[xj-s] Anatomy of a disaster or Overheating, here it comes.

[jasewood@juno.com (jim wood)]

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
IMHPOV - I feel that of all the things we've been hearing about
"disasters" to Jaguars lately  :-)  - that THIS piece of writing ranks as
Very Close - if NOT - to the Most Important Information Giving that has
been posted in awhile - "PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OBSERVATIONS" - for
people to be aware of - THEMSELVES ... their OWN Observations of a
"Daily-driven" car ...!!!  

Can't get Any better than that.

Jim - you've hit a LOT of the Solving of Important problems right On the
Mark ...

Thanks,

Jim Wood - San Antonio, Texas
1989 XJ-S Red HE V-12 Coupe
First Place "Driven" / S. A. Jaguar Club's Annual
"Alamo City Concours d' Elegance" 1997
Fax: 210-826-1553  -  jasewood@juno.com
****
From: Jim Isbell <jisbelljr@mail.utexas.edu>
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Date: Thu, 02 Jul 1998 09:47:22 -0500

In the recent thread about overheating I have stated that if you properly
maintain your V-12 XJS it will not overheat.  Yesterday my XJS almost
overheated.  BUT....I caught it in time and repaired the problem.

Like I said earlier, down here in Texas we are very vigilant about the
cooling system because its so critical.  Well....about a week ago I
reported that I had lost about three quarts of fluid and it had caused a
slight elevation, above normal, of the temperature.  I noted this
information and told myself to watch for a repeat.  

This was warning #1 of an impending problem.

Always be suspicious of a fluid loss no mater how small.

Yesterday I got warning #2.  The alternator seemed to take several
seconds to come up to snuff and shut off the red light on the dash.  This
is not normal for my car.  (See below for what this indicated, I would be
giving away the story if I told you now.)

Always be suspicious of ANYTHING that is not normal.

I swaped cars with the wife at mid day and reported to her that I had
noticed the temp guage riding up into the N and that this was not normal.
Then I left hter to her own devices to get home.  Later I arive home
about
5 minutes after her and she reported to me that the needle had stayed in
the ceter of the N.  This is definately not normal.  AND.....she reported
hearing a hissing noise as she passed around the bonnet on exiting. (If
you have read my book The XJ6 Jaguar from Bumper to Bumper you will know
I recommend that you always walk around the front of your car, instead of
the back, when getting out so that you can hear, smell or feel anthing
new.)

This was the third warning!!!

I opened the hood and looked in.  It had been 5 minutes since she had
parked it in 98 degree ambient temps so it was still too warm to work on,
but it was not particularly hot and did not smell overheated nor did I
smell the rubbery smell of a leaking hose.  I did not see any water
anywhere...but...I noticed some hardwater spots on the front left
fenderwell that I didnt think I had seen before.  So I decided to start
the
engine.  The temp was in the middle of the N, but that would be normal
for only 5 minutes after shut down.  I then looked under the hood and
again saw nothing to be alarmed about.  I was at that point thinking that
perhaps it was only a little low on water, which concerned me, but
thought I would just add some and see if that worked.  I turned off the
engine and
immediately there was a hissing noise from the left front side of the
engine.  A very casual examination found that the 5/16" line from the
leftside of the engine to the small copper tube on the top of the
radiatior was split and blowing steam.

$1.35 worth of hose and 10 minutes later it was repaired and 1.5 gallons
of water was added to the system.

A less vigilant owner would have had a meltdown in a few days and then
would have blamed Jaguar for a car prone to overheating.  

It wasnt Jaguars fault, it was an American made piece of hose that
failed.

While I am up on the soapbox, I have a question:

I replaced the hose with a piece of 5/16" fuel line.  Is there any reason
not to use fuel line to carry water?  The man at the parts store said he
would have to special order water hose of that size so I took fuel line
instead.

In case you are wondering about the #2 warning ..... Ethylene Glycol
makes the fan belt very slippery.
                                    Cheers,  Jim


"Better an outlaw than not free."  Nance Oneil

Low Tech Web page          http://www.angelfire.com/tx/MillenniumFalcon
 (need only web access, no pictures to download)
Medium Tech Web page       http://members.spree.com/Millennium
 (Need at least VGA and 28K modem or else its very slow)
High Tech Web Page         http://members.tripod.com/~Jim_Isbell
 (Should have fast modem, fast computer,SVGA, sound capability...etc.)

--------- End forwarded message ----------

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