So I got the message "engine coolant low", and figured I needed to top it off. The sticker next to the coolant fill says "use orange color only" (or something like that), but the coolant in my 2001 XJ8 is green. From reading on here, it appears that earlier models used the green coolant, but then Jag switched to the orange? Or did the previous owner(s) put in the wrong type/color?

Should I empty the radiator, flush it, and then fill it with the proper orange long-life coolant?

 

The main criteria is it being long life and silicate free....my advice is flush and refill and you will be good for another 50000 miles...also, make sure your cooling system is tight and leak free

 

Agree with the drain and refill advice, the recommended antifreeze is Pentofrost SF, available pretty much everywhere for around $8-$9 a liter, (dilute 50-50 with distilled water)




https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pentosin-...iABEgJs1fD_BwE


.

 

The coolant color is deceiving!!!!!!!
The orange coolant will LOOK green in the reservoir but if you take a sample, the Jaguar orange coolant will be ORANGE outside of the system.

I once had a customer accuse me of replacing the coolant with GREEN when I worked at the dealer.
He called the service advisor after I worked on the cooling system to report that the coolant in his car was GREEN.
I told the service advisor that we don't have green coolant here at the Jaguar dealer. We stock Yellow for the older cars (pre MY2000) and Orange for the later cars (2000MY onward)

The service advisor told the customer to return the car for examination.

The customer called back and apologized after he once again checked the coolant.

He was amazed that the coolant looked green in the reservoir but was ORANGE when he removed a sample in daylight.

Coolants come in colors of BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, PINK, ORANGE etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc., etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc., etc.,

Color is NOT the be-all-end-all of chemistry.

bob

 

The colour of the coolant is not a criterion for determining the type of coolant. There are mainly two types of coolant by chemical composition: 1) Ethylene Glycol based (the traditional coolant, normally green or blue but it may also come in other colours including orange, red and purple) and 2) OAT i.e. Organic Acid based, mostly orange colour.

The mentioned two types must not be mixed as it would cause serious clogging of the cooling system. It is possible that the OAT coolant was used by one of the POs of your car, thus the warning label (it was not a factory fill). Since you now have green coolant (Ethylene Glycol), it is best that you stick to it. You can top-up with any green coolant as it will be Ethylene Glycol based which can be safely mixed with your existing coolant. Pentofrost SF is Ethylene Glycol based but it carries a small note that it should not be mixed with other coolants. For Pentofrost NF, it is stated that it can be mixed with other coolants.

 

I agree with not looking so much at the colour but the chemistry. Look at all the different coolants Zerex produces.

 

Hi TheRealMoleman,

There is a tremendous amount of confusion about Jaguar coolants (and coolants in general) and I confess I haven't figured it all out myself, but I keep trying. I am attaching a document that helps clarify some of the details relevant to your Jag and specifies three different coolants:

D985 was conventional blue/green-colored ethylene glycol-based coolant with corrosion inhibitors based on traditional Inorganic Acid (or Additive) Technology (IAT).

D542 was a yellow-colored coolant manufactured by DOW Chemical Co. and used briefly by Jaguar. Despite extensive searching I have not found any document that discloses its chemistry. If someone reading this has such a document I would be grateful if you could post it. EDIT - see my next post.

Extended Life Coolant (XLC) is also mostly ethylene glycol with a smaller amount of diethelyne glycol, and corrosion inhibitors based on Organic Acid Technology (OAT). This coolant meets (Ford) specification WSS-M97B44-D, and the most commonly-available versions are Ford Motorcraft Orange OAT, and General Motors Dex-Cool, originally manufactured by Havoline and now by Prestone. You can view the Material Safety Data Sheets for these products at these links:

Ford Motorcraft Orange OAT Coolant MSDS

Texaco Havoline Dex-Cool MSDS

Prestone Dex-Cool MSDS

As already mentioned by M. Stojanovic, IAT and OAT corrosion inhibitors do not play well together and the inhibitors can reportedly form a gel or sludge that can clog small passages in the cooling system, such as in the heater core. Furthermore, they do not offer equal corrosion protection for all possible cooling system material combinations (iron, steel, aluminum, copper, brass, tin, zinc, plastic, rubber, etc.), so engineers take this into account when specifying a coolant. Additionally, OAT coolants do not protect metal water pump impellers from electrolysis or cavitation erosion, which is why plastic impellers were introduced around the same time as OAT coolants.

