Hey Guys,

I really could use some help/advice. Your opinions will be greatly valued and appreciated.My car was leaking from the front end. It looked like it might have been the radiator, so I took the car to a radiator shop to get the radiator tested. As the guy was inspecting the car, he broke one of the small up hoses and coolant shot all over my car's engine. He said that they would replace the hose and that my radiator was good but my water pump was leaking. Going against my gut, I agreed to let them replace the water pump since they were replacing the hose he broke. I called back after the weekend and they said the car was ready but my cooling fans were not working. I know for a fact that my fans were working when I dropped the car off. This was the first time that I let anyone else do work on my car. So I know my car pretty well and I only let them replace the pump because they were replacing the hose that they broke.The shop said that they applied power to the fans and they still would not turn on. So I told them that I would be up there because I would rather discuss this in person. When I arrived, I asked about the broken coolant hose and coolant shooting everywhere and the effects it might have had. He hit me with some B.S. saying, ' my fans burnt out because, my car was running hot when I pulled up." My car wasn't running hot. It was above the ideal level but it wasn't running hot. Plus, he wouldn't have known because he never checked the gauge. Once I pulled up, I popped the hood for him. Then, he leaned over the motor to look at the radiator and that is when he broke my coolant hose.

• Would both fans burn out at the same time? They are two separate fan motors. It doesnt make since to me that two separate motors would go out at the same time.
• I checked all fuses, I think. So could it be a relay? If so, which ones control the fans?
• If my fans are indeed burnt out, can I hold them liable? They broke my coolant hoses, coolant shot all over the engine and electronics under my hood my car, and I believe that could have caused my fans to burn out because the fans were running while the coolant was shooting all over the engine and its electronic components.
• Should I sue them for my almost $900 fans because I came to them for one thing and left with hundreds of dollars in damages on something else.

• I did have a witness. Its the person that took me home once I dropped my car off.
• I also have photos of coolant still on the motor and its electronic components, once I got it back.

 

The fans, at the first temperature switch-on point, run at low speed. In this mode, they are wired in series so, if one fan is faulty and does not run, the other good fan will not run either. When the coolant temperature reaches the second switch-on (higher) point, the fans will be wired in parallel for full speed. In this mode, if one fan is faulty, the other will run.

The fan operation is controlled by a special (triple) relay, about 4" long, located somewhere down at the front left corner of the engine compartment. I think you can see it if you remove the wheel and the wheel arch lining. Check its connector and the pins (might be soaked in coolant).

Otherwise, it should be straight forward to check each fan if you disconnect the harness from them and connect 12V directly (perhaps you should look for another mechanic).

 

I made some post on the mater back in my history this week if you'll look and the X100 and X308 are the same , maybe different color wires . Both fans going bad at the same time very unlikely . Gotta go do errands now .

First check the fuses , and then operational test in my post

See this post for X100 operational test :

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...issues-199270/

 

If you were above the mid point on the gauge -- the fans could have been non functional. The gauge only leaves the mid point when coolant is above normal.

The small bleed hoses do get very brittle -- make sure to check the others.

I would recheck the proper fuses carefully and then inspect the fans and see if they are indeed faulty. Can't think of anything a mechanic could do to damage the fans.

What year? miles?

 

@Yeldogt

It is a 2000 XJ8 4.0L VDP
it only has 115,000 miles on it.

 

Hi Kyng Kyle Chestnut,

When our 2003 XJ8 experienced an overheating episode, I connected an OBD scanner and watched the CTS indicate the coolant temperature at 236.9F before the instrument cluster temperature gauge needle began to move above normal, so if your needle was above normal, your engine may have already been overheating.

Please keep us informed.

Cheers,

Don

 

Don B,
Thanks for the info. I have an OBD scanner as well. Do you mind taking a few mins to tell me, " at what temps do the fans turn on?" Im an engineer and I just feel like that information would be very useful and worth documenting.

 

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Elec...jm18151280.pdf

Page 37:

 

If they broke one of the plastic hoses running from the coolant reservoir to the radiator, check to make sure they didn't also break the electrical connection to the a/c pressure switch located close by.

 

Did they remove the fans as they replaced the water pump? If so, did they plug them back in?

 

If the weather is right you can go a long time with just one fan working. Once it starts to get significantly hot then you really need both fans in particular with the AC on. It's quite possible that you were operating on one fan and then the last one gave up the ghost and lead to the overheat which may have hastened the water pump failure.

As it has already been said the temp gauge is actually a dummy gauge if it shows anything but the midpoint it means your heading twoard an overheat. With this vehicle it means you should pull over and remedy or have it towed to prevent engine damage.

Make sure the fans are plugged in at both ends at the fans (may be able to do a visual with a flashliffl and the right mirror) and at the connection to the right of the drivers front wheel (just follow the wire from the fans). Undoubtedly this connection was unplugged when they replaced the water pump.

Also it's critical that the fan wire be properly routed and clipped into the fan shroud to prevent it from rubbing on the serpentine belt. I have replaced all may fans twice and the fan cable once. The fans are easy to bench test. I doubt cooling spraying everywhere was the culprit, but I've seen stranger.