Agree on the above statement by Bocatrip! +1

Get the car fixed and see how well it runs. So sorry to hear about your episode.

 

Hi Forum,
My surreal nightmare continues!! The Jag service dept. didn't have a loaner for me so they rented me a Chevy Malibu from Enterprise. I'm not a bonehead so I'm not going to complain, it's just temporary. Well, as fate would have it, I was on my way to Phoenix a few hours ago and I got a blow out in Pasadena. At this point I'm wondering if I offended someone in a past life. Well, I call Enterprise as this should be an easy fix, replace the car or the tire. I'm fine with either. So I call and apparently there is no roadside assistance coverage on the car. I do remember them mentioning getting it, but the sales guys was adding up various coverages which was quickly becoming $50+ a day, I already have great coverage through my auto insurance, and I was also tired from driving all night, so I just declined. Long story short, according to Enterprise, I have to pay for a tow truck and them pay for a new tire. I called my insurance company and though they were eager to assist, assistance didn't come without cost. What a week I'm having!!! So now I'm back at the Marriott in smalltown, CA.....somewhere close to Pasadena.I'm going to stay here until Monday, then take this rental back to Enterprise. If the dealer has a loaner for me, I'll take it, otherwise I'm at the mercy of Enterprise, whatever that may be. I must've did something in a past life.....Can't imagine this much bad karma in a week. Well, it is what it is....The good news is I'm sharing this experience with my 12 year old son, so I'm sure we'll be telling this story for years to come....

 

+1

 

I feel terrible about what happened to your Jag. It's hard to believe that if all the coolant drains out and the car is overheating, you won't get an overheating warning!!!

 

Thanks buddy. Yep. I pulled over as soon as I saw the engine overheating error. I don't believe I drove 1/4 mile after I saw it. I guess the damage was done before I got the warning. As a case in point, the Chevy Malibu I'm driving has a temp gauge. It has to be one of the slowest cars I've ever driven, if not THE slowest, base model of course, yet it has a temp gauge...go figure.

 

This whole thing makes me SICK. How could it have been prevented?!??!??!?

 

I hear you there. From what I had learned here, if I see ANY heat or coolant related message popping up I am stopping right there, shutting the engine off to investigate the coolant levels. Perhaps, a good idea is to carry with me my small code reader/scanner that can be plugged into the OBD II port any time for an instantaneous read on engine parameters, including coolant temperature.

 

I don't know. I think we're going to have to look into an app or something that would monitor temperature or maybe get an aftermarket temperature gauge installed....if that's even possible. For now, I would suggest simply carrying a bottle of antifreeze in the car and if any type of low coolant or engine temperature warning light comes on, however brief, stop where you are and check it thoroughly.

 

Great idea!!! I'll definitely have one with me from now on....assuming my car does get repaired. What make/model of OBDII do you have?

 

It is a actron CP 9575. Small enough to fit into the glove compartment.

Sears.com

I tried it yesterday and it connected with the XKR fine, giving instantaneous coolant (and a ton of other) readings.

 

The real pisser in this is that there is NO information about the 'Coolant Level Low' message in the owner's manual, nor what one should do when it appears, so how the hell is anyone supposed to take the right action? The workshop manual tells you to stop, idle for 5 mins, then let the car cool before checking & topping up the coolant. But very few owners have that manual.

If the car is properly repaired, it should be fine. When you get it back, take it for a long drive to satisfy yourself that there are no residual issues. And I'd agree with the suggestion to leave it unmodded until your warranty expires. It's not as if the car is underpowered in stock form!

 

If there is low coolant...why would one even WANT to idle the car for 5 minutes?? Am I wrong here thinking that this could prolong at least the internal workings causing continued heat buildup? Why wouldnt one just turn the car off?!

Loth

PS- Im an idiot when it comes to this - iN FACT...I have no idea where to check the coolant at in the XK and nor do I know where an ODB II port is....where is it? And how do I use it? When it comes to this stuff I dont even know what I dont know... only reason I have a car like this is I was lucky enough to have the cash and means with what I do know in life that got me this far to afford such a car.. does not mean I am proficient at it (that why I give more money to dealerships then I probably should!).

