SO, went out today to pick up an order from Screwfix, hadn't had the text message, so sat nearby, at a snack van and had a "little" snack...., anyway, left the car running, it's been fine lately, not even been getting the old sniff of coolant that I got before i changed the heater pump, not has to put any coolant in it for weeks, temp sitting bang in the middle, heating good.

nice and toasty warm, I finish my snack and wander round to screwfix, and park outside, settle in to a bit of surfing on the net, and then I felt a judder, and the engine note dropped, looked up, steam everywhere belching out from the grille, checked the temp guage, still bang in the middle, switched the engine off and put the ignition back on, turned heater to max and popped the bonnet, coolant was pouring out from under the car, seems to be coming from just behind/below the supercharger pulley, possibly just a hose, maybe the thermostat housing, maybe the waterpump, maybe.....well lets just stop there and hope.
I only live a mile and a bit from screwfix, so I let it cool down, picked up my order, and drove home. Let it cool again, removed the cap, it took 4 litres of water, cap back on, ran up to temp and could just see water that seemed to be running along the bottom of the supercharger Neck, could have been getting sprayed there from elsewhere.

So the plan is to strip out the fan, radiator, etc, upgrade the supercharger pump, replace any suspect hoses, which will probably be most of them as it's now at over 136,000miles, could also be expensive as it's lieke the Medusa's hair in there with hoses, and I may well go back into the Valley, just for piece of mind, As it's coming into winter I can do without the big bus for a bit anyway.

if it takes months, it takes months, I want to do it right, for a change.

 

Maybe the dreaded valley hose...

 

That would be..............again, did thet bugger back in January, but then, maybe I didn't route it properly and it's worn through already.

 

Get on eBay for the hoses. I found a few on there new and for way less then from jaguar. The rest I bought from jaguar. Some of them are a royal p.i.t.a to fit easier with the bumper off, notice I said easier not easy. Lol look the part numbers up on jaguar classic parts.

 

It sounds like it could be the 90 degree hose that connects the water outlet to the engine...it can be seen pretty good by removing the water outlet/thermostat housing as a unit....the hose is under the charger snout and rubs on it after time...maybe check it before rad removal...they are prone to split on top where it bends

 

Thanks guys, appreciate all the help.

When I did the valley hoses, I cheaped out and didn't change the water pump, which was a big miss on my part, witht he car at over 130,000 miles and nothing in any of the paperwork I have to indicate that it has ever had a pump change.

When I changed the Heater pump in the summer, I did fine that the upper inlet of the radiator had a chip out of it's leading edge, where the plastic had perished and was slightly brittle, cleaned it up and put some sealant on when I reattached the hose. but that's nowhere near where the water seems to be coming from, but I will be looking at replacing the radiator if it's out anyway.

Been getting a code relating to fan performance, have checked the fan, and found no fault, it runs up to full speed when powered up, but it could be a control module fault, which is part of the fan motor, at over £500 for a new one, I am not sure if I would change it, although I porbably should.

I didn't change the supercharger pump when I did the heater pump, as I tested it and it was running fine, but I know, from this forum in particular, that there is an upgraded pump that most guys have been fitting, So I will now do that as well.

IF i get in there and find that it is indeed the 90 degree hose, or similar, I may just change that for the time being and start buying up all the parts to do the full job, as it really should be done with the age and miles, that way, SHMBO'd should not suspect any foul play.

 

If it was me, I would Beg/ Borrow, or hire a coolant system pressure pump kit, pressurise the system and safely pinpoint the leak, with no risk of cooking the Engine or scalding oneself
then as funds / time Permit either replace everything or just the offending part
( as a footnote, I am classed as a junior member because I don't post very often, but am Jaguar trained, having done a full apprenticeship at a main dealer and Now teach Vehicle repair at a Tertiary College)

 

Believe it or not, I actually have a pressure test kit, I bought while I was replacing the heater pump, It didn't arrive til after I had finished, and as it ran fine, i didn't even bother unboxing it, completely forgot I had it till you mentioned it.
Needless to say, it is being unboxed today.

 

Knew it was leaking from somewhere around the nose of the supercharger, hooked up my pressure tester and straight away coolant was spraying out from around there, so I stripped out air intake and found the problem it is the narrow hose from the expansion tank to the top of the water rail, just where it goes over the water rail metal pipe, it had swollen and burst, so I trimmed it back, re attached it and pressure tested it again, only to find another leak, from the supercharger return hose, same problem, it had popped right where it goes onto the metal pipe, again, trimmed it back and reattached, pressure tested again and seems ok, so I know what 2 hoses I "NEED" to replace, but I should probably change as many in that area as I can while I am in there. the 2 that need replaced cost £33.10 and £76.75.