You will also find coolants that use Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT). A commonly-available example is Zerex G-05. HOAT coolants do not play well with either IAT or OAT coolants and are not recommended for your X308.

A fourth type of coolant is Nitrited Organic Acid Technology (NOAT), an OAT with nitrite added.

I agree that if your car has conventional green IAT coolant you should be fine to top it up with the same. But if the label you found indicates that at some point your car was converted to the orange XLC OAT coolant, it would be worth extracting some of your coolant to see if it only looks green in the reservoir as Bob described, but may actually be orange or a color that probably used to be orange. If so, you only want to add the correct OAT type coolant. Orange Dex-Cool is the most common and affordable type.

Which brings us to the most important question: why is your coolant low?

There are plenty of common leak points on the X308, including the thermostat housing, valley hoses, octopus hose, the hard plastic hoses like the one that connects the reservoir to the radiator overflow nipple, the water pump, the radiator, etc. Some leaks can be very difficult to locate. If a leak isn't obvious, look again using a flashlight in the dark - tiny leaks will sparkle in the beam of light.

If there is dried coolant around the reservoir cap, the thermostat could be seized in the closed position, causing excessive pressure in the system to be released by the cap. The instrument cluster temperature gauges are notorious for not moving above the middle until the coolant has reached excessive temps (I measured 239F on our 2003 before the gauge needle began to move above its middle "normal" position).

Please keep us informed.

Cheers,

Don

 

@Don B Coould the yellow D542 coolant have been G-05? I have heard that the factory fill on the X300 was this coolant. Considering you mentioned they only used it for a short time and the 6cyl X300 was only made for three model years, it certainly is possible.

 

Jaguar used the Yellow (D542) coolant up to 1999.
The change to Extended Life Coolant (XLC) was described in TSB 100-16 (issued 11/99).

bob

 

Hi AJ16er,

Thank you for asking that question! It jogged my memory that I actually had found the chemistry of Jaguar/Dow D542, I just haven't found an exact chemical match among currently-available coolants.

Based on the disclosed chemistry, it is not evident that D542 was an HOAT formula. However, we can't be certain because compounds not considered toxic or otherwise dangerous are typically not disclosed on the Material Safety Data Sheets.

By definition, "organic" compounds contain a carbon atom. The D542 MSDS discloses no carbon compounds, while the G-05 MSDS does.


Here's the disclosed chemistry of Jaguar D542 / DOW 542:

Ethane-1, 2-diol (another name for Ethylene glycol) (CAS 107-21-1) 90% - 100%

Sodium hydroxide (CAS 1310-73-2) 0.5% - <1.0%

Disodium tetraborate pentahydrate (CAS 11130-12-4) 0.3% - <1.0%

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is commonly known as Lye, widely used in soaps, drain cleaners, anti-freeze and many other products.

Disodium tetraborate pentahydrate (BH13NaO8) is commonly known as Boric Acid or Borax pentahydrate, widely used in detergents, paints, anti-freeze, and many other products.

Note that neither of the above contains carbon, so they are considered inorganic compounds.


Here's the disclosed chemistry of Ashland/Valvoline/Zerex G-05:

Ethylene glycol (CAS 107-21-1) >=90% - <=100%

Diethylene glycol (CAS 111-46-6) >=1.5% - < 5%

Sodium Benzoate (CAS 532-32-1) >=1.5% - <5%

Sodium Tetraborate (CAS 1330-43-4) >=1.5% - <5%

Sodium Benzoate (C6H5COONa) is a carbon compound widely used as a food preservative and for many other purposes.

Sodium Tetraborate (Na2B4O7 · 10H2O) is also known as Borax decahydrate and is used in detergents, cosmetics, fire retardants, anti-fungal products, the manufacture of fiberglass, and as a flux in metallurgy.


