Hi All, Worked this weekend. Did take the KX8 to work as well as a barbie after. Reflected on the wars of past and thoes who served.
Question. This weekend had the warmest days since the arrival of my XK8. While temp gauge is normal. Maintains center line. Cooling fans operate fine, the under hood temps seem very high. I see its tight. I also think these temps are not a good thing. Love to place a few louvers in the hood, cannot right now. Any thoughts of an easy remedy?

Rich Phew, hot, hot!
XK8

 

Hood louvers allow water ingress as well as heat egress. These throttle bodies hate water and will trigger limp mode with just a hint of moisture in the system. I would communicate with multiple XKR owners about their hood louver experiences before deciding to bite the bullet and cut holes in my hood....

 

reb, your temp. gauge is a glorified idiot light. It will not go above center until the engine reaches about 230 F, and if you have a blown hose, it might be too late to save the engine.
Two ways to correct this situation are with Realgauge, sold by Steve at thejagwrangler.com, which modifies he input to the gauge, or with a code reader connected to the OBD II plug.
I have the Realgauge in my XK8, with the added mod to read actual oil pressure ( another idiot light ), and an Ultragauge in my XJ6 mounted on a bracket. The Ultragauge also goes with the XK8 on trips so that I can monitor fuel trims and other engine functions.

 

Better real-time gauges are obviously a plus but I wouldn't be overly concerned. Engines these days run a lot hotter than when I was a kid due to emissions purposes and the more cylinders in the limited space the hotter it will be under the hood. What amazes me even more is how long it takes the engine to cool down after shutting off, especially when the hood is closed.

When I had my 95 Corvette, "normal" temps were in the 225-degree range. I got the engine to run in the 180s by installing a lower temp thermostat and programming the radiator fans to come on sooner.


Doug

 

Warm engines and warm engine bays are a good thing, contrary to popular thinking.

Trying to out-engineer or second guess the factory engineers rarely has any positive outcome.

 

My XK8 stays pretty warm under the hood, especially when temps hit 100+ during the day. But that is only in June. July and August.

No problems so far, stays steady in the 198-204 degree range when running. In stop and go traffic it may hit 215 when the fans come on and cool it back down.

I have the RealGauge mod too and it is worth every bit of the cost. I would recommend that over the hood louvers. Less expensive, no danger of moisture in the engine bay and lots of peace of mind.

 

+1 on the Real Gauge, a great addition.

 

Rich,

I'm definitely having you to organise my next barbie.

Graham

 

Hi Graham, although I have thought about placing a couple of louvers ( no more than 2. At a time that is, ) on my hood,however it has been years since I have placed any lovers on the hood of my car. Might do so on a Chevy, never a Jag...

Happy to organize a BBQ for you anytime. I'll bring the Jack Daniels. Rich