Hello to all,

I'm a new Jag owner, '97 XK8, convertiblew/47k miles. I've made some repairs already; rt front wheel bearing, rt lower ball joint, idler pulley, both front shocks, belt, front brake rotors, pads and of course the cup holder. Before I start on the heater not working, I want to ask if anyone has had this problem. The heater only blows warm air while I'm sitting still for a while. Once you start driving, it blows cold air. I've checked to see if the heater pump is running and it seems to run. The inlet hose to the heater pump is hot and the outlet line is cold. Could the impeller on the pump be broke, heater core clogged? Any ideas?

 

Greetings,

I think your last idea is the correct answer, these heater cores do clog. I've read more than once about owners having them replaced, and perhaps that is necessary in extreme cases. The few I have dealt with on XK8 were satisfactory after repeated flushes. Low pressure air allow so helps, and you may want to mix up a strong batch of Prestone radiator flush, fill up just the disconnected heater with it, and let it sit for a day to help by chemically breaking down some of the deposits.

 

I've found the perfect answer to all my '97 XK8 troubles.

Ignore them and they go away!

Power surge/stall issues. Reflashed the TB under a recall notice but it didn't cure the root problem. Eventually it cured itself.

Faulty gas gauge. Cured after a few runs.

Faulty speedo. Cured after a few runs.

This car is programmed to mess with your head in an attempt to get you to throw money at it. Unless it is dead in the water, a situation for which I have AAA, I suggest giving it the cold shoulder.

It hates that! Eventually, it will bored with taunting you and go back to running normally!

 

In that case, I hope my floor mat business picks up....

 

Thanks Jagtechohio,flushing will be my first step. I also noticed a little coolant leak around the thermostat housing cap. I have found replacement aluminum thermostat housing and was wondering if you would recommend replacing the housing with aluminum?

And thank you Jack Rabbit, maybe I’ll just turn my head as I walk be for a while, maybe I’ll get her attention.

 

Some people swear by the aluminum housings. I personally have never tried it.

 

post a link

 

One of the forum vendors motor cars LTR has them.

 

I installed the aluminum one on my 2000 XK8. Since the aluminum is less cost than the OEM plastic one, if you need to replace it is a no-brainer. Left it bright but considered painting it. Once you take it off you will see that the plastic is simply painted black. Getting the rear bolts off is a real test. You will have to grind down a socket both in length and diameter to be able to break them loose. I think I can stillfind mine and will mail to you if you decide to replace. That's a once-in-a-lifetime tool. Send a PM if you want. Grind a blade screwdriver slot in the bolts to run back down. The multi-outlet fixture in front of the housing is supposed to be available also in aluminum.

tp

 

Here here for that, but I'd make sure that it isn't just a common leak from a bad cap. The retaining ring for the seal comes apart, and then the seal doesn't make good contact with the top of the neck. It's like a $7.00 cap, I don't even re-use them anymore.

 

And you can use an 8mm crows foot for the bolts. When you reinstall, use two bolts from the t-stat cover instead of the housing bolts. They are a little shorter and work perfectly.

 

Thought I'd follow up, I replaced the thermostat housing, stat and cover today with the aluminum unit, bought from http://www.motorcarsltd.com/. Also flushed out the heater core. Replacing the housing and cover went very well. 8mm crows foot was the ticket. When we flushed the heater core it was very obvious it was plugged. you should have seen the mess.....Heater works well. Attached are some pics all back together

We are getting there, a couple of more weeks, we'll have it where we want it......

Thanks for the help.....

[IMG]local://upfiles/3685/3F79BC4220554AD98079CF4FD5739BEF.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/3685/997E5ACB7DB9427EB805041B0FE0F588.jpg[/IMG]

 

I was going to suggest you forget about the repair and just move to South Florida! I don't even know if my heater works! [sm=smiley36.gif]

Thanks for the pics and follow up

 

Lockgirl, where in S FL?
You wouldn't believe how many people we get in the summer time complaining of no heat. Its crazy.

 

lol really.. i m still amazed about the seat heaters.. lol.

 

Lol Genius. Try explaining the temp correlation to an 80 year old that wants the seat heaters coming on at 70 degrees ambient.

 

lol we sometimes.. wire in volvo stats.. to come on at a hotter temp.. only for extremly **** customers.. lol

 

Can you PM the details of that?

 

ill see if i can get the part number for the volvo themostats for monday..

 

Cheers