I have a 98 XJR I hope its NOT the head gasket buy from reading some of the threads, it worries me. I bought the car 2 months ago with close to no info (bought it for super cheap though IMO) car runs and drives great, NO smoke from the exhaust and no signs of milky oil or oily coolant or any signs of head gasket. First I had to replace the coolant line from the reservoir to the upper thermostat housing since there was a hole. I go to bleed the system and I get a massive leak from the drivers side reservoir in the bumper and with the reservoir cap removed (the one behind the motor) the coolant is violently bursting out BUT when you play with the radiator hose, it tends to go away a little, I then check the thermostat and to find out there was NO thermostat. I bought a thermostat and still the same problem, then I realized the lines from the reservoirs were crossed, the one for the bumper reservoir was in the wrong placed, I fixed all the those lines and still the same violent burst from the reservoir(the one by the engine) so maybe im wondering if there are any other lines that might be crossed?

I can only drive the car for a few min before it looses all coolant and starts getting hot and during that drive, runs good and NO smoke

 

Does anyone have any close up pics of the radiator, and coolant lines, so i make sure i git it right

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=68781

 

Here are my lines, are they routed correctly( disregard my 90deg temporary line by the rad)

 

When you say that coolant comes violently from header tank, is that when the motor is very hot? You might have a large air lock in the motor. These cars are prone to that if not bled correctly. If you can elevate the front of the car, that helps. Undo the cap with the hex hole in it, on top of the motor. Fill through there, start motor and keep filling it up. Or it seems, from your description of the speed with which the car gets hot, that the coolant is not flowing through the radiator. PO may have changed to long life coolant, which is incompatible with older coolant, and forms sludge. Try pulling off bottom radiator hose, and collect what comes out. If it is sludge, you will have to do some research on the forums about ways to remove it.
May have to have radiator cleaned out too. Keep motor full of water, so sludge doesn't harden.

good luck
Pete

 

You may still have the old style water pump, with plastic impeller blades. The blades eventually fall off. With motor running,check to see if any movement in water in header tank; if that is inconclusive, undo top radiator hose, start motor and give it a rev. Coolant should spurt out.

good luck
Pete

 

Yes, it only happens when the motor is hot or (operating temp, coolant gauge in the middle) However, before that, everything is fine, heat works fine and no steam, as soon as temp gauge gets in the middle, slight steam from the reservoir comes out and when I rev it, thats what it starts steaming real bad and starts bubbling violently, however, I do hear what could be the water pump impeller making noise, but that shouldnt cause steam, should it? Also, which is the header tank?

 

Header tank is the one at the top of your picture, with the two small fluid lines coming out of it. No water circulation in motor will cause coolant to boil locally, producing steam.

Pete

 

UPDATE: I took the water pump out and it was fine, I took the radiator hoses off and it had white sludge. I removed the complete radiator and rinsed it all through along with the water pump hold, header tank and all lines pretty much did a flush. Put everything back together and for the most part still the same, HOWEVER, if I let the car idle, it will NOT loose coolant or bubble, it can idle for hours and its fine but as soon as you give it gas and build pressure thats when it looses coolant and starts to boil. Here is a VID I made

 

 

Since the motor was apart, there is a possibility that that sludge has been sitting there and hardened in some spots. I'd fill it up all the way. Let it idle for 15 minutes or till it reaches operating temperature, let it cool off, top it off and repeat. Do it 4 times than drain and refill. Repeat till it starts to get better. From the way it's shooting out I'd say the circulation is still poor. I'd contact Prestone and ask what they recommend if you mixed the two coolant types to dissolve this stuff. I'd also make sure that you're after-coolers are not caked with this stuff as you'll have some other problems down the line if they are not cooling the compressed charge.

Also, I would make sure you don't leave pure water in there over night. Last thing you want is to crack the block when it freezes.

 

the cars in a 50deg garage, so it wont freeze. What coolant should I be using right now?

 

Need answer asap, do the 2 coolant lines going in the front of the intercooler recirculate? So one line is for coolant going in and the other line is for coolant coming out?