Hi all. Hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction here.

I have an intermittent low coolant warning appearing on the MID, which seems to go on and off with the elevation changes (indicating the sensor is probably not at fault). I've eye-balled the coolant tank and it is way below the cold weather level min/max, but there is coolant in it.

My question really is can I just add some more coolant to it myself by mixing some water and anti-freeze, or do I need special coolant from the dealer? Mainly asking since I've not owned a car with an engine this big before, so just wanted to make sure I dont break it!

TIA

Greg/Mop

 

No doubt Jaguar has its own brand of coolant for $40 a gallon. I say use any name brand. Most come already diluted, confirm which you have before diluting it further.
Maybe this would be a good time to have someone drain, flush and replace your coolant entirely.
P.

 

Welcome to the forums supermop2000,

I've moved your post from X260 to X250 forum and removed the now irrelevant second post.

The specified coolant is OAT Extended Life Coolant normally coloured orange. Specification WSS M97B44 is critical but brand is not if you don't wish to use Jaguar coolant. Here's the relevant page from the Owner's Handbook:




Graham

 

Dude, you have a leak and just adding coolant to an XF and keep driving usually ends with a blown engine and a crying owner when they find out that an engine replacement costs more than the car is worth. Just search around this forum if you think I am making this up.

Fix your leak.

 

I had a concern that was a possibility, thanks for the heads up. Hope its not something major! I dont want to even think about how much replacing this engine would cost!

 

I've booked it in for a leak check on Thursday! Topped up, and might be me just being worried, but it has dropped again after a 10 mile drive. Could just be air, so will keep an eye on it!

 

Good to hear. I wouldn’t drive it. I personally know a guy that did in your same circumstances and his best option was to sell the car for scrap.

 

I dont have much of a choice unfortunately to be honest. It's not overheated, which was my major concern. Lets just hope its nothing major!

 

He didn't think he had an option either. Good luck.

 

Keep an eye on the level. If you think you've had a catastrophic failure STOP IMMEDIATELY as soon as safe to do so. These engines are fragile as mentioned but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

I am now that I'm worried about it!

The coolant level actually went up this morning from last night, so if it's leaking its not terrible. Although I dont see how it isnt leaking at this point.

So far, so good. Just lucky its really cold weather outside I guess! Jag specialist diagnosis is booked tomorrow morning, and I've already started a warranty claim. Thank god it came with a full value warranty, so I shouldnt be out of pocket even if the main block is cracked.

 

Someone willing to roll the dice! Love it!

 

More like backed into a corner with no idea what hes doing hah. You were absolutely spot on though much to my disappointment. The water pump is leaking, needs replacing along with the seals etc. Not a small job, but luckily warranty is covering it.

Looks like I also got very lucky. Garage have strongly advised I dont drive it, so leaving it here.

Ah well, was too good to be true lol. At least I haven't terminally trashed the engine!

 

All fixed! The bill came to £400 for the new pump, but the warranty company covered the cost.

 

I am glad it worked out, but you took some unnecessary risks with it.

"low coolant warning" = pull over right away, shut the engine off and tow it to the garage.

 

I get it, what sort of boring life would it be without risk though

In all honesty I literally had no choice. It was either risk overheating the engine, or not get paid and have to sell the car. I took a semi educated guess that having some coolant was better than no coolant and it paid off.

 

I've had the "low coolant" warning a couple/three times on my F-Type V6 (same engine as yours), there is a thread and some long posts about it somewhere on the F-Type forum. Long story short the coolant leak was caused by a small split in one of the small expansion tank/reservoir tubes high up on the front of the engine, it stopped after around 10-12 km of driving, the level only ever dropped to an inch or two above the bottom of the coolant tank and the engine temp never went over the "normal" reading. And this was in mid-summer with ambient temps in the high 30s (C).
Moral of the story - you can still drive the car with the "low coolant" warning showing with very little risk of engine damage as long as the leak has stopped and there is a reasonable amount of coolant still in the system. But of course you need to be 100% sure of both of those things before you continue to drive, as I was.

 

You are misunderstanding - I had no money to pay for these services (which would have cost an absolute fortune btw). I am not often in this situation, however circumstances beyond my control and the time of year have lead to it.

Its easy to sit back and criticise others decisions, but until you find yourself in a similar situation I guess you won't know. I had to run the risk. End of.

 

Are you this friendly and judgemental to every new person you meet? Or have I done something special to annoy you?

 

You did nothing special. He treats everyone that way.