I seem to have a little leak which I think is around the hose that goes into the bottom of the aluminium thermostat housing on my XKR. It's very little but the hose looks fine so I'm not sure where exactly it's coming from. I need to top it up once every 2 weeks or so of daily driving. The thermostat was new 2 years ago so I don't think it's the seal there and the actual thermostat housing looks dry just around that hose and around the top of the enging where the coolant has dried.

 

In your situation I would drain the coolant by sucking it out of the expansion tank until it is dry.


then remove the hose from the thermostat housing. Then you can check the housing for cracks and examine the hose better.

Z

 

Hi Kuddlesworth,

A cooling system pressure test will often reveal the precise location of a leak.

In my experience, the seals that came with the aluminum thermostat housings do not last long, so don't assume that isn't the problem.

Cheers,

Don

 

Will look into the seals, thanks.

 

Get yourself one of these - it'll definitely help find the leak: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285453670321

 

i would believe the aluminum housing would be aged and corroding if the hoses etc are fine,,

 

Looked OK to me just normal aluminium and it's running the long life coolant so it shouldn't rust. Took it apart a couple of years ago to replace the thermostat and it looked fresh back then. There might be a split on the hose it's very tight back there under the thermostat.

 

That does look very handy.

 

It is!

I had a leak from the aluminium tower that I recently looked into, and was caused by two things. Firstly, the thermostat I fitted had a rubber seal that was too thin, meaning the joint around the thermostat was not water-tight: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-tower-283161/

Also, there was a 'rib' cast into the aluminium housing (the front-most bit that encases the thermostat) that was interfering with the thermostat and not allowing it to sit properly. I filed the aluminium rib back enough to clear the thermostat.

 

Thanks I will look into that. Would be odd if it was the seal because it has been fine for a couple of years or so with no problems. Maybe it just got old and shrunk.

 

good chance it IA the seals