My 2000 XJ8 has white smoke coming out from under the hood. I opened the hood to a sweet smell and saw that there was liquid (assuming coolant because of the sweet smell) sprayed all over mainly the passenger side of the engine. It looks like it may be coming from the full load breather tube on that side but there is also a good amount of liquid pooled up around the spark plugs on that side (pretty sure it’s the spark plugs kinda on top there under the plastic engine shield. My question is would the breather tube have a leak like this or am I looking at the wrong thing?

 

The breather is for crankcase ventilation. More likely one of the cooling hoses under the manifold or the thermostat tower.

 

The thermostat tower looked pretty dry when I was looking around. I’ll check out the hoses.

 

I am going to have to guess the engine had been warmed up when this occurred? If so, your fans will blow the fluid around, if its the radiator. But you can pretty much determine that the issue is coming from that side of the engine bay.
Also, as far as sides go, since you don't list your location, in Europe (and a few other regions) facing the front, the passenger side is on RH side, whereas its on the LH side in the US.

Knowing if the motor was hot or cold could help identify the area.

 

Oh right! Haha sorry. It’s on the LH side. And yes it was hot. My girlfriend drove it to the gas station down the street and the dog locked herself in the car. I was on my way home so I went to get the spare keys and brought them. It idled there for maybe 10-15 minutes and when I got there with the keys it was smoking a little. We drove it the few minutes home and about a block away more smoke than before was coming out and the temp gauge shot up. Before that last block the temperature had been fine.

 

The best way to locate the problem is to perform a pressure test on a cold engine. Some auto parts stores have the kit available as a rent or loan item, while Harbor Freight sells a kit at a reasonable price if you're located in the US.

 

My girlfriend drove it .....ok, ..right there, ..that's the issue. Its amazing how many stories we get with this same scenario and find out this is the problem.

+1 to RJ's suggestion....also look at your radiator seams and see if there has been any weeping. Then feel the hoses for softness...if they are soft, most likely you'll find a leak there.

 

Vavle cover gasket leak. To me (US spec) always the left bank of the engine. Changed it twice in the past 10 years.

 

Hahah well it is her car technically. I looked at it today in the light and found a good sized crack in the water distribution pipe. I'm going to get a new one and put it in, but can anyone tell me why this might have happened? The car was also not being driven regularly since towards the beginning of this year. We hadn't really had a need for the second car when working from home for the most part. Could the crack be because the car is 20 years old and things happen, or is the crack a sign of something else I should be fixing?

 

Age gets to us all amigo....and things happen.