All, My 2002 XK-8 with 103k miles got real hot the other day. Fortunately I had "real gauge" installed and I had warning and could get off the road quickly. I had the car towed back home (Thank God for AAA), and started troubleshooting. I had changed the water pump, thermostat, thermostat riser with an aluminum one, major hoses and belt about two years ago, so I has having a hard time believing something had gone bad already!

First I changed out the thermostat. No joy! So I bought a new water pump and radiator. I figured if it isn't these, then I've got a blown head gasket. I got the water pump and radiator in on Saturday, so today (Sunday) I've been changing them out. First I pulled the water pump and every single vane was gone!!!!! I could not believe it. Of course I did some reading on this forum and read that the plastic water pumps loose their vanes, but I had no idea it would happen in less then 30k miles! But there you have it! Fortunately, I bought the water pump with the metal vanes, so hope to not have that problem again.

I also changed out the radiator. I figured it has 103K on it and reading about all the failures in the plastic water tanks, it just seemed prudent to me!

So, my question is (sorry it took so long to get there!), what happens to all those pieces of vanes broken off the pump. Do they go into the engine/radiator. Should I worry about a clogged water channel someplace creating hotspots? I have not put fluid back in it yet or started the engine, so if I should do something to flush it, I'd love to know.

Also, what is the best anti-freeze to use? I have the original orange type in the car. I'd like to get something I can get from a Shucks or Napa, but if the best is from Jaguar, I'm okay with that too.

Thanks everyone for posting your experiences!

Cheers

 

I would recommend back flushing your cooling system - hopefully those plastic vanes will come out of the water pump housing on the block.

As far as coolant - use OAT - orange coolant.

 

+1 on backflush

That's an unusual occurrence on a 2002. The problem plastic impellers were on the early MY's although some of the aftermarket replacement with metal impellers also gave trouble.

There's nothing magical about Jaguar coolant. Provided you look for the right specification (WSS M97B44-D) then any brand OAT (Organic Acid Technology) coolant is OK.

Graham