume coolant. {confused}

Where should I start looking?

NOTE: this is not my car's pic...just copy and paste from google to point out where the smoke coming from.

 

Has the level of coolant in the reservoir dropped?

I notice you have 150k miles on the car have you ever replaced any coolant hoses?

Also have you noticed any pool of liquid under the car when parked?

A number of hoses could be the cause and if there is a pin hole leak it will spray quite a distance under pressure.

 

No coolant hoses have been replaced, that's why I want to find common culprit and replaced one by one...kindda spendy to do them all especially under the SC. It just happened last night, hence I am still watching the coolant level daily and no, there's no pool of liquid anywhere.

Any idea on how to narrow down the leaky hose?

 

See if there is any coolant stain on any of the rubber hoses in that area or on any surface in that area.

If there is a pin hole pressure leak it can be difficult to see. I have used a powerful flashlight to find such a leak at the front of my engine with it running.

I got as much out of the way as possible during my search while still allowing the engine to run.

Where you mark that area on your picture there are no coolant hoses. The valley hose under the SC usually leaks out the back of the engine area.

The pipes up front by the radiator could have a pin hole leak spraying back over the exhaust manifold.

 

Pin hole leaks where they are connected seem common, & can on occasion, handled by cutting a quarter inch off, & reconnecting.

 

OK, thank you...could I have an exhaust manifold leaks instead? if I do how do I confirm that? any ideas?

I will check for the coolant hoses...might be time to replace some of them

 

The first item to be concerned about is the heater return hose located under the supercharger.

All plastic connectors, hoses and pipes can only withstand a finite number of cold to hot to cold cycles before failing.

 

Possible yes. However you did state that you could smell coolant but that might be unrelated?

 

Yes I am paying attention to that.... I have a snake camera that I point to the back of the engine, it's clear for now but I am sure it's only a matter of time till that hose collapse..but for now I am going to let it be

Yeah, when you said there's no coolant hoses near there...it got me thinking.