I’ll hold off on the brake switch. There is a more important issue to attend to.

The expansion tank is leaking at the seams. I swear Jaguar can’t design a decent expansion tank. So, in lieu of buying a new one that will leak in the next couple of years, is there a more durable replacement for sale?

 

i think you are being a bit harsh, the car is 13 years old after all and what can you buy today that has a 13 year warranty? If the original one lasted 13 years, why would a new one leak in a couple of years, your logic fails me?

 

I replaced the coolant expansion tank in my wife's 2006 XK8 back in September with one from rockauto.com that was only $52. It looks identical to the original tank....

Regardless of where you source them, you need to keep an eye on them. Leaks are inevitable for all of these tanks eventually....

 

The problem is that they make the tank out of two plastic parts glued together, whereas most every other manufacturer makes them out of one single plastic part, which are less prone to leaking.

I also highly doubt this car has the one it originally came with.

I had to replace that same part twice in my old XK8 within 4 years time.

 

All cooling system components made from plastic will fail regardless of construction. I only changed mine recently because I dropped the original and the stub pipe snapped off. It was an original part, as confirmed by the date stamp and my car is 19 years old so they do last even with the flawed construction you describe.

 

Must be climate related.

 

I searched on Rockauto and they only list that tank for the XK8 but not the XKR. Does anyone know if the XK8's tank fits?


Cheapest I could find for the expansion tank was for $158 from ebay with free shipping. It should be arriving by next year. Once it arrives I'll flush the coolant, swap the tank, fill it up with new coolant, and then I'll feel confident to drive this car around.