I had a problem with the top hose collapsing when cold so replaced it as it was very thin and weak, now I found the thermostat housing leaking when I rev the engine up when at operating temp , I get no overheating of engine, could it be in need of a thermostat and upgrade to metal housing?
regards
scott

 

Hi Scott,
I would (and am) replacing the tower with the aluminium substitute.
This is one of the 'while you're in there' jobs:- consider replacing the water pump, other hoses, crossover pipe and thermostat at the same time. The two rear bolts on the tower are tricky to get to - do a search as there's lots of information on here.

Do you still need the cam cover gasket? - pm me if so.

Mike

 

Hi Michealh
Its a bit strange, I did take it upto 125mph the other day before I knew of the leak and after I had changed the top hose, i checked it after a local trip and noticed a small splatter of water near housing so i started it up and just lightly reved engine from the throttle body and noticed the leak from the housing..will pm you.

 

If the hoses are collapsing, I would replace the coolant reservoir cap. It should draw coolant back into the reservoir from the Atmospheric Catchment tank when the engine temp drops toward ambient.

bob

 

Surely kph

130 is the best I've done and it didn't even break into a sweat.

Mike

 

after I fitted the top hose I had bottom hose collapse but that appears to have stopped now and ok ,just the leak to sort.amazing how much pressure is in the system

 

The pressure shouldn't be extreme unless you're overheating. Are you able to monitor the actual temp. or just looking at the useless dash gauge?

 

By all means completely rebuild the 25 year old upper cooling system parts as recommended including the aluminum thermostat housing.

Lots of recommendations on how to remove the old plastic housing but, by far, the simplest is to stuff a rag down the housing and break the plastic off in chunks with pliers until the rear bolts are exposed.

Paint the bright aluminum housing black to match the engine or in two years it will look like the old corroded aluminum water pump except it will be fully exposed on top of the engine.

 

Hi all
The temp guage just sits half way ,is it possible to get a temp reading from OBD reader?
think I will get on and change tower,thermostat and see what happens seems a shame to drive it to the scrap yard.

 

Yes, a temperature reading is available through the OBD port or a more permanent solution would be to install Steve's RealGauge.

XK8 / XKR / XJ RealGauge - TheJagWrangler

 

Parts on order, Ali housing, Thermostat, Bypass hose & water pump.
Fingers crossed !! Any info on steve's real gauge would be good.

 

Please replace the crossover pipe, as the plastic is likely brittle. I have had the Realgauge for several years, both temperature and oil pressure. There are many options that allow monitoring of the temp., but this is the only way to include oil pressure without adding a external gauge.

 

Hi Lads, just got back from the mechanic. Same situation, thermostat housing is leaking, some hoses need to be replace as well as the water pump. Just the thermostat housing is about 1200, and the water pump another 350. Do you know the part numbers and where can I get them at a good price? Thanks!

 

That's seems high to me for the amount of work involved. Look around, there's no shortage of online sellers. I forget where I got my replacements. But as jobs go, it was pretty easy. Of course, depending on the hoses you need, that could be a good part of the bill.

 

If you don;t mind an extra gauge mounted on top of dash the Autool X60 plugs into the OBD port and give you many readings including Temp. and codes. Google it. Also works on any OBD 2 vehicle. Got mine for around $30 on E bay.

 

If they are going to replace the octopus hose and the heater hoses running under the manifold with OEM that would probably be a little high, but throw in the rest of the hoses, a reasonable price. But a good water pump is not much above $50 and would take less than a hour, so I think they are overcharging.

 

The speed limiter on my XK8 was removed (bypassed?) by the previous owner. My fastest speed was on the way to work one morning where there's a two mile, two lane, one way bridge. No one was on one the bridge (3:30 am) so I figured "Lets find out" and floored it. Kitty roared up to just under 170 (168?) and then I ran out of bridge.

At 90 kitty started to smooth out, at 130 kitty ran like she was on glass and at 168 Kitty showed no sign of being topped out.

 

 

Do you have the part number of the XKR 2006? I see that's easier to find the one from the xk8.

 

I have replaced the water pump, thermostat, and thermostat housing with the aluminum one and here's what I can share:

The water pump was under 50 dollars.

I installed the aluminum thermostat housing, did not paint it, and years later it looks fine and works great. No more problems in this area.

None of this is difficult.