Getting ready to put a aluminum therostat housing on a friends 2002 XK8 and have read all I can on the replacement procedures and thanks to all who have gone before me and left their knowledge.
I had a hard time finding a 8 MM crow foot and took matters into my own hands. They should work a treat, one to break it loose and tighten up and one to get the bolt out. I will use the short bolts in the rear.
Someone over tightened the housing at the thermostat and it's now leaking and unable to tighten it up, spinning in the housing.

Wayne

 

Nice tool fix cjd777. I assume the bend will clear the space.

I have read most of the threads on this repair and the suggestion is always to slot the new bolts to make it easier next time. My question is why not use allen head bolts? Surely these are common enough bolts a good supplier could match it up.

If the replacement is ever needed on mine, I intend to try this unless someone else beats me to it and says it is a bad idea.

 

Just a thought but here might be more 'spring' in that length of rod than would allow the bolts to broken loose. Several have used cap headed bolts to put it back on. Metric 8mm cap head bolts might be a little hard to find at your local ACE Hardware but I am sure they are available.

 

Nice work CJD777,
it took me a couple of weeks to find an 8mm crows foot. Your idea should work if you can get enough torque. I replaced the bolts with cap heads from the local auto parts store, to make it easier if I ever have to replace them again.

 

Thanks to all.
I think I may have found the allen key bolts at Lowes, if not I will get something that will work a bit better than what is there, even if I have to slot them.
The long rods are quarter inch and good steel, if they would have a problem, I give up.

Wayne

 

I found a 8mm crows foot from Snap On. The dealer did not realize that they carry this product.

 

First off Testpoint, there was a bit of give, in the tool when breaking it loose, nothing that gave me a problem .
I used a different method of getting the antifreeze out. I used a hand pump extractor in the reservoir then removed the cap on top of the thermostat housing, got as much as I could with the large hose, taped the small hose inside and cut a point, working on the side of the housing you can get it by the thermostat itself and down in about a foot. Takes a while but no mess, IF you remember to tape the hose that comes off the thermostat cover to the top of the radiator, it will dump a goodly amount before you can say dump ***. See picture below.
I wish I could say all was routine, but I was going for a easy way and trying different approaches to see what I could come up with. The box end of the tool set was the better chose in getting the rear bolts up until the intake would not let the tool come out, at that point the open end did work, but I have a 8 inch pair of needle nose pliers that worked much better, but I have done this for years and it might give others a pain, (in the hand). I don’t recall if others removed the outlet pipe, but it makes getting the short top hose off worth the two minutes to get it out of the way, be careful with the seals, I should have got new ones, so far all is well.
Replaced the top hose with a Dayco 71957, cut a exact length off the end, very happy with the feel of this hose compared to stock.

• Made with synthetic EPDM rubber compounds that provide resistance to deterioration from ozone, coolants, and temperature variations of -40°F (-40°C) to +257°F (+125°C)
• The inner base tube is reinforced with knitted rayon for maximum strength and burst resistance for the life of the hose
• Meets SAE J20R4, Class D-1 requirements for improved service hose
• Meets Type EC electro-chemical requirements as specified in SAE J1684; which eliminates premature deterioration of the inner tube caused by the build up of static electric charges

For the techies, really a good fit around the housing and was able to use the Jaguar clamps and have enough left over for at least 2 more of these jobs.
The clips we not a lot of fun, very brittle and someone has been in there before, one of the knock sensors had a small chip out of a corner, another part of the story here, ugh.

The parts to make this a easy install were all found at Lowes :

Short bolt, socket Hd cap screw, class 12.9 M6-1.00 x 20
Long bolt, Socket Hd cap screw, class 12.9 M6-1.00 x25
# 10 washer was perfect size,, but needed to be hit with a ¼ inch drill, the socket head screws did not have a good flat area like original.
5 MM ball hex driver socket, 3/8 drive and 6 inches long

Turns out, I only used the short ones at the rear, as nothing is wrong with the front. Put the short ones in the housing and set it back in place and start all bolts by hand. Be careful on the torque. I did add a drop of high heat lock tight to each bolt.

The rest if just routine bolting up and fighting the hose clamps. Adding coolant at the top of the housing while giving the hoses a gentle squeeze will get most of the air out. Give yourself some room in the housing so your pumping won’t overflow. Don’t forget both large hoses and the small vertical one.

I did get a knock sensor code, but the one with the chip out needed some cleaning and all was well. Hope this will help, yeah I know, most should order the top hose and new out let seals when getting the housing kit.

Oh, one thing that was a bit concerning, the housing set back so as it was touching the crossover fuel rail, I’ll keep and eye on it for scuffing.

 

Since the old housing is going into the trash anyway many have chewed it off a bite at a time with a pair of pliers until the bolts are fully exposed.

Did you paint the bright aluminum black? The shiny aluminum seems out of place on top of an all black engine.

 

Testpoint, you know the old saying, "s... Happens". If I chew off the old one. how many chucks do you think I will have to get out of the system. Right now I have the P0332 bank 2 low voltage with restricted performance on, but I don't have any problem with performance, great running and lots of pickup. Also P1000. Tried erase and hard reset, all I accomplished was losing the radio. It may be one of those things He will have to start and drive for a while to get rid of. I will try to loosen the knock sensor and re tighten tomorrow, (hot and 830pm). Looks like I can get a new sensor in without too much trouble, may just get both sides while I'm at it, if it doesn't go away.

Wayne

 

a lot of metric bolts, allen head and cap can be found at a place called fastenal

 

one thing I am wondering about is that if you break off the old plastic housing to get to the bolts, don't you still have to get to the back bolts to replace the new housing ?

 

Use socket head screws and a ball drive. That's a allen key with ball shape head.

 

RJ, I gave the bolt and head size in the write up, so, you and all can get the parts before you start.
As a little follow up, all of this is holding up after a year of hard running and this car, mine I had to torque one back bolt 1/4 turn to stop a very slow leak. I just happen to stick my hand down there and caught some anti freeze on it, other wise I would still be looking.


Wayne

 

I was reading this post and thought I would change mine on my 2000 xk8 while I'm doing the head and timing tensioners.
I did an search a found most were charging about $50-$60 for the kit. One had it for $28.95 plus free shipping. It happens to be SNG Barratt, but on ebay only, and they had 7 left. So at about half price I bought 4 of them. 3 for my Jags and one spare for something that might come up. At that price I don't mind having one sit around.
So if any of you are thinking about replacing yours you might want to jump on this. Only 3 left now.

http://r.ebay.com/t1pAQP

 

Great price . . . GRAB IT ! ! ! !

 

The listing indicates the aluminum housing can be used on 2003 MY and up. I thought the 4.2 could only use the plastic housing, which is what I used when I replaced mine on my 2005.

 

You are correct, and they need to change the ad. The tower will not fit the 4.2.

 

Agreed, still no aluminum housing available for the 4.2 engines that I know of. Replaced my wife's 2006 XK8's leaking housing with a new OEM plastic one in November 2014. No coolant-leaking issues since. Always be sure to replace that mostly plastic top hose that runs between the housing and the coolant expansion tank with a section of 5/16-inch rubber fuel hose when you do the housing replacement (if not before). That lousy plastic hose is also notorious for cracking and leaking....

 

I'm with Test Point on this. stuff a rag down the t-stat and break it off with a hammer handle. That is how I did mine since the bolts were too tight to remove with my crow foot, it just rounded the bolt head. I ended up using vice grips to break them loose.

 

You're talking about a 4.0, he has a 4.2 and there is no tower.