Hello all - I've seen many many posts about our new Defenders and the few coolant issues that can occur... our trouble-free 2023.5 110X (P400 obviously) seems to have developed a leak coming out of the right side of the engine - looking in the space between the engine and the coolant fill cap / tank you can see orange coolant has leaked out slowly (12,500 miles). Never once dripped onto the ground and cannot even smell coolant.

I have an appointment with Land Rover Seattle (Lynnwood) on Tuesday, along with oil/filter and brake fluid change, and hopefully they're aware of coolant leaking issues with L663 Defenders (because obviously we all are in this group, and I have TOPIx bulletins to back it up).

That all being said, I went on a mad hunt to find suitable coolant to JLR spec. Apparently NO ONE here in Seattle sells Havoline XLC (either concentrate or 50/50) and as others have said, Amazon only sells it in 6-pack gallons. No thank you. The local dealership wanted to charge me a million dollars for it, and I told them to kick rocks (same as I did when they wanted $300+ to change the cabin air filter - I can do that in about 5 minutes). So I went to my favorite source - "Land Leaping" (not sure if this link will get kicked or not, but it's https://www.landleaping.com/) - they're basically the internet retail store for Land Rover Portland. You can buy genuine JLR coolant concentrate from them, shipped, for ~$35 plus shipping. And the cabin air filter for ionized system was ~$69.

So if you can't find coolant that Land Rover actually approves up (I'm not putting generic Dexcool in it despite the O'Reilly people telling me "it's fine") - Land Leaping will ship you some at a great price. All of their parts are genuine JLR and are excellent priced - and their customer service is excellent.

Hope this helps someone!
-Matthew

 

PSi-OAT-technology , base ethylene glycol

JAGUAR-LAND ROVER: STJLR.651.5003

https://www.wolflubes.com/en-us/prod...l-36c/50154-01

 

Pentosin SF or similar from Audi/VW G12+ etc,

 

You can get OEM coolant from any JLR dealer. I got a gallon from my dealer's parts department. $41.00 plus tax, no shipping charges.

 

Wow, I guess coolant is cheaper in Ohio or your dealer has fair pricing. My local dealer charged me $75 for a gallon.

 

I usually get a small (usually a 10%) discount from my dealer on parts & accessories orders. Still, sounds like it was a good price regardless of my discount. I haven't bought any coolant in at least a year and a half, so I have no idea if pricing has gone up.

 

This meets all the spec criteria. It is approved for use in Land Rovers and near identical if not fully identical to the Havoline.

Unlike the OEM, this is readily available everywhere.

 

As others mentioned, you don't need Havoline which is listed due to a marketing agreement. You need any coolant that meets or exceeds STJLR.651.5003 standards. I use Pentosin Pentofrost SF which is easily found in auto supply shops or on Amazon.

 

Just use Pentosin. Make sure you get the correct color and be done with it.

 

Thank you all for your input. The post was somewhat to help those who wanted to find "unobtainium" (a quote from several posts on here, which also referenced Amazon selling Havoline XLC only in 6-packs) for a decent price rather than a local JLR dealer who would want to charge 3 arms and 2 legs...

As far as Pentosin - yes, I'm quite aware of it and have bought it before for my former Discover Sport. AutoZone carries it. It has the STJLR spec approval on the bottle, on their website, etc. and it is OAT stuff. But as the last person said, and 3-4 ASE mechanics I've asked - match the color. Pentosin Pentofrost SF is pink. The coolant in my Defender, and I'm guessing all yours, is orange. I'm no chemist to tell you what makes one orange vs. pink, but I'm also not color blind

I had gathered that Xerex is an extended life, is orange, and is OAT, but couldn't find that STJLR spec anywhere on their bottle or website. I also get what someone said above about market agreements for Havoline XLC; just like it's printed on the engine bay that Castrol Edge Professional is recommended (and in the iGuide). So maybe I'm OCD.

But yeah - if your dealer charges an arm and a leg, and you can't find what you want otherwise, Land Leaping ships for a good price. We're not all lucky like CincyRovers to have good pricing; Seattle is expensive AF. *shrugs*

Back to waiting on the dealer to get parts to fix my minor coolant leak ... but they must've made it 'not recommended to drive' when they pulled it apart, so I'm driving a '24 RR Evoque for my free loaner. And it's oddly loaded for a loaner vehicle. Easier to park in a city sometimes too.