help / advice would be appreciated please

[4dr saloon]

i hit a badger a week or so ago in my 1998 XJR and the damage to the underside car so far is a new rad, collant pipes and a number of other ancilliaries.

the problem that has now arisen was when driving to the garage and stuck in traffic the temp gauge flew up the the red. turned the engine off and fell back to normal pretty quickly. i had driven up to the garage (about 30 miles) and only in idle did the temp gauge go up to the red, whilst driving it was normal.

when i arrived the service engineer open the coolant (i think) which blasted out volcanic style and there is now a mention that the head gkste could be damaged and may need replacing.

i am not technical minded but does this sound like a gasket replacement or just the failure of the rad and the pipes to allow the coolant through the engine?

any comments would be most welcome. off to the raid the kids piggy banks in the meantime for na worst case scenario!!

thanks

[NormanD]

The V8 XJ, XK, XJR and XKR engines have very little coolant capacity so any coolent leak will very soon overheat the engine. So could be correct

[trickywoo]

4dr saloon said:

when i arrived the service engineer open the coolant (i think) which blasted out volcanic style and there is now a mention that the head gkste could be damaged and may need replacing.

That is very bad practice. Even a healthy system would blast coolant. The only reason for doing that is for show / teeth sucking / its going to cost you posturing.

Its highly likely that they forgot to reconnect the fan switch when they fitted the new rad.

If the gasket has gone the only way of being sure is a test for exhaust gasses in the coolant. Every garage should have the equipment and its a 5 minute job.

I'd be getting a second opinion on whatever they tell you especially if it results in a big bill.

Edited by trickywoo on Friday 27th July 11:32

[4dr saloon]

trickywoo said:

4dr saloon said:

when i arrived the service engineer open the coolant (i think) which blasted out volcanic style and there is now a mention that the head gkste could be damaged and may need replacing.

That is very bad practice. Even a healthy system would blast coolant. The only reason for doing that is for show / teeth sucking / its going to cost you posturing.

Its highly likely that they forgot to reconnect the fan switch when they fitted the new rad.

If the gasket has gone the only way of being sure is a test for exhaust gasses in the coolant. Every garage should have the equipment and its a 5 minute job.

I'd be getting a second opinion on whatever they tell you especially if it results in a big bill.

Edited by trickywoo on Friday 27th July 11:32

sorry i should have clarified, the new rad + pipes haven't been put on yet. he pulled the cap off the coolant when i took the car in.

the engineers report isn't due until today but i suspect that once the new rad etc have been put on i'll know more.

cheers for the heads up though, i can ask how they are going to test whether the gasket is gone or not and see what they come up with.

[DTYPE]

Hi,

Their is a good chance that your overheating problem has nothing to do with the damage caused by the badger, all V8 XJR's/XKR's can suffer thermostat failure at any time, also the early water pumps are very prone to failing (impeller falls to pieces - result no coolant flow) both of these will cause sudden overheating in traffic.

If of course your rad is damaged to the point of not holding water/leaking then that too could be the cause of overheating.

As far as head gasket failure goes, they should carry out a test which most in the trade refer to as a 'block' test, this consists of using a special fluid in a vial above the coolant header tank (cap off and has a rubber seal to top of header tank) the fluid in the vial will change colour if carbon monoxide from the combustion process is present in the vehicles coolant. Will prove head gasket failure in most cases.

Incidently I would be very surprised if one or both of the head gaskets have failed, depending on millage/condition of your car, I'm assuming it's not a space shuttle or poorly maintained.

Hope thats of some use.

[Paramount]

I’m with DTYPE

The thermostats are a bit of a know concern with the XK’s as its the water pump. In addition the fan packs have a habit of failing (easy to test though turn on the AC and the fan should run) In addition the cooling systems are notorious for being difficult to fill and developing air locks.

Bottom line, the cooling systems are a bit quirky but hopefully this will not be too serious, the engines are very strong and its unlikely to the a gastek which has failed – feel free to call us on Monday if you would like to talk this through.

www.paramount-performance.com

01753 533 633

Best wishes – Paul