Coolant

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TheMegaMan

TheMegaMan

Well-Known Member
Posts
516
Location
Cambridge
I'm almost certainly being paranoid here, as my experience is the past has been with more sensitive alloy engines, where getting the right coolant was fairly important.

What coolant do people generally use?

The book says 'Universal', with ethylene glycol-based as an alternative, stating no methanol.

All the 'universal' ones I can see on Amazon are only in 1L quantities, so buying 8 of those isn't going to be terribly efficient, and the EG-based ones don't explicitly state they are methanol-free.

If I assume all basic/cheap ones are actually universal, then I still have a choice of red or blue.

Suggestions? Pick the cheapest?

Cheers!
 
in a series engine, i'd use the traditional green or sometimes blue ethylene glycol stuff.
stuff now commonly called 'universal' is antifreeze that can be used to top up existing coolant, regardless of which kind has been used.
methanol hasn't been used for many years, as far as I know
I'm sure someone will come along with a different view :)
 
I am sure the green version would be fine in a series engine. After all that is what was most likely available when they were new. I have never heard of methanol being present in antifreeze. You could probably look up some safety data sheets to see what the composition of current products consists of. Most likely 95% ethylene glycol plus some anti corrosion additives for the green stuff.
 
I nearly always use Comma fluids, oil and coolant. comma oil.com. And usually get it from opieoils.co.uk (they also do ebay). A lot of halfords branded items are re-bottled comma products, I can get stuff delivered for less than the retail cost at half's. Comma has a good website, do a bit of research there.
 
You do know that it has to be diluted with water to get a low freezing point? Pure ethylene glycol freezes at only thing -12C. A 50/50 mix is good to -33C. I don't think many people would try to estimate how cold winter will get and then consult a table to figure out what percentage their antifreeze should be mixed too.
 
TheMegaMan said:
I'm almost certainly being paranoid here, as my experience is the past has been with more sensitive alloy engines, where getting the right coolant was fairly important.

What coolant do people generally use?

The book says 'Universal', with ethylene glycol-based as an alternative, stating no methanol.

All the 'universal' ones I can see on Amazon are only in 1L quantities, so buying 8 of those isn't going to be terribly efficient, and the EG-based ones don't explicitly state they are methanol-free.

If I assume all basic/cheap ones are actually universal, then I still have a choice of red or blue.

Suggestions? Pick the cheapest?

Cheers!
Click to expand...
I just bought a couple of gallons for £35 from Wilco Direct.....deleivered in a couple of days as I'm stuck at home.
 
I've gone over to Prestone, our local factors stock it in concentrate. Its widely used in the US classic and hod rod scene, appearntly it works well in old engines and all mixes of metals. It also means I only need one coolant for the Series and my Merc whereas before I needed 2.
 
Wimblowdriver said:
I nearly always use Comma fluids, oil and coolant. comma oil.com. And usually get it from opieoils.co.uk (they also do ebay). A lot of halfords branded items are re-bottled comma products, I can get stuff delivered for less than the retail cost at half's. Comma has a good website, do a bit of research there.
Click to expand...
I like and have also used Comma lubes (also Halfrauds-branded on occasion) and coolants on other vehicles, too, but when I looked on their web site, it didn't list an S3, nor any 2.25 litre Defenders, and for the 2.5 litre petrol Defender (the closest I could find), it suggested Xstream G30, which is OAT-based and I was doubtful about that. Hence why I asked the question here. Thanks for confirming my concerns, @lynall - that's exactly what I suspected.

@rob1miles OK, I'd seen some good reviews on that on-line, but wasn't sure whether it was a genuine reliable brand, or someone trying to big-up a no-name product. If it's got a genuine reputation, I'll give that a go! :)

Cheers, all.
 
Gord Wedman said:
You do know that it has to be diluted with water to get a low freezing point? Pure ethylene glycol freezes at only thing -12C. A 50/50 mix is good to -33C. I don't think many people would try to estimate how cold winter will get and then consult a table to figure out what percentage their antifreeze should be mixed too.
Click to expand...

Yes, thank you.
 
