2002 VDP with 74,000 miles. I shut the engine off, the fans come on high. I start the engine again to check the gauge, and it is perfectly in the middle. Soon coolant begins to drip out the front. I wait a while, and check the coolant level. It is full. I drive the car about 10 miles, temp gauge stays in the middle again. Shut the car off, same thing; fans come on, coolant coming out the front. It appears to be coming from the tube from the overflow tank that leads to the area behind the drivers side headlight. I put my hand on the coolant tank, and i can feel a boiling or gurgling feel. It is only 65 degrees here today; not like it is Death Valley! Any ideas?

 

Since you maintain normal temperature, the thermostat is probably functioning. It is possible that you have filled the coolant tank when cold (hard to open it when hot) and over filled it for high temp operation. It would expell excess for a time and then stop. Fans running after shutdown would not be cause for alarm necessarily, but mine has never done that (99XJ8 90K miles).

 

The Jaguar 'gauges' are really only 'idiot' gauges. Jaguar owners do not have a need to know more information than that. Steam will appear under the hood about the same time as the gauge will move up beyond 'normal'.

My fans come on after stopping only on very hot days. You may well have a thermostat that is stuck. If the overflow tank continues to boil off or is empty cold it is time to check further.

 

Thanks to all for the advice. I thought i would try to replace the thermostat, since it was easy and the first thing i wanted to eliminate. I found one on Rock Auto.com for about $9, and chose the Stant manufacturer. It matched the original exactly, stampings and all, so it seems the original was a Stant. Easy installation, just 3 bolts. I bought the o-ring too, but the stat came with a new one too.

It fixed the symptom! I have driven for a week now without the recurrence of fans or coolant loss. Nice to have something be cheap, easy, and without frustration.

Thanks again

 

good to hear another happy ending twoblackjags, the t-stat is usually the culprit in those cases.

Planning on sticking around here and learning more about your car? (and helping others along the way?)

 

Yep. I enjoy the site. Thanks for moderating!

 

If you can get your post count up to double digits, you'll have full access to the garage, PMs out and back, and all the forum hosted documents and images will be accessible.

Glad you're stickin around!