From the above, we can say that while the principal ingredient of D542 and G-05 is the same (ethylene glycol 107-21-1), the additives/corrosion inhibitors are different, so D542 and G-05 are not the same coolant.

We cannot tell whether D542 is an IAT, OAT or HOAT coolant because we do not know if all of its ingredients are disclosed on the MSDS.

G-05 contains a carbon compound and therefore qualifies as an OAT of some sort. Zerex deems it a Hybrid OAT (HOAT) coolant, which is confirmed by the fact that one of its additives is organic and the other is inorganic.

I am attaching the Material Safety Data Sheets for D542 and G-05. If anyone can identify a commercial coolant with chemistry similar or identical to that of D542, we will all be grateful.

Cheers,

Don

 

I've used Prestone 5/150 Orange Extended Life coolant 50:50 with distilled water for many years.
No overheating in Hot desert temperatures.

 

On this note, I’ve got the same message in my jag this morning. The level is just below Min (and I’m amazed who made the stupid design to have the limit between Min and Max just a finger in height; that’s a failure right there; you have a coolant expansion tank to use all of it’s height for leveling).
Anyway, I have about 3 liters of Toyota SLLC pink leftover from 3 months ago, when I did the belt and waterpump on my 1JZ.
Could I safely use it to top up, considering there is orange coolant inside?
As far as I’m aware, Toyota Super Long Life Coolant is the best on the market for aluminium blocks, Toyota saying it’s warranted for 10 years.
Of course, their “brand” is a rebadged bottle of other coolant manufacturer, but I’ve never seen another coolant claiming the 10 years warranted service.

 

Hi LittleMan,

You don't mention the year, model and engine of your Jaguar, but assuming it uses orange Jaguar/Ford/Dex-Cool coolant, the short answer to your question is no, you do not want to add Toyota Super Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant to your Jag.

The reason is that Toyota SLLC is a Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) coolant, and the Jaguar/Ford/Dex-Cool coolant is an Organic Acid Technology (OAT) coolant. Coolant and auto manufacturers all warn against intermixing OAT, HOAT or IAT (Inorganic Acid Technology (conventional green ethylene glycol)) coolants, due to potential adverse reactions such as precipitation/sludge formation, shortened life or neutralization of the corrosion inhibitors, etc.

You can see the description of SLLC here:

Toyota Super Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant Data Sheet

In the U.S., the most readily-available orange OAT coolant that meets Ford specification WSS-M97B51-A1 is Dex-Cool, marketed here by Prestone and Zerex and available at all auto parts stores and general retailers such as Walmart. I don't know if that is also true in NZ.

You may be tempted to risk adding the Toyota coolant to your Jag, but I urge you to resist. I recently worked on the cooling system of a 2013 Jeep Wrangler. For years leading up to 2013, Jeeps used an HOAT coolant (Zerex GL-05 is a common version). But in 2013 the specification was changed to orange OAT coolant. This Jeep's cooling system was filled with a white precipitate that had nearly completely clogged the heater core. My theory is that the technicians at the dealership had added HOAT coolant to this vehicle, which interacted adversely with the correct OAT coolant and formed this white precipitate/sludge. It took a lot of work to clean the sludge out of the heater core and the rest of the system.

P.S. It's helpful if you visit your User Control Panel and edit your signature to include the year, model and engine of your vehicle so that info will appear in all of your posts.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Don,

Thanks for the answer. It's a XJ6 from '04, so X350. Now I observed this is X308 forum actually, sorry for that.
So I obviously did not resist and pour the pink SLLC in there
I was under the wrong impression I've had 3 litres left, it was actually a finger or so; I estimate it was in total about 200ml. It didn't help at all, it barely moved the level. So I've found I've had some leftover demineralised water that I've bought for my wife's iron. It needed about 1 litre of this to raise the level to max.
Before refilling I've had a look inside the tank, and there seemed to be some black gunk leftover on the inside of the container; don't know how old is it, but looked like it resided there for some time.
So probably it has a small leak somewhere, and that's the reason it dropped. I'll monitor it in the next few months, and probably replace all of it on the next oil change.