This blows my mind. I have an 04 XJ8. I'm losing coolant. I have to top off about every 4 days. I replaced the water pump a while back and we checked every thing at that time for leaks...no leaks with pump or any hoses, etc. I took it in about two-three weeks ago and had everything rechecked again. Everything was dry yet I pull it in the garage at night and it leaks. I can't figure it out. I drive 30 miles to work, drive to lunch and return to work....no sign of coolant leaking under the car at all. I drive home, stop to get something to eat and no sign of leaking. I pull into my garage and it stays there overnight. As I pull out in the morning I see where it has leaked. My only guess is maybe it is overflowing somehow. I know from experience with other cars if you may have a bad radiator cap it can cause problems so ordered a new cap....still have the problem. Appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks,
Bill

 

Possible the heater core is leaking in to the carpet.
Check the passenger side carpet for wetness. I have seen the O-rings on the heater core leak

 

My car smelled like antifreeze for years. I finally traced it to the overflow tank...the plastic jug that has the fill cap. It has a nipple for one of the air bleed lines that was cracked. It's an easy check too...since it's on top, unlike the rest of the cooling system!

John

 

My coolant recovery tank has developed leaks. Instead of replacing it, I repaired it. It still has a pinhole leak because I used a non-plastic specific sealer and need to reapply a better sealer. But I would definitely look there next.

 

Kevin, definitely not heater core...experienced that before but not in a Jag. Everything on the inside is dry. Problem has always been leaking on the outside. Like I said check the obvious areas first. Believe John and ST are on to something. I suspected the coolant tank area which is why I was thinking a problem with the coolant tank cap. I will check for leaks around the coolant tank. I appreciate all the suggestions.
Bill

 

Is it a S/C car or normal ? On the S/C cars there is a £5 hose in the V underneath the supercharger that can split and leak.

To find the leak, try looking around the engine compartment in the dark with a torch. The eye always adjusts to the light level, and in daylight you can miss dampness and little drops of coolant. In the dark the eye sees what the torch beam illuminates. This technique helped me with a small leak on a Rover 25 my wife once had.

 

if it is s/c and is the hose running under the s/c it costs a pretty penny to fix such a simple inexpensive hose. I had mine replaced not long ago and cost me $1650. I hope for your sake its not that.

 

Bill, Any tell tell signs of coolant stains around the coolant tank?

My coolant tank broke at the little by-pass hose on top.

Keep us posted!

Happy New Year to all

Kevin

 

No, not an S/C car. Kevin, I did look around the nipple. Not obviously noticeable but there is some coolant residue under the nipple. Too cold to play around with it for now here in Tennessee and although I live not far from Nashville I don't sing for a living and therefore have not come up with an economical way to heat the garage. I have a 1200 sq foot garage. Seriously it's not too bad that I can't work around the weather. If the nipple is cracked and I repair it I believe I will use JB Weld to seal it. Open for auggestions. The connection is with a stock clip and is tight so need to make sure I have the means on hand to repair it for worse case. Would be nice if all I need to do is replace the clip with a screw type band and that be all but will need to take the hose off and assess the condition of the nipple which looks to me to be a rather delicate removal of the hose so as not to break the nipple off. Will keep you all posted.
Bill

 

I have the same problem, antifreeze residue under the small nipple and hose on top and around the top flange of the tank. It will be another 3 months before I will get my garage back since Hurricane Sandy decieded to rearrange my neighborhood so I'm keeping and eye on it. Looking for any idea's on the fix. To me it looks like replacing the tank is the only long term fix but I have been wrong more times then right, but hey this is a new year.

 

Has anyone tried to make the repair on the coolant tank nipple with a Plastic Welding Kit or one of those that uses a hot soldering iron type application with a plastic rod?

 

Never had much luck out of repairing the coolant tanks. They can be had for fairly inexpensive ($130) so it's best to replace it. Other common points of coolant leaks on these cars are the upper and occasionally lower thermostat housings. That would be the next thing to inspect.

 

I cut off the damaged nipple, drilled out the hole that is the point of entry into the tank from the nipple area, and used JB Weld as a sealant to insert some suitable stiff plastic tubing I found at an auto part store. The fix worked like a charm. Total cost: around $7.00.

Here's a link to my posted thread detailing my saga, with a pic attached:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...uestion-83373/

 

310 Jag, that was the first thing replaced. Had residue showing along the seam. What blew my mind was seeing plastic thermostat housing in the 02 I had...replaced that with an aftermarket aluminum housing. Disappointed in there was not an aftermarket aluminum one for the 04. Thought it was a dumb design to use plastic by Jag...about as dumb as allowing almost no room to replace headlamp bulbs.

 

Well, folks, here's an update. As you know I have been pondering why I continue ot have a large wet area under the car. I have tod you I replaced the water pump a hwile back, replaced teh thermostat housing and in our exchange here discovered a small bit of coolant residue around the nipple of the tank. So still blowing my mind because i felt this small leak evidently at the nipple just could not be leaving that size of a wet spot on the garage floor (not a puddle-puddle to me is standing water and this was a wet area). Doing some things on the Jag last night and further checking out the tank nipple and shining a trouble light under the hood....all of a sudden...Eureka! I saw the major cause! There was some dripping at the bottom of the front of the engine....tracing this back it appears it may be coming from the water pump area. So got to thinking and believe that when I had the new water pump installed it may be possible that the seal was not tighten well on the lower part of the water pump causing this dripping. So on the way into work in my Vette I stopped by to tell the owner what I percieve as the problem. I know when they put the water pump on they did it from the top. My thinking would have been from top and bottom. I had suggested that the day I brought it in for the new water pump to be installed. Seemed to me that the bottom part of the water pump would be accessed easier from under the car...so we will see if my theory is correct when I take it back. Still need to put a little expoxy on the nipple. Will get this problem resolved yet.
Bill

 

Just watched my neighbour today struggling to remove the LH headlamp assembly of his Ford Kuga today to replace a bulb ! Cold and foggy it was, too.

 

Well had to replace the expansion tank yesterday, went from small weep to large spray. I have to admit I was temped to try Super Travs medthod but for 90 bucks I replaced the tank.

 

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you all. Yep, the problem was the water pump. It was leaking from the weep hole and also from behind the water pump which tells me was not tighten down properly. I think I got the pump from Conventry West. Tells me pump was not good from beginning. Cost me too much money to get to the bottom of the problem. New pump works fine.