Coolant Type

[epipete]

Whilst I see above, and benefit from the knowledge, that OAT should not be used, can someone determine if it is actually harmful to the internal workings or merely fails to impart rust protection to specific components.

Looking at the colour of my coolant it appears to be pink(ish)!

[Fredjohn]

Thanks for your comments guys.

Dave: quite happy to dump the old fluid in the system: it's at least 3 years old (past sell by date) and has become slightly more diluted after I fitted my new gear cables. I'll give it all a good flush out whilst at it.

Jim: I assume by Comma Blue you mean what they now call Comma Super Coldmaster Antifreeze. It's cheaper than their Xstream G48 which in addition contains silicate.

Pete: reading higher up on this thread it seems to infer that OAT red antifreeze will not prevent corrosion to brass/copper items.

I have decided to go for the Comma Super Coldmaster Antifreeze if I can find it locally. Their instructions say use de-ionised water, can I mix it with ordinary tap water instead?

[muley]

I'd stick with de-ionised water - round our way the water has lots of solids dissolved in it (hard water) well, it comes from the Thames so it's prolly been through 3 or 4 kidneys before we get it.



Jim

[chris.t]

OK my coolant hasn't been changed in years! Its the orangey coloured stuff whatever that is. It's always been that colour from when I bought it new in 1991. So I'm a little confused as to what to use. I gather you can't mix different types (?) I'm going to change the thermostat so will just top up with water to make up the loss. So my question is does the good stuff come in the orangey colour?

[Fredjohn]

Use the old fashioned blue coloured stuff.

Avoid anything that says O.A.T.

Suggest you thoroughly flush your system and beware of airlocks when refilling.

Your orange colour probably comes from the rust inside the system. That's normal, it'll go once flushed.

[Tuga2112]

the orange stuff is not really meant to be there, but over the years the rust inibitors of the coolant stop working, and rust will build up.
its not meant to happen if you flush and put new coolant within the specified period.

my yellow car has blue coolant, but i just flushed the small fiat and it was of a very bright orange. after putting new coolant, it became orange within 2 minutes of running the engine.
so im going to need to flush it a few times before all the rust buildup is gone.

its nothing to worry about, but its preferable to avoid with regular maintenance.

[Steve A]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAbfTtMKWOU&t=419s

I think this pretty much sums up the moving target that is coolant, especially from around the 3min mark.
You can now get P.O.A.T antifreeze which is suppose to be the latest dogs dangly bits in the coolant world.