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Last Edit: Aug 2, 2021 21:05:40 GMT by k11ngsley
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,227
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Coolant/AntifreezeRich
@foxmcintyre
Club Retro Rides Member 160
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Get Comma antifreeze, it’s available in most Halfords, I’ve used it exclusively after I think ChasR recommend it when I was having water pump issues on my E28. It lasts well and it holds off corrosion beautifully. Coolant in my Jeep is spotless. Worth the money. Not that it’s expensive.
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I have always got from Halfords or Euro Car Parts before - when I was reading I thought if its passed british standard blah blah then it must all be the same stuff.
Halfords is fine though, just didn't want to pay over the odds because it comes from a bigger chain.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,188
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Coolant/AntifreezeChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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I have always got from Halfords or Euro Car Parts before - when I was reading I thought if its passed british standard blah blah then it must all be the same stuff. Halfords is fine though, just didn't want to pay over the odds because it comes from a bigger chain. I can confirm as Rich has alluded to they are not the same stuff. That’s like saying all tyres are the same Since tbey are E marked. I’ll say more later
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ChasR and richThank you for letting me know. Would be interested in a good read about it so I know more if you get the time!
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,188
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Coolant/AntifreezeChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Basically, as far as I can tell, the quality of the inhibitors is different, and this is probably why a few, like Glytasyn G48, have a Mercedes, Porsche & BMW approval.
My guess is the BS standard is basically to say that it has inhibitors of sorts (but not the quality of them) and is free of phosphate, as that isn't the best with hard water countries like ours.
Few examples?
-Triumph Stag.
I flushed this engine to death. Both Drain plugs undone, flushed through with a hose. It was very clean inside. I filled it up with Unipart Cool Blue. It looked clean in the bottle but there was a slight amount of residue.
When I changed the rad, I noticed the coolant was basically brown, despite it being 1 year old. I thought, maybe I didn't flush the rad out right. I changed the rad as it didn't stay cool in the summer until I did change it. Flushed the block out again.
Quelle surprise, when I changed the coolant 1 year later, it was rusty again. I then went to G48, and it seemed cleaner. I never drained it is the caveat to that, but the coolant itself didn't have the residue colecting in the bottom (basically, silt from a mixed metal engine), like it did before.
Triumph Spitfire
This oddly had G48 in it when I bought it. When I drained the coolant to change the thermostat, it was perfect.
2 x BMWs (1 E36 323i & 1 E46 328i)
These both had horrible coolant. Properly rusty. But they were cheap BMWs too.
I did flush them with water, and drive around with water for a while. They were spot on with the G48.
Many Mondeos.
Many here know I've done big miles in Mondeos. Probably anywhere from 240k to 387k. Some have needed coolant work. All bar one, have been run on Ford coolant since day one. My 2.5T in the signature still looks near spotless inside the hoses, with no tarnishing etc after 192k and 12 years of use (it's technically had 2 coolant changes now, one at 8 years old, another at 11 years old)
MGB Sebring
Ran that on OAT when it was a new thing. It's now a no-no for many reasons, but that car was fine with it.
Ran it on Halfords Blue. Within a year, I had whisps of rust in the coolant from a previously spotless load of OAT that came out.
E46 M3
I've been naughty with this car. Coolant was 2 years overdue. Changed it last year, Despite it being overdue in a mixed metal engine, the coolant still came out clean (in it for 7 years). Some will call this a modern but bear in mind last year, the M3 was probably 4 years older than the MGB I mentioned above regarding the scenarios of when they happened. That, and the MGB's engine was newer relatively speakng.
M3's engine is still the factory engine. MGB had an Ivor Searle replacement engine fitted in 1997, so in 2008, the engine was in theory, alot newer than the M3's, relatively speaking (11 years old in 2008 vs 17 of the M3's last year). The MGB in this case, had zero reason for the coolant turning rusty so fast. The IAT coolant was barely one year old.
The MGB was also stored for 6 years prior to that with the OAT in it, which as said, was clear, well, red, when it came out.
I've noticed non-branded OATs aren't quite as effective, albeit that's only one case. My W124 E320 was the first OAT'd car where I found traces of silt in the coolant. Not as bad as the blue IAT coolants, but it was still there. I've never seen that on a car with factory/Ford OAT coolant.
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Last Edit: Aug 3, 2021 17:13:40 GMT by ChasR
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Thanks ChasR for sharing, That was a good read, can't beat real world experience and certainly sounds like you have seen first hand the difference coolant can make. For the sake of an extra tenner it sounds well worth the money!
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Any one any experience with Prestone?, it seems to offer longer corrosion protection and you can get 4L for £14 from tool station.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,188
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Coolant/AntifreezeChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Any one any experience with Prestone?, it seems to offer longer corrosion protection and you can get 4L for £14 from tool station. Not tried it. The Americans love using it from what I can tell. I now just tend to stick to factory or Comma Gxx coolants, purely as they work for me . I almost bought it for my ST220 as I bought that as a cheap 'restoration' and wanted a bit of fun, which goes away a little as cars get pricier, but I got the factory coolant cheaply .
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Last Edit: Aug 9, 2021 22:16:20 GMT by ChasR
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I think the factory coolant for the minor came out of a tap😊
I bought some prestone for it. It's got a new engine, alloy radiator and recent alloy heater matrix, I'll keep an eye on it, hopefully it will stay clear I can't imagine they would guarantee it for 5 years in somewhere as litigious as the states if they didn't have some confidence.
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Last Edit: Aug 10, 2021 9:37:41 GMT by kevins
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