Hey guys/gals..

So I've been slowly changing out all the fluids in my recently purchased 2005 XKR and I'm gearing up for the coolant flush before winter hits. My car only just hit 26K miles on it so I'm betting nobody has done a coolant change on the car yet :S and has been parked for a good chunk of it's life. The coolant looks good from what I can tell in the reservoir and is orange.. betting it's original :/

Looked at the DIY PDF file (very helpful..) and there's a few differences between my car and the guy who wrote that guide, for example I have a lower engine shield that goes pretty far back and I can't even see the drain plug since there's a hose right in the way... not sure if I need to remove that lower engine cover. I've also got a new thermostat/gasket/intercooler plug gasket..and a t30 nut tool for the Thermostat housing (that looks like a challenge..)

One thing is he does the chemical flush...and that's my question.




(this is the stuff I bought..)

I searched and ran across a few XKR people posting that when they drain the radiator they only get like 5~6 quarts (50%) out of the car when the car holds 12 quarts :S. My original plan was to fill and drain the car a few times with distilled water and the chemical flush with a 10 minute run that I got and just keep doing that until I get as clear as I can.. and then just fill it up with a non-premixed Jaguar coolant. I'm hoping that will be close to 50/50 mix.. hope that's right..

My question is.. is there a risk to having chemical flush that I don't get out stuck in the coolant? I'm worried I won't be able to completely flush it out of the system since it only drains 50% and for the next couple of years I might be driving around with some remnants of it... is there a risk of that? Should I just skip that? :/ Have any of you had any long term issues using the stuff? Does Jaguar recommend this and it's safe on their systems?

I know I'm probably over thinking this but I don't want to add any problems on top of what I have already and have chemical flush eating everything inside.. lol. Thanks guys.




This is the stuff I bought..

 

And for laughs here's what came out of my brake fluid... specks of stuff floating in it..just some random stuff I've been doing..





and my power steering fluid..




And my brake pads are low UGH..




Polishing the exhaust..



Painting the lower lip scratches.. :S



New filter..






and your reward for reading my long rambling post.

 

Mine is a 2000 and it has always taken me a lot of flushing to get everything out. The other factor is that the intercooler and the rest of the supercharger cooling is basically a separate system but is actually connected by 1 small hose (at least on a 2000). Some fluid can mix, but they are usually pretty self contained as far as I can tell.

I have used a chemical flush a couple of times. I had looked into them and felt safe doing it, but I am not saying I know it is safe for sure. I followed the directions and then started flushing. To flush I would drain the radiator and the intercooler from their drain plugs, then refill with distilled water from the top of the supercharger and the expansion tank. Then I would go on a drive hopefully with a short highway stretch to get it mixed up as much as possible and then repeat next time I was at home. I flushed it a ton of times (4 or 5) with distilled water, you can see the chemical flush kind of foam up when you drain it.

If I remember right I was getting a little over 50% of the system drained every time. On the last one i refilled with pure coolant (not 50/50) until I had 50% of the capacity pure coolant, then topped it off with distilled water.

 

Thanks for the response xkrmaxer ok I feel a little better.. that's my plan too - basically fill drain fill drain fill drain over and over and over and finally fill up with pure coolant and call it good. I don't think it's been done before so that's why I'm trying to do this thoroughly.

Thanks.

 

It is easy, just get a good system down for getting that radiator drain plug in and out easily. You will see what I mean when you start doing it. The accessibility and angle can be a little rough and the drain plug is easy to strip.

It is worth the time to find an easy way to get it out, preferably without jacking it every time. With the right tool it can be very easy and take about 10sec to get out. If you don't have a good way to get it, it just gets frustrating and takes a couple minutes each time. If you can't find a good way to get it, jacking it and using a quarter (the coin) will get it out, it is just kind of a bitch to do so many times.

 

That would be a disaster if I stripped that drain plug.. wonder if I should get one as a backup before I start...? :/ there's only one dealer here in Utah in the entire state so .. makes parts hard to get.

But yeah hopefully I can do it without raising the car up and down - that's probably going to be the hardest part is the access so that. I was looking from above and below last time I had the car up on jacks and I swear I couldn't see it from my viewpoint.. we'll see how it goes. I'll take another look at it. Thanks

 

I would probably jack it up from the front passenger jack point the first time to figure out a good way to get the plug, but you might be able to figure it out without that. If you have it safely jacked and supported from that position you can slide underneath from the front and look at the back of the radiator. The plug is located around the bottom right corner on the back of the radiator. It looks like this:

Jaguar RADIATOR DRAIN PLUG - JLM20622

A quarter fits perfect but i cant really get my wrist at the right angle when the car is on the ground. A Phillips with a VERY larger head will do it, but it wants to strip, same deal with a big enough flathead (if you can get them in there). If I was going to buy a tool for the job it would probably be a very short #3 or #4 phillips or a very short very large flathead. Last time I found something that worked in my garage and I was able to get it in and out in a matter of seconds once I got it down.

 

Also, I just hand tighten it and then maybe gave it a quarter or half turn during the flush runs. It would leak a little (a mater of drops, not a big puddle), but was much easier to get in and out quick. then I tightened it down all the way the last time

 

Keep in mind it's recommended to use Distilled Water in your Coolant mix. It's ok to flush with tap water but on the last refill or two doing it your way that's when to add it.

 

I used the prestone flush on my XK8 earlier this year. So far all is good.