just got stuck in construction traffic, watched the temperature gauge go up till I started moving again…
Anyone seen this before?
guessing it’s leaking somewhere & its baked on antifreeze…


Pinkish baked on antifreeze?
also the passenger side (USA) hose has collapsed…



Obviously I have to take it apart & investigate…
I’m assuming a flush & thermostat at a minimum…
just wondering… also trying to get rid of that junior member thing by posting…

 

Quite possibly the plastic crossover pipe has cracked. Sadly, there is not yet an aluminium replacement. Part # is AJ85885, and it's not horribly expensive.

If the radiator hose needs two clamps to hold it in place, then it should be replaced. Avoid using worm drive clamps on plastic parts:- the OEM cobra spring clips are best suited.

 

+1 on michaelh's comment on the crossover pipe and on replacing the hose. The upper hose is installed incorrectly and has "flattened" meaning it may be past its sell-by date.

 

Change the expansion tank cap as the hose can only collapse if the cap does not let fluid return from the overflow tank.

 

Doing the flush thing now…
Ordered thermostat & top hose…
Not seeing any leaks… so far…
Drained, flushed with chemicals, first rinse now…
Top hose is blowing up like a balloon…
Was wondering about that expansion tank cap thing…

update: auto value has the cap on sale for $10 so i’ll get that tomorrow…
did the second rinse & ran out of daylight…

 

I had a heck of a time trying to loosen the petcock, sent my son under there & he figured out stick the screwdriver in sideways to get more leverage…

 

Its a large round washer you want to undo it or a coin about 1 in dia and some mole grips .. that top hose is toast. the sucking flat is the exp tank cap ..it has two valves ..one 15 psi to let the expanded water out to the overflow tank behind the RH wheel and a very low pressure return valve to suck the fluid back as it cools ...that one is blocked.
Hope you put an 82 deg thertmostat in it ...gives you a head start on the 88.
I have my fans on at half speed 24/7 ( one wire to earth) and am going to put in a switch under the hood to let it go full speed in the summer so if I get in very bad traffic in red hot france I can turn off the air con and still have the fans going full blast

 

Yep new reservoir cap, 3rd rinse cycle, no worn out upper hose collapse on cool down…

 

We have had my wife's 2006 XK8 since early February 2012. My experience has been that the reservoir caps tend to last three to four years before they need to be replaced. We are on the third cap now....

 

2 new hoses & a thermostat…
That bottom hose clamp was super difficult…
Lots of gunk buildup in thermostat housing…
No leaks so far…

 

The flush thing must have worked too well, the water pump started leaking onto the belts and spraying water everywhere…
Bought the AC/Delco pump, easy swap…
Whoever did it last time was a big fan of black silicone…
Now there’s no leaks… 🤞🏼