Antifreeze
Aug 25, 2012 12:57:15 GMT
Post by shakermaker on Aug 25, 2012 12:57:15 GMT
I have to confess that since buying my TF almost two years ago, I’ve become a bit neurotic about checking the coolant level and a little cross eyed from driving with one eye on the Speedo and the other on the water temperature gauge. So yesterday a mild panic set in when I noticed that the coolant level had dropped about 5mm below normal.
Now I had a bottle of Car Plan 2 year antifreeze in the garage, but was it suitable, I wondered, when an OAT type is specified in the handbook together with a warning not to use any other type of antifreeze. The label said it was a methanol free formulation suitable for all engine types and was date stamped 17/07/09. There was no mention of OAT
Such was my paranoia at this point that I tried to find the spec sheet for it online, but that didn’t shed any more light on the matter. Then I remembered an article in Car Mechanics about antifreeze which I had bought earlier this year and for some reason had kept, which answered my concerns, so I’ve tried to pick out the bits which may or may not be of interest.
There are very few actual antifreeze manufactures in the UK which mean that regardless of brand and price, the formulations are all incredibly similar.
There is no need to worry about its ability to resist freezing – regardless of type and spec, they all behave similarly in terms of temperature and resistance to freezing which doesn’t alter much with age.
The more important issue is how well they prevent the engine from corroding or how good are they at stopping dissimilar metals from eating each other. In traditional two year brews, silicate and phosphate are the primary corrosion preventers; these are eaten up by the metals in the engine preventing them from devouring one another much like a sacrificial anode in a boat. But when the silicate is spent the anti-corrosion abilities are lost. This occurs approximately after 30,000 miles or two years whichever is the sooner.
Traditional two year mixes are normally O.K. to re fill systems designed for OAT antifreeze, and it seems many motorists will do this to cut costs, but you can’t mix the two. You can’t top up one with the other. It’s quite possible that the silicate in the traditional brew will react with one of the organic acids, leaving a mixture with almost no corrosion properties whatsoever.
As for the Car Plan stuff, well I didn’t use it but trotted off instead to Halfords for some of their ready mixed OAT formula. An eagle eye will now be kept to see if the coolant level falls again. As I said, I’ve had the car almost two years, so who knows when the coolant was changed last?
What’s going on inside that engine? I’m starting to worry again.
Cols
Now I had a bottle of Car Plan 2 year antifreeze in the garage, but was it suitable, I wondered, when an OAT type is specified in the handbook together with a warning not to use any other type of antifreeze. The label said it was a methanol free formulation suitable for all engine types and was date stamped 17/07/09. There was no mention of OAT
Such was my paranoia at this point that I tried to find the spec sheet for it online, but that didn’t shed any more light on the matter. Then I remembered an article in Car Mechanics about antifreeze which I had bought earlier this year and for some reason had kept, which answered my concerns, so I’ve tried to pick out the bits which may or may not be of interest.
There are very few actual antifreeze manufactures in the UK which mean that regardless of brand and price, the formulations are all incredibly similar.
There is no need to worry about its ability to resist freezing – regardless of type and spec, they all behave similarly in terms of temperature and resistance to freezing which doesn’t alter much with age.
The more important issue is how well they prevent the engine from corroding or how good are they at stopping dissimilar metals from eating each other. In traditional two year brews, silicate and phosphate are the primary corrosion preventers; these are eaten up by the metals in the engine preventing them from devouring one another much like a sacrificial anode in a boat. But when the silicate is spent the anti-corrosion abilities are lost. This occurs approximately after 30,000 miles or two years whichever is the sooner.
Traditional two year mixes are normally O.K. to re fill systems designed for OAT antifreeze, and it seems many motorists will do this to cut costs, but you can’t mix the two. You can’t top up one with the other. It’s quite possible that the silicate in the traditional brew will react with one of the organic acids, leaving a mixture with almost no corrosion properties whatsoever.
As for the Car Plan stuff, well I didn’t use it but trotted off instead to Halfords for some of their ready mixed OAT formula. An eagle eye will now be kept to see if the coolant level falls again. As I said, I’ve had the car almost two years, so who knows when the coolant was changed last?
What’s going on inside that engine? I’m starting to worry again.
Cols
