www.jec.org.uk

I have just got my XK8 and to learn a bit about it, bought the 'you&your jaguar XK8' Haynes book. In the book it says you can check if the water pump is working correctly by removing the coolant expansion tank filler cap (when the engine is cold) then run the engine at approx. 1200rpm. Coolant should be circulating briskly, causing a swirl of fluid from the bleed pipes back into the expansion tank. If the water pump isn't working there will be little circulation and therefore hardly any swirl. On checking this I found no circulation at all. I emailed haynes, who offer a 24hr reply service, on 11th Oct, I've had no reply. I have only just joined JEC and on Saturday emailed the technical advice department and Nigel Thorley who wrote the book (no reply as yet). The reason I want what the book says confirmed is: My car is 2002, 45k mls. I got it from a Jag dealer (Stratstone Luton) It has FSH at Stratstone. It was supposedly checked over before being sold to me and I have 1 yr warranty. Plus jag assistance. My thinking is should the coolant circulate before the thermostat is open.

hi i just got my thermostat and water pump replaced under warranty ,yhey are notourios for now working properly get it checked out my car has only 53000 with full history cheers george

George. Thanks for taking the time to reply, I did call the dealer service centre today and when I mentioned Haynes book to them they laughed. This is the second person to laugh at me with respect to the Haynes book. The service centre asked me if the fans come on, which they don't, or if the gauge reads hotter than it should, which it doesn't, there are no messages on the dash readout either. The service centre told me they are not aware that the water should circulate briskly when running engine cold and looking into expansion tank. I know you will feel like I'm ignoring your advice, but the car is under warranty and I will keep an eye on things. As advised by the dealership. Next time you check your coolant level perhaps you can check the circulation in your expansion tank and let me know if it circulates briskly. No one seems to be able to confirm this is what should happen.

hi wiil do i had a warning message come up on my dashboard re coolant level so i took the car to the garage and within an hour they phoned me to say that there was traces of metal in my coolant which indicated that the water pump was gone so try checkin that cheers

I think it's the word' "briskly" which is causing you problems. You should be able to see 'movement' in the expansion tank when you raise the revs. As the dealer says, it's a question of looking out for the various symptoms (overheating etc) and then using the expansion tank check to confirm matters. Mike.

Thanks Mike feel a bit more confident about driving her now.