Thread: coolant type

not in the short term.

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

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

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

cheers

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.

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

cheers

Ken

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

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