Antifreeze question

[Mr Bean]

Personal preferences notwithstanding what is the difference between the various (non blue) colour products mentioned in the WIKI and the pink stuff recommended for more modern vehicles?
Cheers
Wolfie

[mark]

http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/shop?page=s ... rd=coolant" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this is what bought in the summer after much looking at other types and uming and arrring. i thought buy it offof the bloke who knows what e's on about.

mark

[leelisa26]

you have to be careful with this as theres ethelyne glycol wich is the blue colour this is for the older cars then vw brought a oat one in which is red in colour this is a acid based one i ve always been told not mix the to as they can cause a reaction and conjel not sure if thats true then they also do a green one which int that popular is extreme green by comma. if you have a garage do it for you becareful as what they use cus there is some cheap stuff out there which only covers down to minus 18 and thats before its been mixed with water. suppliers have made this to the lowest spec just so it passes the specification... to adapt to the economical climate basically scrimpers that want to save money... i no this as i sell both of the qualitys and always advise go for the one with lower temp..

[Ian Hulley]

It tends not to stay in the average cooling system long enough to deteriorate anyway so I use 50/50 Comma Coldmaster (blue).

Ian

[California Dreamin]

Brickwerks G12+ antifreeze works out at 4.48 per litre and then there is post to add on top.

Eurocarparts G12+ antifreeze works out at £2.64 per litre FREE POST. ADD CODE: PARTS25 at the checkout to get 25% off (minimum spend £19.99)
Buy TWO 5 litre containers for £26.38 POSTED and you'll have 2 litres spare for topping up.

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-a ... &0&cc5_866" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Martin

[California Dreamin]

you have to be careful with this as theres ethelyne glycol wich is the blue colour this is for the older cars then vw brought a oat one in which is red in colour this is a acid based

Not really correct...both types are Ethylene Glycol based but it is the corrosion inhibitors that have changed in the OAT products (organo acid technology)
It is the mixing of older non OAT products with newer OAT products that can cause gelling.
OAT based antifreeze is more stable, degrades at a slower rate so has a 5 year long life rating as opposed to older non OAT products that generally last for 2 years.

Martin

[lloydy]

I had a good look when I changed my coolant, I went for G12++ it says on the bottle it is back compatible with all the earlier coolants. I am running a much newer engine though, if I had a waterboxer or 1.6d/td I'd use the cheaper blue stuff

[Mr Bean]

Thanks for that people.
My reason for needing this info is that I had the engine rebuilt under warranty after it suffered a lost cam gear which busted the crank case. I was fairly happy with the job as they restarted the two year guarantee. However some time after I got it back I found a thin film of oil in the reservoir and suspected a blown gasket or suchlike. After cleaning out the reservoir it the oil never returned. The engine runs a treat and doesn't use water although it does drop an occasional drip of oil from somewhere. I am unsure as to the concentration of antifreeze now and so have decided to flush it out completely (maybe there is oil in the system) before the winter comes. So in the short term I guess blue will be OK for me.

Strangely enough I have rebuilt engines and gearboxes for most of my bikes,cars and vans over a fifty odd year period and never let anyone else do it. But due to time pressure since I acquired the T25 I have had both the engine and gearbox (not one of Aiden's) rebuilt by "professionals" and both failed under warranty. Have to say there are some manufacturing/design features in both which do not come up to my expectations. Love the van though.

Thanks again for your comments
Wolfie

[California Dreamin]

Older non OAT (blues and greens usually) or newer OAT based (pink/orange/purple/yellow) it doesn't really matter....however, personally I would stick to the type it already has in there as even when you think you have thoroughly flushed there is always a good few pints that don't seem to more.

The oil residue could have just been contamination from the rebuild and nothing else.

These use a strong 50:50 MIX so thats 8 litres of antifreeze.

Martin

[slowcoach]

Brickwerks G12+ antifreeze works out at 4.48 per litre and then there is post to add on top.

Eurocarparts G12+ antifreeze works out at £2.64 per litre FREE POST. ADD CODE: PARTS25 at the checkout to get 25% off (minimum spend £19.99)
Buy TWO 5 litre containers for £26.38 POSTED and you'll have 2 litres spare for topping up.

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-a ... &0&cc5_866" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Martin

I ordered these last week and they arrived the next day, on a Saturday too

[Nocker84]

I don't know a great deal about this, except that I need g12 coolant to prevent my engine rotting from inside. I've just brought a 1984 westy with a 1.9 dg in it. It looks like something has been added as it's a redish colour but I'm not sure exactly what was used.
I was considering draining the whole system and starting again using the cheaper g12 from euro parts rather than brickwerks. As I dunno what was used before I don't wanna risk the chance of it gelling like I read above. If I drain it and start again will this be ok??

[AdrianC]

If I drain it and start again will this be ok??

If you're really worried, drain it - refill it with neat water only - bleed it and get it hot - drain it - repeat, repeat, repeat.

Drain from as many points as you can - both front-rear pipes and 'stat-to-pump metal pipe included, so you get as many low points drained as possible.

I've not bothered with "genuine" coolant - any generic red stuff's good enough. As Ian says, it's entirely likely that it'll fall out again - on our van, it seems that every time we sort one leak, the cooling system working pressure rises a bit closer to where it should be, causing something else to leak - but the corrosion protection of the red's worth it.

[Cruz]

Now 31% off G12+ antifreeze and other stuff like oil, free oil filter, plugs etc etc

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=109525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ralf85]

I use VWs G12 + +. It is the most expensive, but I use it on the basis that they build the vans and I expect their anti-freeze to be the best. You may think me mad but I want to do my best for my van. With luck it will look after me just as I look after it.

[California Dreamin]

Of course Ralf but when your van was built in say...1985...VW would have used old fashioned Green antifreeze which contains silicates, phosphates and borates as corrosion inhibitors, none of this purple OAT G12 Plus+ .
Yes things have moved on, new technologies and formulations allow us to produce far superior lubricants & antifreeze than in the 80's, but even the cheapest OAT based antifreeze will offer far better protection than those original VW products.
So, I don't think we are selling our vans short by saving a few pennies when these cheaper products are much better than VW intended.

Martin