1st time it overheats 02 jaguar x-type
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From: Chicago
Anti-freeze Testers are available just about any Discount Store (WalMart, Kmart, etc) or any Auto parts store, almost always under $10 USD.
Yes, do change the coolant out a soon as possible, but make sure that it at least provides you with adequate protection until it is done! Even if you have to open the radiator petcock and drain a gallon of coolant out and replace it with some 100% anti-freeze, the $12 to $15 USD you'll spend to do that will seem very small indeed compared to a cracked engine block!
DO NOT STORE THE WASTE COOLANT IN AN OPEN CONTAINER!!! (Not down the drain, either - check with your local sanitation company or county for instructions on disposal. Antifreeze is a nasty chemical hazard for many reasons, and needs proper disposal)
Any animal that takes but a few sips of it will die an agonizing, terrible death!
It is an attractive and dangerous nuisance to animals. Cats and dogs will lap it up. They seem to enjoy the taste, and there is very little to be done to save them after, even with prompt veterinary care.
A couple little tricks to using the tester are:
1) read the directions carefully, as reading are temperature affected;
2) run a few fills into the gadget before reading it, so any leftover flush-out water doesn't give you a false reading, and
3) flush the unit out after you are done - mainly so some animal doesn't lick any coolant off or out of the hose - but also so you don't dribble it onto something important, like:
Be careful you don't drip any coolant on the paint finish of your car, or dribble it onto you good shoes - it is a bit solvent and can mess things up.
Best of luck, and we all hope your problem of overheating is readily solved with re-charged and then replaced (if you have to wait for some reason) anti-freeze coolant!
~Bruce
Post Script - When you do change the fluid out, don't mess around with the pre-mixed 50/50 stuff. Buy a Name Brand of pure anti-freeze, and mix it at 70% to 30% Distilled Water.
Do NOT use Tap water, Spring water, or any other water, as any minerals in it will cause the cooling system - with all it's dissimilar metals - to act like a weak battery and eat away / corrode your engines innards. First to go is usually the head gasket from using the wrong type of water, as it is a soft metal, usually pure copper.
Post Post Script - Don't buy that new water pump yet. I just betchya it is not needed!
Yes, do change the coolant out a soon as possible, but make sure that it at least provides you with adequate protection until it is done! Even if you have to open the radiator petcock and drain a gallon of coolant out and replace it with some 100% anti-freeze, the $12 to $15 USD you'll spend to do that will seem very small indeed compared to a cracked engine block!
DO NOT STORE THE WASTE COOLANT IN AN OPEN CONTAINER!!! (Not down the drain, either - check with your local sanitation company or county for instructions on disposal. Antifreeze is a nasty chemical hazard for many reasons, and needs proper disposal)
Any animal that takes but a few sips of it will die an agonizing, terrible death!
It is an attractive and dangerous nuisance to animals. Cats and dogs will lap it up. They seem to enjoy the taste, and there is very little to be done to save them after, even with prompt veterinary care.
A couple little tricks to using the tester are:
1) read the directions carefully, as reading are temperature affected;
2) run a few fills into the gadget before reading it, so any leftover flush-out water doesn't give you a false reading, and
3) flush the unit out after you are done - mainly so some animal doesn't lick any coolant off or out of the hose - but also so you don't dribble it onto something important, like:
Be careful you don't drip any coolant on the paint finish of your car, or dribble it onto you good shoes - it is a bit solvent and can mess things up.
Best of luck, and we all hope your problem of overheating is readily solved with re-charged and then replaced (if you have to wait for some reason) anti-freeze coolant!
~Bruce
Post Script - When you do change the fluid out, don't mess around with the pre-mixed 50/50 stuff. Buy a Name Brand of pure anti-freeze, and mix it at 70% to 30% Distilled Water.
Do NOT use Tap water, Spring water, or any other water, as any minerals in it will cause the cooling system - with all it's dissimilar metals - to act like a weak battery and eat away / corrode your engines innards. First to go is usually the head gasket from using the wrong type of water, as it is a soft metal, usually pure copper.
Post Post Script - Don't buy that new water pump yet. I just betchya it is not needed!
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 502
Likes: 132
From: That Rectangular Hole in the Consciousness of America
You are welcome!
My experience with this again is quite recent. Only last week did I have a life & Death incident over weak antifreeze with my Dodge 4 Door Pickup. The temperature was -26F, and with the crisp wind of 15 to 20 mph the chill-factor was -55F.
While dealing with the problem, I was rained on by coolant from the underside of the hood, and my hands and arms were soaked. In under 4 minutes I was becoming frostbit and hypothermic. With no heat in the vehicle, I was in real trouble.
(Of course, I am in North friggin' Dakota, and I was miles out in the middle of nowhere. Without a cellphone. Without a clue.)
A little old lady, one of this county's population density of 2.4 people per square mile, stopped, reached over and opened the door because I couldn't, my hands quit working, and turned her vehicle's heater and fan wayyy up.
She didn't say much except to chuckle as she looked at me and say "I'm on the way to pick my daughter up right now. We're going to fly out to Las Vegas this afternoon! "
My experience with this again is quite recent. Only last week did I have a life & Death incident over weak antifreeze with my Dodge 4 Door Pickup. The temperature was -26F, and with the crisp wind of 15 to 20 mph the chill-factor was -55F.
While dealing with the problem, I was rained on by coolant from the underside of the hood, and my hands and arms were soaked. In under 4 minutes I was becoming frostbit and hypothermic. With no heat in the vehicle, I was in real trouble.
(Of course, I am in North friggin' Dakota, and I was miles out in the middle of nowhere. Without a cellphone. Without a clue.)
A little old lady, one of this county's population density of 2.4 people per square mile, stopped, reached over and opened the door because I couldn't, my hands quit working, and turned her vehicle's heater and fan wayyy up.
She didn't say much except to chuckle as she looked at me and say "I'm on the way to pick my daughter up right now. We're going to fly out to Las Vegas this afternoon! "
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 502
Likes: 132
From: That Rectangular Hole in the Consciousness of America
Since he only seems to lose fluid when it it very, very cold out, that is my guess, and also is what happened to me.
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