Blue or Red Antifreeze??

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D

Dick

New Member
Posts
28
Hi,
I recently part filled the cooling system with blue antifreeze and all appears to be OK. When talking on the CB radio yesterday a Land Rover engineer informed me that the blue antifreeze will damage the gasget on the cylinder head and that I should drain the system and re-fill with red antifreeze from Tesco. Has anyone heard of damage caused by the wrong antifreeze? Thanks for your help.
Dick.
 
a) yu shouldnt mix antifreeze - as they can form a gel and block waterways - so did yu drain out all the old stuff first?
b) you need to use OAT antifreeze in gaylanders.
c) check wot yu put in - if its incorrect drain it, flush it and refill.
 
You need to use OAT (Organic Acid Technology) antifreeze which is red.
It would be better to drain and flush the system out as there has been links to gaskets failing. Also it could cause a reaction between the two however the short time blue antifreeze has been in will not have caused any probs just change asap
 
I agree - just don't mix both types or they gel up and block waterways - then its a flush out to solve the resulting overheating problem.
 
They used to change the colour every year so as you knew if the antifreeze had been changed but that was years ago when it was all the same.

Just thought I'd mention it..:D
 
just looked at my servicing manual and it says to change brake fluid every few year or so many miles (not got book with me) but nothing about antifreeze. How often should it be changed? A friend suggested that old antifreeze could corrode the cylinder head gasket over time, any truth in this?
 
Billy-g said:
The bloke who invented anti freeze must be a rich man. Selling 99% water 1% additive. Wish I had invented it.
Click to expand...

Back in the '60's of last century I never bought antifreeze. At the job we made lots and lots of carboncopies to be distributed within the building (was the ITT Europe HQ in Brussels) between all the hotshots of the company. We used liters and liters of alcohol for this and as antifreeze in my Mini I just poured in that kind of alcohol. Just had to make sure I regularly added alcohol to it as it evaporated. The car slept outside winter and summer, never have had a cooling nor freezing problem, at no cost (for me) at all.:D:D:D:D:D
 
IIRC the red anti-freeze as marketed by Landrover is classed as 'extended life' and need only be changed at 3 years rather than the normal 2.
I am not convinced of this need to change if the coolant is properly maintained, on the fortunately rare occasions when our TD4 or V6 needs a tiny amount I use a 50/50 mixture of Landrover red and distilled water (I am in a very hard water area).
Expert - if it exists- opinion of the need to change would be welcome.
 
If it was a "general" silicate based coolant then it needs regular changes. This is because the corrosion protection is provided by the silicate depleting from the coolant and coating the surfaces inside the engine / radiator. As that coating gets eroded, more silicate depletes to cover it, and so eventually you need either a silicate package to top it up, or just change the coolant.

OAT (organic acid) coolant doesn't have a silicate package, it protects from corrosion at a mollecular level. Not exactly sure of the details :crazy:, but I do know that it doesn't need to be changed very often. I think 3 years is specified for Freelander, whereas other LR products have the same coolant but longer between coolant changes. Make your own mind up on that one, but I won't be changing mine for at least 5 years since first fill, other than top ups where necessary.

:)
 
Kungfu0210 said:
OAT (organic acid) coolant doesn't have a silicate package, it protects from corrosion at a mollecular level. Not exactly sure of the details :crazy:, but I do know that it doesn't need to be changed very often. I think 3 years is specified for Freelander, whereas other LR products have the same coolant but longer between coolant changes. Make your own mind up on that one, but I won't be changing mine for at least 5 years since first fill, other than top ups where necessary.

What I hopedto hear, thank you Kungfu. Mine is the original at nearly 6 years from factory fill.
Click to expand...
 
For freelanders upto june 2000 use an ethylene-glycol based with non-phosphate corrosion inhibitors containing no methanol.

For freelanders june 2000 onwards use ethylene-glycol based containing no methanol with only OAT corrosion inhibitors.
 
howardo said:
For freelanders upto june 2000 use an ethylene-glycol based with non-phosphate corrosion inhibitors containing no methanol.

For freelanders june 2000 onwards use ethylene-glycol based containing no methanol with only OAT corrosion inhibitors.
Click to expand...


Hi all ,

Does anyone here can guide me how do we carry out coolant change on a TD4? Can I use wet wetter by Redline for TD4 coolant? Thanks:)
 
Coolant change procedure is in the Rave manwell. You do have one? Why do you want to use water wetter? You dont have a petrol engine and the TD4 is not known for overheating!
 
Had a chat today with man from unipart shop and he said Red is best, blue is bad for v8s as they are alloy and it will bugger it in time.
 
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