I did my valley pipes today, took about 3 hours....... Easy job.....



You can see from the pic where my leak was coming from the block

 

Tomorrow is scheduled for mine, I wonder if I can beat your time? I'm arthritic, half-blind, drink and prone to swearing. Never mind I will keep my time to myself.

 

Depends how mad you go, I changed to the aluminium tower, had a bit of a clean up, then put it all back together

 

That is a beautiful thing!! Since that is probably the most inconvenient location for a leak, it's probably where mine is.

 

wow, that's beautiful, I hope I do that well. I just cranked up the heat in the garage, off I go

 

Hey, do you have the part numbers or sources for the hoses?

 

I am home now so have no access to the part numbers but I got them from Jaguar, not expensive about $30 for the pair

 

Here is a partial list of parts from Jagbits.com. They were very helpful making sure I had the right parts for my vehicle

NCA3945CD HEATER HOSE FEED 1 $27.75 $27.75
NNE3976CA COOLANT HOSE 1 $45.11 $45.11
NCA3016BB GASKET INTAKE MANIFOLD TO HEAD 8 $6.49 $51.92
NCA3015BA SEAL INDUCTION ELBOW TO INTAKE MANIFOLD 1 $7.76 $7.76
NCA3021BA GASKET FOR THROTTLE BODY 1 $7.25 $7.25
JLM20622 RADIATOR DRAIN PLUG 1 $19.62 $19.62

Now on to the saga! Some (insert expletive) has used some form of stop leak into my cooling system! There is a 1/16 in of white concrete lining the entire cooling system making it impossible to remove the hoses without cutting them off as they are welded to the connections. I'm wondering if I will need to boil out the radiator and heater core or if any type of flush will remove the rock hard gunk. There will be more parts to order once the rest of the cooling system is removed.

 

You have gone a bit OTT on the parts but that is your choice, no need to drain the whole system just the top half, no need to remove the throttle elbow but you could replace the gasket whilst it is off, very easy to get to when the manifold us out....

All I replaced was the TB gasket, the obvious hoses and the thermostat tower, I had go also change the small hose going to the tower as it would not seal under the pressure check

 

yes I'm a little OCD on the parts but I figured since I was going deep I would go all the way. The coolant looked pretty bad so I decided to drain it all and the drain plug broke off trying to remove it. Any tips on removing fuel lines the lower one going to the left side of the intake is stuck and the removal tool will not release it. I tried WD40 but the darn thing won't come off. it's stopped my progress at this point.

 

With the tool pushed into the end, instead of trying to pull the pipe off push it further on then you should find it will release

 

Hi.


When doing mine last summer, I also had trouble with the fuel lines. I had a set of different sizes removal tools and ended up useing one looking too large.
A lot of wiggeling, pressing and pulling made it finally come loose.
My leak was from the thermostat tower deformed by a too tight hose clamp.
Installed aluminum tower, and no problems since.

 

Thanks, I will give it a try, I couldn't even get the tool to go into the receiver, perhaps a day of soaking will allow it to come off. I had forgotten just how much fun it was to fix a car myself. She's really starting to feel like my car.

 

Maybe a good chance to replace knock sensors. Not expensive, and they can fail in older cars. I can't replace the pass side sensor with the manifold on. Tony, how did you clean up that mess so well? Lots of rags and what cleaner?

 

I would question if you are using the proper size tool for that application. Depending on the tool you have the penetration may not be deep enough to turn it free the connection. I removed my intake manifold twice and both times I did not have a problem with the disconnect tool on either fuel line. If you are sure it is the proper size then do as suggested and apply inward pressure on the line as you insert the disconnect tool.

This is the tool I use Sears.com

 

Don't use it. Had a very small leak of coolant that I could not find. Had to get to the airport so I tried putting stop leak in it, what a mistake. Thermostat stuck car overheated and I was stuck. Had to flush the system and change out the thermostat. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's not clogging any small valves in the system.

 

The tool in use

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Inta...disconnect.jpg
http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Inta...onnect%202.jpg

 

Well. pressure test shows nothing so it's time to remove the throttle body and manifold and check there. My gut says it's the valley hoses as others have suggested. probably a small weep that doesn't show.

 

Thanks to this board I have been able to save so much money on my 2005 XKR, I can almost buy a 2006 XKR


My magic resolution was cleaning the cap to the coolant overflow.


I had smelled coolant for about a week but with no coolant on the ground, I racked it up to British engineering where things happen and then go away as fast as they appeared. That was of course until the low coolant light came on. After the car cooled I opened the reservoir to find I was down about 2-4 ounces (aka 1.5 seconds holding the antifreeze bottle over the reservoir; I'm not mechanical as you can tell).
Drove it for a day but smell remained. Let kitty cool down again and decided to Google the issue and here I am.


Spray some WD40 on the metal part on the inside of the cap and I used a couple of ear swabs to clean it off. Also cleaned the inside of the threads on the cap.


Seems to have done the trick. For the past 4 days, no smell.


That said, I did have the wonderful 'driving down the road minding my own business, glancing at the temp gauge and doing the double take' when the ever steady temp needle pointing at exactly 3 pm was trying to point to noon. This was quickly remedied by driving on a balmy 84 degree San Diego afternoon by blasting the heater at top setting. This has only happened three times on the car in the past 5 years. The first I again thanked British engineering as it did not again for another year but the second time, it got my attention and per the sages of knowledge on this forum, it was the thermostat. Just wanted to throw that in as info.
My kitty just turned 140k and still drives like a dream.....except for that damn shim kit and going thru 20" tires a wee bit quickly, I love this car.....especially getting lost when you are looking for a road built after 2006

 

2002 XK8 Convertible; 35K miles. 'Have had Jag about a year.
I have been following the Coolant Smell threads.
The first fix was the the leaky coolant tank and cap. Helped but did not totally fix the problem.
Today I put on the Welsh Enterprises aluminum thermostat housing unit.
EZ to do until you come to those two back bolts at the intake manifold.
I released the intake manifold, pushed it back slightly and got those last two pesky bolts. All went back simply, remember to rotate the tightening of the intake manifold bolts, gently tighter and tighter each time.
I was afraid that the valley hoses under the instake manifold still might be leaking a bit but I ran it hard today and the smell appears to be gone.
I did see evidence of slight seepage at the hose connections at the old plastic thermostat housing after it was removed.
Hope this helps and thanks to all that have been here before me.
Best of Luck; Neil