Hello all. I need to add a little coolant and not sure what to buy. Suggestions? Thanks!

 

The red stuff.

 

Head on over to jagrepair.com and find the vehicle spec book. The coolant has changed over time. See what applies for your VIN.

Second, check what is already there, make sure it is the same. Incompatible coolant types can form a gel, clog everything and leave you stranded/overheated. Sometimes, coolant color is hard to determine from the top of the expansion tank. Just dip a paper towel in it to confirm the exact color.

Of course this is supposed to be a closed system. If there is a need to refill, there is likely a leak. Sooner or later, it will have to be addressed.

 

…… and even if it doesn’t leak, it does wear out. You might still have the freeze protection, but the vital lubricants do not last indefinitely. Changing the coolant every 2 years is not too often.

Regardless of the factory recommended coolant for your year model, as pointed out above it’s very important to check the color of the coolant currently in use as it may not have changed according to factory recommendations.

you can’t tell the color by looking into the expansion tank, too many shadows. Dip the corner of a paper towel into the tank then examine it in good light & the color will be obvious. Probably will be the orange Dexcool.

On my ‘02 XKR the factory recommended coolant is specified on the expansion tank label (orange).

Z

 

Since the car is 20 years old, you cannot guarantee that it has what Jaguar initially filled it with.

Extended Life Coolant (XLC) as used on S-TYPE vehicles, entered production on 1999 MY
XK8 and V8 XJ Series vehicles at the above VINs.
The new coolant also known as ‘Long Life Engine Coolant’ can be recognized by its distinctive
orange color. 2000 MY vehicles also use the same coolant, from VIN A00083 (XK8) and from
VIN F00108 (V8 XJ Series).
It is necessary that vehicles filled with XLC should be correctly identified, both from the
introductory VIN and from the following information, so that the correct coolant product is used.

You might get lucky and nobody changed the specification type OR someone decided to use GREEN regular antifreeze from the hardware store down the road??

Modern coolant types do NOT play well with each other!!

Just add some distilled water to top up until you can identify the correct fill OR just renew the coolant to whatever you deem appropriate.

 

dexcool

 

ONLY if that is what is in it.
What if it is something else?

 

Exactly ! ….and why I, and others, mentioned the importance of checking color before adding any anti freeze product.

Additionally it bears repeating that if one is unsure of the age or type of antifreeze, a prudent step would be to flush out the entire system and start fresh with the type recommended by the manufacturer for the owners yess as roof manufacture. Any antifreeze over 2 years old as lost a good deal of it’s mojo (technical term ) and cannot be relied upon to perform as expected.

Z

PS this time of year “topping off” a system with distilled water (or deionized water if you can find it affordably) can do no harm. Just remember to check for appropriate freeze protection before winter

 

if it’s yellow or light green it’s a dexclone or some other all makes all models formula. hulk green antifreeze is always on the back shelf of the auto parts store, you can’t even buy it at walmart anymore

poster has a 2001

 

A 20 year old car can have horse urine as a coolant if that is what the previous owner put in it.
Over my 45+ years of car repair I don't even want to think about all the times I said WTF is THAT?????
People do weird things to cars.

 

Thanks for the paper towel suggest. Fluid in the expansion tank looked "dirty" probably because PO never changed it.
Dipped the towel. Easy to tell it's red.

 

One problem is that auto parts stores and grocery stores sell what they call "universal coolant" that says it will mix with all types. I stick with Dexcool - period.