XJ40 6.0 V12 - what coolant?

[AmitG]

What coolant should be used in a 1993 XJ40 with a 6.0 V12 engine?

The manual seems to suggest using a straight water/anti freeze mix - but I'm not sure if I'm reading it right. I know that the later V8s require the special yellow coolant that is available only from Jaguar.

If it is water/anti freeze - does it have to be a special type of water, e.g. distilled water? Will mineral water do?

Any help and/or recommendations welcomed.

Thanks

Amit

[jagnet]

Having just done the cooling system on the V12 XJS I used a standard ethylene glycol (blue) coolant mixed 50/50 with de-ionised water. You can get the water in 5ltr containers for about £4 each from Halfords, Euro Car Parts etc. Do not use mineral water - that's worse than tap water for leaving deposits in the water ways.

The handbook for the XJS recommends a phosphate free anti-freeze, and given that your engine is basically the same I'd stick to that.

I also gave the system a good flush with Holts 2-part system cleaner first, and even though I'd had the radiator re-cored it's surprising how much crud comes out of the water ways in the engine alone. It takes a while to do the flush using this (and you need to remove the thermostats to do it properly), but well worth it to keep the cooling system in tip top condition. Unless your car has had its coolant changed religiously every two years and never used tap water then I'd give it serious consideration. There's an explanation about coolant system flushing and why it's a good idea by Gavin Pearson here.

[AmitG]

Thanks Jagnet!

[johnxjsc1985]

Thats timely info just about to change the thermostats on my 6.0l xjs cheers all.