Losing Coolant
#1
Losing Coolant
Hello All,
2001 XK8, 100,000 miles
I have been loosing coolant for a while now. All new hoses, thermostat housing, water pump, etc 2 years ago.
No stain on the garage floor, no obvious leaks but definitely smell antifreeze. Probably leaking on exhaust somewhere while running. No milky dipstick or oil filler cap, clean inside valve cover. Car runs great.
I am buying a new coolant reservoir cap, cheap enough, thinking it’s bypassing to the line to the recovery bottle.
Anybody know where this bottle is so I can check? Any other ideas I can look into?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jack
2001 XK8, 100,000 miles
I have been loosing coolant for a while now. All new hoses, thermostat housing, water pump, etc 2 years ago.
No stain on the garage floor, no obvious leaks but definitely smell antifreeze. Probably leaking on exhaust somewhere while running. No milky dipstick or oil filler cap, clean inside valve cover. Car runs great.
I am buying a new coolant reservoir cap, cheap enough, thinking it’s bypassing to the line to the recovery bottle.
Anybody know where this bottle is so I can check? Any other ideas I can look into?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jack
#2
There are other leak candidates: octopus hose ends, right on top of the cats, or the dreaded valley hoses, or even the overflow tank itself. From memory, the Harbor Freight coolant test kit comes with an adapter suitable for our cars. Not super cheap, but a pretty sure fire way of finding external leaks.
Best of luck, keep us posted.
The following users liked this post:
DavidYau (06-08-2020)
#4
For me it was the Octopus Hose
+1 to Fmertz's suspected suspects
Jetjack,
When you say you replaced the hoses, are these only the hoses at the front of the engine?
For my 99 MY XK8, I did have an undetectable coolant leak for a while, and found it while under the car. It was the infamous Octopus Hose connections leaking. Fix is DIY - able and viewing from top is very difficult as it's buried by the bulkhead. It was made easier for me as I had the car up on a friendly mechanic's car lift.
Fit up as shown below. The Octopus is Part 1 in the Figure and the big arrows point to feed and return through the "Valley" of the DOHC engine.
Good luck on your search and let us know what you find.
Jetjack,
When you say you replaced the hoses, are these only the hoses at the front of the engine?
For my 99 MY XK8, I did have an undetectable coolant leak for a while, and found it while under the car. It was the infamous Octopus Hose connections leaking. Fix is DIY - able and viewing from top is very difficult as it's buried by the bulkhead. It was made easier for me as I had the car up on a friendly mechanic's car lift.
Fit up as shown below. The Octopus is Part 1 in the Figure and the big arrows point to feed and return through the "Valley" of the DOHC engine.
Good luck on your search and let us know what you find.
#5
#6
#7
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)