Coolant OAT or Green stuff

**rick130** · 30th January 2008, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by strangy

<snip>
The supplier freaked about the OAT and claimed that it killed more radiators than it protected and that the green stuff would never harm the motor or other parts of the system.

BS. A lot of these death stories originated in the US (and still persist) as GM started using OAT (DEXCOOL) years ago, then had a rash of cooling system leaks in various models, particularly the Chev V6's.
Turned out to be a crap inlet manifold gasket spec. Changed the gaskets, no more problems. A lot of people when converting to OAT from other coolants didn't flush the system properly, or the system was already in a poor state, then they blame the coolant.
Stray current is also a massive killer of cooling systems, particularly predominantly aluminium engines/rads, and no coolant will protect against that.

The advantages of an OAT are that it doesn't coat all the internal surfaces with silicates, therefore giving better heat transfer. (roughly half way between a silicate based coolant and straight water)
The lack of silicates and nitrates also reduces water pump wear, both on the seals and impeller. (the silicates act as an abrasive long term)
If the cooling system is in excellent condition, it lasts a long time.

As Dave stated, CAT ELC is almost identical to Land Rover OAT, both are supplied by Caltex/Texaco, the CAT one has a couple of supplementary additives. I don't think one of the worlds biggest diesel engine and heavy machinery manufacturers would jeopardise their customers engines with a substandard coolant.

**Rosco** · 30th January 2008, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by rick130

Stray current is also a massive killer of cooling systems, particularly predominantly aluminium engines/rads, and no coolant will protect against that.

I heard of that not long after getting my 03 fender. Stuck a multi on the rad and got a small reading. For a short while I ran an earth wire to the body, then removed it.

Any comments??

Cheers

ak · 30th January 2008, 08:34 AM

Graeme Coopers have been using the green stuff for years and they service more Td5's than most people can poke a stick at. I mentioned this to them and they said yes everyone will tell you that you can only use the red stuff "not true". With the experience they have and the number of Td5's they service it would be hard to think they would be wrong.

**rick130** · 30th January 2008, 08:47 AM

ak, if you totally flush a cooling system, you can use whatever coolant you like, but there are some advantages to OAT, as I outlined above.

**rick130** · 30th January 2008, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Rosco

I heard of that not long after getting my 03 fender. Stuck a multi on the rad and got a small reading. For a short while I ran an earth wire to the body, then removed it.

Any comments??

Cheers

I'd have to check what voltage is acceptable and what isn't, but usually it's a crook earth or two somewhere causing it.

More than likely there is something on ARE Cooling (Aluminium Radiators & Engineering P/L)

A mate of mine lost three Commodore radiators in a row to stray current.

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 30th January 2008, 08:57 AM

Hey Rick,,

whats the go with the horse flu down there now?

(sorry about the hijack

)

**CraigE** · 30th January 2008, 11:08 AM

Is not the reason for using oat that the green silicate stuff causes corrossion of certain metals found in TD5 engines and cooling systems? You can get away with using whatever you like, but long term there may be damage from using incorrect coolant. Is it worth the risk? Oat is no dearer and easily available if you know what you are looking for. Most auto shops stock the Nulon and unless you read carefully may miss that it is Oat. Using the green silicate glycol stuff also means more frequent changes.

**Blknight.aus** · 30th January 2008, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by CraigE

Is not the reason for using oat that the green silicate stuff causes corrossion of certain metals found in TD5 engines and cooling systems?

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding.............. Give the man a prise.

you may not suffer for a few years but you will suffer.

Zute · 30th January 2008, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

I use the nulon stuff that comes in a post mix 5l bottle and dilute it with distilled water.

Blknight, So you dilute 5l Nulon stuff with 5l water ? I live in a colder climate, ACT. Would you still use that ratio ?
Many thanks.

tombraider · 31st January 2008, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Hey Rick,,

whats the go with the horse flu down there now?

(sorry about the hijack

)

Dunno...

But amongst other things - I think they use OAT (s) in the horses....

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