Coolant problem

[Walshie48]

Hello to everyone, I am a new member.

I bought an XK8 (1997) about 5 weeks ago, 97k on the clock.

Everything has been fine until last night the engine temperature rocketed, and the engine coolant low warning came up. I got towed from Southampton to Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire as the recovery chap was reluctant to work on the car as it was 'highly complex'.

I opened the bonnet this morning to find plenty of coolant in the header tank, but noticed all the coolant pipes were squashed, almost like a vacuum had occured within the system.

Does anybody have any idea's what could have caused this, and how much money I am likely to throw at a dealer to fix it?

Also, if any members in the Oxfordshire area could recommend a dealer to carry out the work.

Cheers

Martyn

[Trooper2]

Sounds like a simple thermostat failure to me. Usually easy enough to fix yourself.
Did any MIL lights come on when this occurred?

[Walshie48]

Thank you for the reply.

First the temperature guage went to maximum, almost instantly, bringing the red warning light on.

I stopped the engine, then restarted it, and the guage had immediately dropped to a normal level. At this point I figured it may be a dodgy sensor and continued for a bit. Again the temp guage went to the top, and this time the 'engine cooland low' message appeared.

Could a broken thermostat cause the squashed hoses?

[Trooper2]

Yes, it's pretty common for a vacuum to develop in the system after an overheating as things cool down. Don't take my 4000 mile diagnosis as gospel but that's what it sounds like to me.

[Walshie48]

Thanks Trooper. I hope you are right and my wallet will not be too badly affected.

I do not know one end of a screwdriver from another, so I will get it taken to a garage.

Cheers

Martyn

[A5 XKC]

Are the fans coming on? if not check the relay. Jag did diagnostic for me didn't find fault first of all but eventually relay, one pipe had compressed. try this

[thesilverfox]

It`s normaly the thermastat got stuck shut, or the impelor fell off the water pump seen this happen a lot. as a rule we change both to cover are self

[groomi]

thesilverfox said:

It`s normaly the thermastat got stuck shut, or the impelor fell off the water pump seen this happen a lot. as a rule we change both to cover are self

I had the impellor break up in my car and although the low coolant warning came on, the temperature did not shoot up suddenly. I'm not saying that yours definately won't be this, but it doesn't match up with my experience.

Good luck getting it fixed, and hopefully it is something simple like the thermostat.