 

I just checked it out at sears...where do you connect it to?!? Where is the OBD port? Does it give real time readings in the cabin of the engine temp or do you add an extra sensor?

Loth

 

For some reason Jaguar didn't feel it necessary to put gauges in what is considered a high end GT car. Is there a water temp. gauge in any of the other Jaguar models (XJ , XF) or just the XK. The "Low Coolant" warning should most likely be the initial warning trigger now that we have seen what it can lead to. Other then the fact that if the coolant was down below the sensor of lets say 1/2 inch it still would be OK to run the engine. If you blow a hose you will see the results immediately but a weeping water pump is difficult to see. So without the gauge we should either check fluid once a week or use the coolant low warning as the "stop" trigger. As to the code reader I have 2 of them and both have the erase feature. They were both under $50 and I keep one in my other car and truck and even bought one for my kids car. As for this car I will most likely go with the ELM OBDII connector and the Torquepro APP.

 

Ok that is it...if anyone is as stupid as I am when it comes to these OBD scanner thinga-ma-gigs then can someone give a small flash course on it, how to use it, where to install it, and go from there

 

First you don't need to spend a lot of dollars on a scanner. Go to sears or autozone or a similar type auto store and get the cheapest one with the erase feature. Now under your dash on the drivers side and I believe on the left side (except UK ?) you will find a strange receptacle. This is the OBDII (On Board Diagnostic II) connector. You plug in the scanner and it only will go in one way. To use it you need to press the ignition (IMPORTANT , do not start the engine) just to accessory position. You will see the scanner go into the read mode and just follow the scanner instructions. Most basic scanners only read codes and also tell you what the code is. The advanced ones have other capabilities. A scanner will not tell you water temperature if you want that you will need to go to an advanced type with SW that reads engine functions from the sensors which is the method that Jaguar and other manufactures use to determine engine data. That would be another tutorial. Most of the time the scanner is useful to read problems when the check engine light (MIL) comes on. When done turn off the ignition and remove the scanner plug.

 

Can you use a device like this to continually monitor the engine temperature using this port while the car is on? As you say it will need to be a more sophisticated scanner - I wonder if it can use an engine sensor already in place or if we would need to somehow place our own sensor?!? Too many questions, no experience, not even sure I am asking the correct questions. Do we even know what proper engine temp is in a XK/XKR/XKR-S and does it vary with model and year etc?

 

Take a look at this

 

I am taking Albert's (Actron CP9575) and Jagtoes advice (erasable scanner) and ordering the Actron OBD Scan Tool...

Actron CP9575 Auto Scanner Trilingual OBDII and CAN Scan Tool

It is available at Amazon for $89.99 and is a scan tool tool so no need for bluetooth or IPhone apps, the scan tool does it all.

There is a nice video on this device at this link below on Youtube....it will take you to a video that demonstrates the device.

This should help those who may have a basic or no understanding on how to work this device.

Available at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Actron-CP9575-...r+OBD+II+Super


This device may help the unknowns of our cars. Seems like a device we should all have and learn how to use it.

Hope this info and guide to the links help.

 

I find it incomprehensible that the most basic information regarding the status of the engine is not readily available to monitor through gauges on a car of this level of performance. It's as if Jaguar felt it's "beneath" the dignity of Jaguar owners to have to check such things. The warning systems are not foolproof and are generally too late. There were no warnings on the 2010 XKR that I recently purchased that might have prevented an engine replacement (of course, that worked out in my favor).

As Jagtoes described his experiences with his Ferrari 308, any of us with older sports cars with high performance engines diligently monitor the functions of these cars through a series of gauges including water temperature, oil pressure, voltmeter, etc. My 1972 Pantera runs hot on the street even with the cooling system upgrades I've done such as a fluidyne radiator, sucking fans, etc. I would not drive it for a 1/4 mile without knowing where the running temperature and oil pressure readings were (I never take my eyes off of them), yet Jaguar expects us to "fly blind" with an engine that is almost twice as powerful as those of our old sports cars. Are gauges considered ugly? Before I drive my 2010 XKR again, I will purchase one of the above devices for peace of mind. Wouldn't it have been nice had Jaguar spent an extra $80 or so on a $100,000 GT and given all of us some security.