My wife and I just returned from a 400 mile trip, our first in the XK8. I had tried to chase down all the issues I could in anticipation of this little get away. The first 60 miles went OK. Then the "asc not available",followed by trac not available" message. (are they related?) I have learned not to panic,these are old news. When I got toward the coast fog I turned on the headlights and got a new one, "check rear lights". I pulled over and took a look, all seemed to be right. So, another one to ignore for the moment.
Today we started back home. We got about 10 miles out on hyway 20 and a new message appears. "Engine coolant is low". Now that one got my full attention. Did this mean "check the coolant next time it is convenient", or "head for the shoulder,your engine is melting"? I can't tell by the warning lights,because of my "top not latched" message it is always lit. The temperature gauge never wavered from normal. But thanks to this forum I knew not to believe what it said. (isn't that rediculous?) Fortunately I had my laptop in the trunk and my Autoequity scanner in the glove compartment. So I hooked up the scanner to monitor the actual temperature,hoping to limp to the next town about 20 miles away.
It turns out the temp was running around 215 to 221. Probably about normal for this engine. I made it to the town, let it cool down and added about a half gallon of water. After that all was well. So, I guess I need to find out where the coolant went over a 2 month period. And I now know that the "low coolant "message is not a death sentence necessarily, but needs to be checked into before it becomes serious.
Thankful to be home.

 

Hope it was a good trip despite all the warning lights. However, 215 to 221 is running warm. Last summer in 100F+ weather mine rarely went to 215. I think the fans kick on at around that temp. Normally in warm to hot weather it stays around the 198 to 202 range (RealGauge upgrade. Best money spent so far.)

+1 on the checking into the reason for coolant loss, especially a half gallon!

 

Coolant low message will come on even if it's just a tad low... It wants to be completely full and if it's not, that message will pop up.

 

In my XKR the coolant low warning will come on if the level drops 1/2" below the neck, meaning I can only fill less than a cup of antifreeze. But I do remember the panic I felt the first time that warning light came on with the red light, I almost stopped in my tracks on the freeway. Often it will also go on if I am traveling on a prolonged downhill drive or if I am parked on a downhill grade. As for the ASC/Traction control, you'll find that is probably the most common warning for all of us. It is either dirty sensors at each wheel or bad soldering points in the control module. It will not prevent you from driving the car safely, and the fix is not difficult or expensive. But, do find out where you "lost" half a gallon of coolant, summer is around the corner, and you don't want a leak during the hot months.

 

The XK8 is a low volume - high flow rate cooling system.

Total coolant capacity is on the 4.0 litre engine is 9.5 litres for N/A and 11.5 litres for S/C so that was a major loss of around 25%.

Graham

 

Lanny, you sure are getting the full tour of the car's systems!

The ASC and Trac lights are related. As I recall, you've been through the sensors. Another common cause is the solder-joint issue in the ABS module. I bet you know what I mean. I have had both the sensor and solder issues on my car, and the symptoms were pretty much identical.

Much said here already on the coolant. One caution: a worst case scenario is that you are loosing coolant rapidly, and then if it gets too low it can fail to contact some sensor somewhere, and then you lose temperature indication, and then you can fry the motor. So, IMO, when the low-coolant light comes on it's not time to panic, but to get after it as quickly as you can.

Hang in there ...

 

After reading many of the XK8/XKR coolant loss horror stories here on the forum, the first thing I check when I open the hood each weekend is the coolant level. I unscrew the reservoir cap and look to see that the coolant level is no less than a half-inch below the bottom of the cap opening. In a bit more than 13 months and 24,000 miles of XK8 ownership, I've had to add just a small amount of coolant one time. That was last July or August when daytime highs here were pushing 100 degrees or more. I've never found any evidence of a coolant leak and we've never seen a "Low Coolant" warning on the dash....

 

Oh boy, do you know how to tempt fate!

 

Tell me about it. I was knocking on wood, rubbing my rabbit's foot, and thinking about looking for a four-leaf clover when I typed that statement....

 

It's hard to locate a slow leak on a hot engine the fluid will vaporize on anything hot.
Pressurize the cooling system on a cold engine and look around the heater lines in the rear of the engine.
Good luck

 

Hey Lanny,
A couple of posts ago, "Christ" told you that you were "tempting fate." When "Christ" speaks directly to you, it probably is a good idea to heed him!

