Hey, so I’ve been lurking on the forums for some time for help but so far I’ve left with more questions than answers. I just bought my first car which is a 2000 Vanden Plas and I am in love with it. The only problem is that I have not a single clue of what fluids to use and my coolant is already low. I would really appreciate some help if you all could give me a list of brands of the fluids you all use for your Vanden Plas. Thank you.

 

First, and simplest, check the owners manual of originally suggested fluids by Jaguar. I say that because it gives you a base to work from. Many fluid providers will show you improved replacement items as upgrades come to market.

Next, if your coolant is low, then you have a leak somewhere. These are sealed systems, they have pressure for flow, so you need to find your issue and fix that. Many times its the famed "Octopus" hosing by the reservoir or a connector.
Being you just got your new gal, it wouldn't hurt to do a compression check either and while doing that, check the coil boots and plugs.

Now, we need to know your model specifications...a N/A motor has a different trans than a SC one. Plus, different motors were available to different countries, so your location is helpful. Thus they have different needs. Plus you never know, you may have a neighbor that could come over and work with you. Please post these in your signature using the User CP, top left in the task bar.

 

Thank you for responding, as far as I know my engine isn’t a SC, I am in the USA, and the car came with a different cars owner manual so I’m kinda screwed there. When I went to get my car inspected there was no mention of a leak unless if it’s an internal thing so I’ll look for a second opinion.

 

Check for residue (put a piece of cardboard under her at night and check it in the morning), but there's always the possibility they replaced something like the water pump and didn't properly top it off.

 

Just to add to HighHorse's posts on antifreeze. For oil, use the proper weight for your temperature. Brand is a personal preference as is synthetic vs. conventional based more on driving habits and frequency of changes. With today's improved base oils used and what's allowed to be called synthetic, there's little difference between a good conventional and synthetics that are only 20% synthetic in reality. You can probably guess which wagon I'm on.
I Change my oil every 2500 miles and running a so called synthetic just empties my wallet quicker is all. Going 10,000 between changes is asking for trouble with contamination for one and two many so called synthetics break down way before that so...

 

I feel your pain. I've had a 98 from new and am still confused by what coolant to use. Not helped by Jag changing the coolant type in the 99 model year, but not changing anything else on the engines or offering any good reason why the change was made - basically they described it as a colour change, but I expect it was driven more by a Ford corporate wide shift than an engine related issue & not helped by them quoting an obscure spec that is hard to find listed anywhere on aftermarket products....

Good input in other posts on the source of the leak. As long as your oil isn't milky from a leaky head gasket, it is likely that the leak is as mentioned, although a minor leak in the rad can also be hard to find. The reservoir end of the connectors of the small return hoses that run on top of the engine have been a recurring problem on mine, requiring attention every couple of years, but never leaking enough to show - it only takes about 500 ml down for the low coolant warning message to come on.

At the risk of getting jumped on by others, all I can offer is what I have done for the past 20 years, with no ill effects & coming up on 200K miles.
1st change I made in the early 2000's, after lots of reading, was to Zerex G-05. I repeated that up to ~2012, but then Zerex became hard to get locally, so I switched to the same formula used by BMW (Blue). Rationale was the engine has a lot of similarity to the V8 engines used in the 5 and 7 series and it is easy to get (its even cheap at the BMW dealer!). 100K miles since that change and no issues.

Regardless of the path you take, I suggest you make sure you get rid of whatever is in there now before adding something new. Nothing worse than introducing a chemical incompatibility if you don't have to, but eliminating the old will ensure that issue is minimised.

FWIW - when you are looking for parts, you will find many components are common between the 7 series Bimmers and Jag - and often cheaper when sold for BMWs than Jags (tranny, some brake components and many Bosch electrical parts are common). Almost the only thing on our cars that is "pure" Jag is the engine - and the looks