There is a very strange retractable hose on the side of the bus depot that deposits orange stuff at the press of a handle. Very convenient when on ones way home from work.

no idea what it’s made of :oops:
 
Rodeo Joe said:
Why not use the organic acid type?
Click to expand...

I cannot be very scientific, bit Iirc it is something to do with seals and gaskets, the oats gear making them leak.
Old stuff will have paper/cork type gaskets, newer stuff o-rings and tin type gaskets.

I do see paper gaskets on newer trucks at work, but it is that quality grey stuff with built in beads of sealant, so I assume it is engineered for the job?
 
lynall said:
I cannot be very scientific, bit Iirc it is something to do with seals and gaskets, the oats gear making them leak.
Old stuff will have paper/cork type gaskets, newer stuff o-rings and tin type gaskets.

I do see paper gaskets on newer trucks at work, but it is that quality grey stuff with built in beads of sealant, so I assume it is engineered for the job?
Click to expand...
Ah ok........just put some in my transit do you reckon I should change it again then?
 
Rodeo Joe said:
Ah ok........just put some in my transit do you reckon I should change it again then?
Click to expand...

How old is the transit?
I always work on the first proper land rover with oats was the td5, which was 98 onwards, so anything after 98 should be okay.

You have to be careful with coolants, as for example halfords do stuff that mixes with both types, they also do an early one that is red just to add some confusion, i know some fo the french stuff runs different gear again, all sorts of strange colours etc.

I have seen it at work where one mech kept adding the blue gear as top up for a load of motors that had red oats in, and the whole range of trucks (30) he was looking after suffered from head gasket problems, since we corrected him in the error of his ways, I dont think another one has gone wrong, so no matter what people say, there is some fact to it.
They are touchy buggers at the best of times, and it is not unknown for head gasket failure to occur (but rare I can recall a handfull in 9 years at my previous job) but the amount that was going wrong (10 plus per year) was just plain silly, I do not think one has gone down this year so far.

The problem with land rover owners more than any other make of car owners is, A they think they know better, B they feel the need to upgrade, C they are tight f***s:D
 
lynall said:
How old is the transit?
I always work on the first proper land rover with oats was the td5, which was 98 onwards, so anything after 98 should be okay.

You have to be careful with coolants, as for example halfords do stuff that mixes with both types, they also do an early one that is red just to add some confusion, i know some fo the french stuff runs different gear again, all sorts of strange colours etc.

I have seen it at work where one mech kept adding the blue gear as top up for a load of motors that had red oats in, and the whole range of trucks (30) he was looking after suffered from head gasket problems, since we corrected him in the error of his ways, I dont think another one has gone wrong, so no matter what people say, there is some fact to it.
They are touchy buggers at the best of times, and it is not unknown for head gasket failure to occur (but rare I can recall a handfull in 9 years at my previous job) but the amount that was going wrong (10 plus per year) was just plain silly, I do not think one has gone down this year so far.

The problem with land rover owners more than any other make of car owners is, A they think they know better, B they feel the need to upgrade, C they are tight f***s:D
Click to expand...

Its a '96 ish transit engine in my 2001 LDV camper.
I just changed the engine to a better one (i.e one that doesn't knock and smoke outrageously) and its from a rusted to bits M reg ford autosleeper I inherited from a deceased relative.
I kept it firstly for the engine and secondly being a tight f***er I thought I'd get a newer van and swap out all the camper goodies to make a proper motorhome........another project in the offing now I've been stuck at home for weeks and have just about got the series 3 ex mil 109 back on the road. Pending the DVLA ever going back to work.:rolleyes:
 
Rodeo Joe said:
Its a '96 ish transit engine in my 2001 LDV camper.
I just changed the engine to a better one (i.e one that doesn't knock and smoke outrageously) and its from a rusted to bits M reg ford autosleeper I inherited from a deceased relative.
I kept it firstly for the engine and secondly being a tight f***er I thought I'd get a newer van and swap out all the camper goodies to make a proper motorhome........another project in the offing now I've been stuck at home for weeks and have just about got the series 3 ex mil 109 back on the road. Pending the DVLA ever going back to work.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Di or the later common rail job?
 
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