coolant type

[frostyblue]

Hey Guys, Looking thru various post about coolant, Ive checked mine and its green like Nulon type, not red, will this do any harm

cheers

ken

[Blknight.aus]

not in the short term.

[frostyblue]

mmm not in the short term, I would have thought any good coolant would be ok, Ive used the green stuff in all sorts of veh, never had any probs, please explain the error this will cause me, I wanna make sure the coolant is correct for the TD5 and does this mean that a drain and flush is needed

cheers
ken

[northiam]

Found the answer here...

The OAT anti-freeze is designed specifically for the protection of the aluminum system. It provides a microscopic barrier, a thin gaseous film, as protection for the system components. This film “bonds” to the aluminum surfaces it comes in contact with, providing protection against corrosion. When conventional anti-freeze is introduced into the system, this protection is washed away and chemical reaction corrosion begins almost immediately. Remember that the use of long life anti-freeze as a replacement for conventional anti-freeze does not extend the recommended system service requirements as set forth by the manufacturer. The “extended” life or protection ability of the long life coolants only applies to new vehicles in which the coolant is installed initially and then maintained by regular system service.

From
Aluminum Radiators at Radiators.com (http://www.radiators.com/radiator_how_to_aluminum_radiators.html)

[frostyblue]

thanks guys for the heads up, so any anti freeze that says suitable for allow engines is not entirely correct

cheers

[simonl8353]

I have green Nulon (ethylene glycol) and only top up with the same. Why? Because that how I got the car 5yrs ago.

Ideally you should have the red OAT in it but (from what I have learnt over the past 5 yrs from this site) if you change from green back to red you'll cause a few weaknesses in the cooling system to reveal themselves. ie stick with what you have.

And if you do decide to change, never never change back without a full coolant flush through all components, (block, hoses, radiator). If they mix it'll cause a reaction and cause faster corrosion. :(

[frostyblue]

thanks simon I will do same also due to already having green coolant

cheers

Ken

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

if you never had a system leak before using the green coolant and do a full flush and then use OAT, you will soon see any weak spots in the system. That OAT squeezes out of the most minute gap after it's eaten any scale inside the system. I will leak from hose clamps, theromstats, I even manged to come out of what looked like a perfect whelsh plug on my engine that had never leaked before.
You will find little trails, drop marks of highly visible pink where it dries

[BIG O]

Ditch the Oat. As has been said it will leak where ever it gets the chance. I had a leak between the oil cooler and engine block on the wifes Td5, flushed the Oat crap out and replaced with Nulon green glycol which by the way is perfect for alloy rads and heads, it stopped the leak, saved myself about 6 hours labour. There are no problem s with using it just the difference of a year in change interval. Ive had green glycol nulon in my other Td5 for years no problem s and no leaks..

BIG O
1999 D2 Td5 Auto ACE
2003 D2 Td5 Auto

[davrac]

I agree with Big O. I have been running the green in my Td5 for 3 years and no signs of a leak from anywhere. As for corrosion I will take my chances.

I worked on cars for 10 years and yes did see some corrosion under hoses mainly eg thermostat housings heater pipes etc. I have never replaced any major components like cyl heads or radiators due to corrosion caused by green coolant.

Everyone has a different spin on coolants/oils etc. There is that many opinions it is hard to know what the right thing to do is.

If you really want to be a rebel mercedes do a nice yellow, and even blue coolant:D

[frostyblue]

ye thanks guys, I think I will keep the green up to it

cheers

Ken

[Slunnie]

Why would LR run red OAT and not green OAT like in the V8 or not the cheaper glycol.

I would expect that the reason is a long term reason - such as breaking down of parts through corrosion, cavitation or similar over a longer period of time.

I replaced my green coolant with a flush and back to red OAT. IF you're putting new stuff in then there is no real reason to not use the proper stuff.

[bee utey]

Why would LR run red OAT and not green OAT like in the V8 or not the cheaper glycol.

I would expect that the reason is a long term reason - such as breaking down of parts through corrosion, cavitation or similar over a longer period of time.

