Fresh

I'm on my way back to school to RI, I drove all the way home fine the other day but now I overheated. Pulled over in a parking lot and it looks like coolant is leaking out of the overflow tank (not sure what its called). What should I do? Do you guys think its maybe the radiator cap? It's Sunday so garages are closed but I'm sure I can find an autozone. I still have like 100 miles ahead of me.

Fresh

Bump

sthon

Is it leaking from the over fill bottle or the hose? Check the nipple for the over fill hose, they tend to rot. I fixed mine by drilling it out and putting a brass fitting in.

Fresh

Right out the little spout at the top of the bottle

sthon

Pics?

Fresh

The guy at autozone and a mechanic there thought it might be the thermostat...

djb383

1st thing to check (ENGINE COLD) is coolant level in the rad. Under the circumstances, best anybody can do is guess. Doesn't do you much good at the moment but telling us what cooling system maintenance has/hasn't been done can/will greatly shorten the guess list.

nomeaculpa

If your hoses are all good, pull the thermostat. You can drive awhile without it, though if you're at Autozone just swap it out.

Fresh

So while I was at autozone I changed out the thermostat and it was still overheating. My girlfriend has to be back at school soon so I had to have it towed and her dad picked us up. I opened the radiator to fill it and the coolant in there was a rusty color. I just got this car and have not touched the cooling system, but it did 300 miles the other day without a hiccup then this happened out of nowhere :/. I'm guessing it will need a radiator flush and maybe a water pump, ill let you guys know when I find out

Fresh

I don't think /hope I didn't damage anything internally. I stopped less than 5 miles after the check gauge light went on, cooled it off and drove another 2 miles to autozone

djb383

It's really a bummer to have car troubles, especially on the road. Rusty color coolant usually indicates severe owner neglect and most likely other areas of maintenance have been neglected as well. Fortunately, the XJ is easy to maintain/work on. Plan on a little TLC before the next road trip......you're at the right place for help.

Fresh

I just got a call from the shop, they are going to start by changing the water pump and flushing the radiator a few times. There was a restriction of circulation, which could be a clog in the radiator or the water pump. So they are going to do that and then if it still has problems they will throw a new radiator on there.

I just got this car and really wanted to do all the work myself but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Also in the overflow tank it was muddy rainbow brown with a lot of crud at the bottom once i emptied. I hope that doesn't mean I cracked a head?