Did a search and nothing came into view...

My 2007 XK coupe has sprung a leak from the short hose from the coolant header tank to the heater piping. It looks like a molded hose and the dealer tells me it's only available in a full heater pipe assembly at $180! Oh Noes!

Has anyone found a simpler solution? Can regular heater hose be substituted?

 

I got the same story when I had to replace mine (2) years ago. Just needed the tank, not the entire run of piping. Check with some of our sponsors - I bought just the tank from Merriam Jaguar (as I remember) for ≈$100. If you replace it yourself, it doesn't come out gracefully...you have to slide it toward the engine as far as you can (there's a brace in the way) and just gorilla it out. You'll see it slides into a channe!. On the replacement tank, you might want to Dremel off a little bit of the tongue (on the tank) to facilitate the install, and to make it easier for the next soul that has to replace it.

 

Re-reading your post: yes, you can use regular automotive heating hose. I found that the tube from the tank and the tube on the piping are two different sizes. You can try the old hot-rodder trick of forcing a smaller section of tubing into one end of the larger hose so that both ends are the correct inner diameter for their respective spigots. This is what I had to do.
A lot of times it seems the hose is leaking, but generally it's the lower fitting on the tank that's cracked.

 

I believe I may have a solution. Should know this weekend. Watch this space...

 

UPDATE:

A search on the interwebz revealed the following silicon hose reducer, available from www.pegasusautoracing.com - about an hour to do the job. large end needs a trim of about 4 mm. Cost? About $12 without hose clamps (large end OE clip could be used)
Pt # SR16.13 or bar code (SKU) 0000256 565964