 

OK OK---everybody calm down about our "unique" automobiles. My wife's car is a '05 Honda Pilot and supposed to be one of the most trustworthy cars on the planet---right? Well guess what we just got a second recall notice in the last 6 mo. which involves the possibility of the braking system actuating without pushing the brake pedal! Now to be honest this car has been without fail one of the best cars we've ever owned in as far as reliability. I do all the maintenance including the timing belt which has to be changed every 7 yrs. or 100,000 miles---it's an interference engine, so to put this off can cost someone their engine. By the way the dealer wanted over $800 to do this---kinda makes our Jags seem OK. Oh yeh, the latest buz at the Pilot forum is changing the radiator because there's been concern about the coolant mixing with the ATF since the cooling for the tranny is through the radiator. Seems that there is high incident of this happening with the Pilot and it's sister MDX because of a seal at the entry point of the ATF coolant lines. That's my preventive action this summer--just in case. By the way when that seal fails it will cost you a complete rebuild of the tranny along with a new radiator. So let's all take a deep breath and give our cars a big hug----they're pretty reliable cars given the fact they are high performance and built in limited quantities as compared to other car companies. Guess what? I get real when I drive the XKR as opposed to the Pilot---and my wife always reminds me that I drive the XKR completely different than the Pilot---all I say is DUH! but always with a smile when I hear the supercharger whine like a banshee.

 

tberg,

What if it's Budda or Ra or Oz ?

 

I'm not superstitious, but there are a couple of topics I won't discuss just cause I don't want to jinx myself...

This is one of them:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...e-plate-66727/

 

I'm sorry folks. But the sensor in the expansion tank only raises less than an inch off the bottom of the tank. The tank has to be almost empty before the sensor will activate and turn the light on. If you don't believe this empty the tank with a turkey baster and reach in with a thn screw driver and raise the float manually. It only raises less than an inch and the tanl holds a lot more fluid than that.

 

Can you smell the stench of coolant when driving?

I had the stench but could not find the leak until I replaced the cats on my car. My leak was at the norma connection just above the passenger side cat.

You might want to look there. It is easy to see if you know what you are looking for. I had posted pics in the forum, I'll try to find the link.

But the place to look is again on the passenger side of the vehicle. You can follow the hose from the coolant tower, under the intake plenium and along side of the throttle body. Mine was leaking right next to the throttle body just above the cat converter.

I could smell it but could never find it. the coolant vaporized as soon as it hit the cat. Its is when I pulled off the cat that I saw the residue on the cat.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...nection+repair

 

Well, now that I am home and have had a little time to think about our trip I hope I am a little more abjective. I guess blaming the car for the messages is like "shooting the messenger". Taking them one at a time: the "asc not available" message is an old one. The scanner says "left rear sensor circuit failure". This probably means my repair job did not hold up. Remember I said that there was only a tiny bit of wire sticking out of the connector for me to solder to, not a great situation for a good repair. So, I will check it out and replace that connector lead.
As for the "check rear lights" message, at this time I can see no faults to account for it. I will look a little closer and have my son try all the possible functions. Maybe I missed something.
Now as for the "low coolant" message, this will be my main concern. There is no evidence of a leak, no coolant smell, no drips on the floor. I didn't mention that my AC does not work,(another thing I found out on the trip) so knowing that this will put an additional load on the system I will focus my efforts on this. I was of the opinion that 215 to 225 was not too far off normal. My Cadillac with a Northstar runs right in this range. But if, as jag#4 says, this is too warm,then I am not sure where to start. The thermostat has been replaced, and an aluminum housing installed. Not by me however, someone before my ownership. The fans seem to run when needed,so I doubt that is the problem.
So, at least the car got me home without needing the hook. If the car was not so "chatty" I would probably not have even known there were any problems. So, I have put the car in "time out" for the moment. Then I will try some more to make it happy.

 

ABS/Trac in combination with Brake light messages can be caused by a failing brake light switch. The 2 micro switches there get a lot of use.

My low coolant message turned out to be a saturated float in the reservoir. It would sink as the fluid got hot and send a false message.