Greetings gang!

I was checking my oil yesterday and noticed that the upper heater hose had 'ballooned' where it connects to the upper radiator section.

I searched on the forum, but for some odd reason, I couldn't find any information on doing the replacement.

Do I really have to take a bunch of stuff off of the upper engine to access the other end, or is there some sort of a trick in accessing the other end of the hose so I can replace it?

I have cut off the 'ballooned' section and spliced in a new section of hose, but I'm concerned with how long the remainder of the hose will stay intact.


Thanks in advance

 

Remove engine, see engine section.

Not sure about which hose you are referring. A common 'balloon' point is the 4-5" section of hose between the upper radiator hose manifold and the thermostat tower. That is relatively easily replaced. If you are trying to describe the 'heater' hose at the rear of the engine that is a completely different story.

 

From your description, I believe you are talking about 1 of the 2 heater hoses that run under the intake manifold on your 99 XK8.

The 1st hose, the heater feed hose, connects to the coolant outlet pipe above the front of the engine & runs under the intake manifold where it then connects to the heater pipe at the rear of the engine. The rear connection of this hose is inaccessible without removing the intake manifold. I think this is the one you are talking about as you mentioned that you were able to cut & temporarily repair it at its front connection.

The 2nd hose, the heater return hose, also runs under the intake manifold but both of its ends are completely inaccessible without removing the intake manifold. It runs from the back of the water pump housing (directly below the thermostat tower) to a connector at the rear of the engine.

You should obviously replace both of these hoses at the same time as you will have to remove the intake manifold to accomplish replacing either one.

I did this job on my 97 last year & it was not too bad.

Attached is a PDF of TSB 303-48 which describes the procedure in detail. There are also a few diagrams showing the path of the hoses. Please note the parts list at the end as you will need to replace all 8 of the intake manifold inlet gaskets as well as the throttle body gasket.

The JTIS will also be invaluable to you, particularly the sections involving the throttle body & the throttle intake elbow.

I also took advantage of having the throttle body removed to thoroughly clean it & replace alot of the brittle vacuum hoses attaching to & surrounding it. You will see what I mean when you get it all apart.

Best of luck to you!

 

Brad,


U da man!

Perfect!

This forum never ceases to amaze me!

Thanks again Brad!

 

You are welcome!

I got to thinking about it & remembered I also had a pictorial that was done on an XJ that helped me a great deal when I did the job. I found it on my computer & have attached it as a PDF.

This pictorial is not my work. Heater hose pictorial credit is as follows (with many thanks):

Heater hose replacement on X308 - 7/06/2005
Copyright 2005 jaguar@blackonxy.net

(see attached PDF)

 

While you are there, I would suggest doing all the small heater hoses by the firewall, the radiator hoses , and the plastic coolant manifold. They are likely all about to fail. good luck

 

If it gives you any encouragement, I just replaced the right hand side (passenger in the U.S.) heater hose that was under the intake manifold without removing the intake at all, a few weeks ago.
Here are the steps I took (first, I had put in UV Coolant dye, found the leak at the rear passenger heater return hose):
1) Remove neg. terminal from battery
2) Remove plastic engine cover.
3) Unclip the front of the hose connection (nearest front of the engine)
4) Unbolt a small bolt that holds the metal piping to the engine, just follow the rubber hose to the rear (top of the engine) and see where it is clipped to the metal hose, there is one bolt holding this bracket on. I used an inspection mirror to find it.
5) Now that metal tubing is not on the bracket, you can pull it out and get to the clamp.
6) Using a clamp removal tool, remove the hose clamp. ($30-35 - Got mine from Sears (Harbor Freight, Parts stores) based on another member's recommendation from another issue)
7) I had ordered the URO brand hose from Amazon, for about $18. It is a thicker hose material, so the original clamps will not work, get some screw on clamps instead.
8) Pull out old rubber hose, compare to new hose to ensure same type.
9) Feed new rubber hose in from the front of engine. It will be tight, but use a long screw driver to help guide it under the intake.
10) Install front screw on hose clamp. This will provide for easier installation of the other side of the hose so you can get it on the metal pipe.
11) You can use some WD-40 to help guide the hose onto the metal pipe.
12) Once reinstalled, you will have lost a little coolant, refill reservoir to proper level.

It took me about an hour the first time I did it, half of that time figuring out how to get the old hose off. Would be much quicker next time around. In this scenario, I did not remove anything from the intake. The other heater hose (on the driver side U.S.) would likely require intake removal, but I have no leaks on that one based on my UV dye check.

The most important tool, by far, was this one, and it has come in handy on many occasions.:
Amazon.com: OTC 4525 Cable-Type Flexible Hose Clamp Pliers: Automotive

 

If the hose you are talking about is the one from the cross over to the thermostat housing it is a simple replacement. Just remove the crossover pipe 4 bolts remove both clamps and hose, replace the old with the new and reinstall the crossover and you are done. You may want to replace the thermostat in the process. This link should help JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource Go down past the water pump.