Preferred antifreeze/coolant?

[lloyd]

A little reading is dangerous.

For years I have used the yellow-green standard prestone/zerex coolant in my older cars.

At one time, because we overbought for a vehicle that specified its use, we tried something commonly referred to as extended life Dex cool. Think it was marketed by Havoline/Texaco and was bright orange in color. Never had any problems (so far as I am aware) with either product.

I noticed an M6 owner pouring in blue coolant to his coolant system and asked about it. I can't recall whether it was BMW or VW juice, but this person said it was practically "magical." Since that time, I have done a "little" research.

Opinions vary widely. The yellow green mixture is supposedly too abrasive and contains phosphates, the orange stuff supposedly has a habit of turning to gel or is it goo?. But the red stuff sold by Toyota may have fixed that problem (real or imagined), Blue is probably good but it is over priced, and it "seems" as though the better product of the moment may be the Mercedes/Chrysler suggested "gold" coolant.


Have you had any bad experiences with any of the above? What do you folks currently recommend?

TIA

 

[Malc]

There's a lot of hype out there about Antifreeze

Basically for a vehicle out of warranty just buy a product that will work in engines with different metals.
The colour is down to the dye the makers put in. Some claim to last the life of the car but personally I change the coolant in my cars every 2 - 3 years and flush the systems. Sludge will build up whatever the claims.
Use a 50-50, and try and use "soft" water if possible as lime scale can be a real problem in an engine.
I actually buy my antifreeze from the local Agricultural Engineers, quality is good and a fair price for a 25litre drum.
Malc

 

[ingraham]

Ethylene Glycol usually ...

I recommend ethylene glycol antifreeze mixed 50/50 with distilled water for BMWs with all metal radiators. For plastic/aluminum radiators, use BMW coolant mixed the same way.

Don't believe the 'long life' marketing story. Whatever you use, drain, flush, and renew it every two years.

 

[marc]

Has any body tried some thing called `water wetter` its a chemical you add to your cooling system thats supposed to make the water cool beter and drop the temps by up to 30 f. Its made by a company called red line.

 

[ingraham]

Water Wetter

Info here: http://www.redlineoil.com/products_coolant.asp?subCategoryID=4

It does lower the coolant temperature, but 30 F is perhaps optimistic. Friends who have tried it say 10 F is more likely. It's more common in track cars than street cars. If you need it, you are merely masking a cooling system problem. It's good as a temporary fix or a last resort.

 

[RIQUE]

I use WaterWetter in my volvo p1800e. Its cooling system is in tip top condition and together with the WW the results are fantastic. I only use distilled water and WW. I am going to install the same combination in my 73CSA to help keep the tranny cool also.
Enrique