2000 XK8, TRAC, Noise and coolant issues
 

My XK8 seems to be getting older, it has the following minor issues:

1. TRAC sometimes gives a warning saying it's disabled/not working.
2. When turning the steering wheel in the morning there's a screeching sound.
3. I have to top up with engine coolant every 3 months (maybe that's normal).
4. The engine takes a bit longer to start than before.

Got any suggestions for fixes or imminent failures?

Thanks!

1. There is much written on the forum on this problem. Most basic first step is to get your battery load tested.

2. Have you checked the power steering fluid level? How many miles are on your serpentine belt?...it should be checked along with the idler pulleys and belt tensioner.

3. You have a slow leak. Have your cooling system pressure tested to find it.

4. Back to #1. After that is resolved, scan your OBDII codes and we can take it from there.

Isn't number 1 usually the wheel speed sensor needing cleaning?

The fluid level looks normal, but I don't have any reference. Going through the service history this problem has popped up several times..

I'll check the belt according to instructions in the manual, I just went through the service history I have available and did not see mention of replacing the belt, if that's true the current belt has more than 60k miles on it - so replacement could be due - where to get a good one?

1. can be battery / harness / sensor
There's a lot posted about cleaning sensors but that isn't the only cause. Intermittent faults are more likely to be battery or harness.

3. shouldn't lose coolant - there's an Expansion Tank in the engine compartment and an Atmospheric Recovery Bottle behind the front wing liner. Excess coolant goes from the Expansion Tank to the Recovery Bottle when the engine is at operating temperature and is drawn back as the engine cools so the Expansion Tank level should stay just below the filler cap with a cold engine.

If it's only a small amount of loss over a three month period, you could safely keep topping up but it would be good to know where it's losing coolant in case this is a warning of something in the system about to fail. There's a lot of plastic parts in the cooling system that can crack with age and hoses / hose clips don't last forever.

Graham

The battery, dirty sensors, and the sensor wiring are all prime suspects. Worth checking the battery first, seeing as it's the easiest to do. If you get a fault before the car moves, can't be dirty sensors.

In the vast majority of cases, there's as much information in a careful voltage measurement of the battery (after it's been resting for a while) as in a load test. Especially if the load test returns just a pass/fail or similar.

Me too, on the slow coolant loss. For maybe five years now. This will have to get much worse for me to want to chase it.

Ok, so I cleaned the sensors and I thought the TRAC problem went away, until It reappared on a very rainy wet night. Haven't seen it again after that.

What's the most cost effective way of doing a battery load test? Get a load tester? Or take it to a cheap garage? Do you have any links to post about "reading" the battery with a regular multimeter?

Can a "normal" garage check and replace the belt for cheap? I'm on a very tight Jaguar unfriendly budget these days ;)

Other members have mentioned a fault occurring under very wet conditions. It may not be a real problem.
RJ_____________________
97 XK8 Conv. 85K mi

Not a real problem as in TRAC not actually being disabled?

If you have a breaker bar and socket, you can change the belt yourself. All you are doing is taking the tension off the belt by backing off the spring-loaded tensioner. The hardest part of the job is remembering how the old belt looped around each pulley and tensioner. But answer your question... yes any good mechanic can perform this task.