I took out the (10 years old) son of a neighbor of mine for a ride. He loves British cars and has been doing the drool over mine. So of course I had to indulge the little guy and pick him up school and get an ice cream. Well between school and ice cream we do the hustle around some exit ramps...lots of fun until I get to the light and the low engine cool light comes on and there is steam pouring from underneath the car. Damn.

Since we were not far from the mechanic and it was not overheating (yet) we heading over to see what the trouble was.

Pull in...popped the hood...and immediately I notice the hose leading to the radiator from the thermostat has popped off and dumped much of its load in the engine compartment (kid thought the steam was smoke from the tires...cute). Seems the spring loaded hose clamp did not pass the RPM stress test.

An hour later (the little guy had a some time in the shop talking "guy-talk") and some quick work by my mechanic with real hose clamps (not those springy things) and off we went to finally get our ice cream.

Phew...thank goodness it was an easy fix and we were on our way. Did not want to give the little guy the wrong impression of the Marque.

 

Are you a Dad? If not, I think it is great that you are being a good role model for the little guy. Even if you are a Dad, it is great that you are a good neighbor.

He will remember that ride for the rest of his life. And, the way that you handled the situation shows him how a real man deals with problems, without getting angry or upset.

 

Good catch. Engine must've been super hot if you were pushing overheating that soon.

Lucky little guy got a true Jaguar experience: a little fun, a scare, quality shop time and then a treat!

Can't beat that!

 

As was said before, you created a memory that will last forever and left a positive impression about "motoring" in general.

 

Good to hear it was a happy end . I appreciate your taking time and indulge the little guy , his friends will envy him lol

 

My thoughts exactly, fun, drama, an easy fix then ice cream. Perfect.

 

Wow...did not expect the "Dad" reaction from the group. Thanks for the compliments. Yes I have three great kids. 21, 20 and 17. And as I still like kids (hard to believe after going through 2.5 teenage experiences!), so the afternoon was fun for me too.

I remember drooling over TR-6s and XKEs at his age and would have died for a ride.

Post script...the thing that really spun his head for the day was the 4" die-cast XK8 that I gave him. It sat on my desk as motivation for me...now that I have mine I figured he could use it now.

 

My college roommate somehow came up with a faculty parking sticker at our big city university. The rest of us were walking 1 mile each way to school, while he was riding to class in a brand new '68 Jaguar XKE convertible.

I never forgot the smell of that car when he offered me a ride to class one rainy day. The memories of that XKE is what opened my eyes to Jaguars. I also remember how tight it was with a co-ed in my lap in the right seat. They were not built for 3 people.

 

If your therm housing is plastic you should check to see that the lip that the hose goes over is not deteriorated. This is often the cause of the hose popping off. Even screw type clamps pop off if the lip is gone.
And good on ya for indulging the kid.