I replaced my green coolant with a flush and back to red OAT. IF you're putting new stuff in then there is no real reason to not use the proper stuff.

All well and good so long as you are prepared to fix all the leaks that result from the change. This can be an expensive and difficult exercise. Keeping the green stuff in delays the job until you are ready for it, during a major overhaul.

[Slunnie]

All well and good so long as you are prepared to fix all the leaks that result from the change. This can be an expensive and difficult exercise. Keeping the green stuff in delays the job until you are ready for it, during a major overhaul.
Mine sealed themselves up over a couple of weeks including a beauty from the fuel cooler. There is now one drip still remaining which was there with the green coolant. Its better than having to overhaul everything under the bonnet at all.

[Mundy]

I changed mine to green about 5 years ago as I was concerned about the then relative unavailability of red coolant in remote areas and the potential need to add coolant if a hose broke or similar. I asked my LR specialist mechanic who said that there's no problem using high quality green in lieu of the red. There are huge numbers of vehicles with aluminium parts, which use green coolant with no apparent problems.
Mundy

[alpick]

Coopers in sydney use green and mine has had it for 12 years, all good so far!

[OffTrack]

Mine sealed themselves up over a couple of weeks including a beauty from the fuel cooler. There is now one drip still remaining which was there with the green coolant. Its better than having to overhaul everything under the bonnet at all.

I changed mine from green to Nulon RED OAT about 4 months ago. I did the swap at the same time as changing most of the cooling system hoses.

After the change over the front seal of the fuel cooler started leaking, but I suspect this had more to do with the cooler hoses being moved will changing the hoses around the thermostat than anything specifically related to the OAT.

I did get a leak around the hose at the outlet of the water pump that didn't fix itself, and required the aluminium flange at the outlet to be scoured back to a clean shiny finish before the leak sealed.

The other thing that became an issue was a leak from behind the water pump mounting bracket. There is a o-ring that deteriorates over time and you start to get coolant stains on the side of the sump. It's easy to ignore with the green coolant, not so easy when there is a neon red stain on the side of the sump.

cheers
Paul

[R2D2]

If i had a dollar for every time i got asked this same question, I would be driving a later model Disco!:D
The colour of the coolant has nothing to do with it. Its only a dye. If there were no colour in the coolant, you can't see it in the header tank. A dark color is easier to see in a white plastic tank.It has better contrast.
From memory, OAT stands for Organic Acid Technology or some such and has more to do with protecting silicone seals and orings.
I sell 4 different coolants at my work. All are different colours. All to some degree do the same job. I use Fleetguard PG Platinum (Propylene Glycol) in my D2 and its an OAT coolant. It happens to be a purple colour. It would make no difference if it were green or red or yellow etc...

Here is a short vid on it from my mate Kev at Fleetguard HQ in Melbourne.

Are all coolants created equal? - YouTube

Why do we stock them all? Simple. If you go and spend $250k+ on a new truck, use a non same branded coolant, and have a cooling issue while under warranty, they can blame it on the coolant and wash there hands of you. A simple sample test will tell them what brand you were using. The same goes for oils to a degree. They all have signatures.
Just like an insurance company, if you dont declare extra's or mod's, they can take their bat and ball and more importantly your money and walk away.

Im not telling you to drop what you have and convert.
It's just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers
R2

[Slunnie]

Then why does LandRover use a different coolant in the TD5 compared to the V8? They are both OAT.

[Rocky88]

My Td5 came with green coolant when I bought it and I later replaced it with OAT. I haven't gotten any leaks in about 2 months since i changed it.
It was a pain in the arse flushing the system out and getting rid of the green coolant though. If you do switch from green to red make sure you flush the system well and bleed it at the end till the coolant coming out has no green left in it.

[rick130]

[snip]
I use Fleetguard PG Platinum (Propylene Glycol) in my D2 and its an OAT coolant. It happens to be a purple colour. It would make no difference if it were green or red or yellow etc...


[snip]
It's just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers
R2

It's actually a HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid technology) and the latest in coolant technology.

It's also my current coolant of choice across my small fleet and amazingly well priced as a complete drop in coolant.