Classic Alfa Forums

because we are moving house my sud is going to be kept outside this winter
can someone in the know can tell me which antifreeze to use , one that won't
corrode the alloy heads.

Blue anti freeze

sound advice here

http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/imgytr/hints& ... freeze.pdf

thanks

alfachris wrote:Blue anti freeze

And the similarly coloured WKD does the same thing i gather!


Only joking of course, please dont put Alcopops in your radiator Melv


Although???

petrolhead wrote:

alfachris wrote:Blue anti freeze

And the similarly coloured WKD does the same thing i gather!


Only joking of course, please dont put Alcopops in your radiator Melv


Although???

You need to be carful of this sort of thing Shrew... I'm a member of this forum... And I already won two sets of wheels that don't fit, I don't want to buy a new radiator too

sorry Justin, i forgot


although i'm sure you know that wkd is actually an octane booster, not antifreeze,




that'd be just silly eh

I use wkd as liquid ear plugs for when the wife moans at me for spending money on "old bangers"

top use melv, well discovered

melv wrote:I use wkd as liquid ear plugs for when the wife moans at me for spending money on "old bangers"

Tell her she's right and start dating a 21 year old then

Right...

Here's the thing:

Point 1: Antifreeze is not about the colour obviously. The reason why they are coloured is because its a poison and decades ago a woman killed a lot of guys with this stuff as it was colourless.

Point 2: Any good antifreeze will not .. Freeze :/ Not in less than Arctic temps anyway

Point 3: A good antifreeze, apart from the obvious, it needs to be good at 2 things:
a - Anticorrosive
b - Temp Drop when you drive fast

Regarding "a", in the early years they invented it, the substances they used were not very alloy friendly but I believe that today this is no longer an issue
Regarding "b" , not that its that important for you guys in UK unless you go for track days, this was actually a British innovation.

Back in the World War 2, planes were trying to go faster and faster. So what the Brits did, was put smaller radiators to increase aerodynamics and gain a few mph. That resulted to overheating issues, and I dont think it was an option back then to pull over in the sky and let it cool down.
So, Rolls Royce came up with this substance that DROPS the temp by a few degrees when going full throttle.


One last remark, concentrated antifreeze is better than one thats all ready to pour.
First because if you buy ready one you pay for the water as well, and secondly because you can do the correct mixture for your car yourself.

NEVER fill up your radiator with just the concentrated stuff (I mean without adding distilled water), because these things usually have a peak performance at 50% mixture.
Meaning 50% antifreeze, and 50% distilled water. (I emphasize on DISTILLED).
If you put more than 50% antifreeze (or whatever is written on the box) then its peak performance line starts going down again.


Thats all
...and yes I am anal about lubricants !

...ok that didnt sound right


I use EUROCOOL by GULF. It's cheap, its very very good - tested it personally for many years now - and it does what it says on the box
Not meaning that other brands arent good.

its_welshy wrote:

melv wrote:I use wkd as liquid ear plugs for when the wife moans at me for spending money on "old bangers"

Tell her she's right and start dating a 21 year old then

I haven't been having nights out with wayne rooney.

thanks chris I didn't think you would need anti freeze over there.

Freeze is at 0 degrees mate, yes we dont get -10 or -20 but up to -5 I have witnessed.

My dad had 2 engines with a broken engine block due to the ice. Thank GOD one of the was a peugeot which we then fixed and scrapped, and the other was a Merc, which we fixed and sold to some poor b@st@rd

hahahahahahahhaa

using distilled water is a very good call chris, especially the hard water in our area that will corrode the alloy heads up and can rot the gaskets.

also a good point about not going beyond 50%. once you get beyond about 70% i seem to remember i think it actually becomes about as bad as having none in at all

My two-penneth is that firstly i have to defend the Pre-mixed stuff available, for the simple fact that its then impossible to get the ratio wrong and its worry free.

Plus, by the time you've bought the concentrate, and then sourced proper pure distilled water, which is the only thing it should be mixed with, you've barely saved anything, but still have the hassle of mixing and measuring it up.

Also, if this query is for a complete replacement, i.e. a full drain, flush, and fill up, thats one thing, but if there's any original coolant/antifreeze to be left in the system, you should really know exactly how much, and what strength it already is. So now you need a hydrometer type tool to measure what you still have in the motor for strength. This is the only way you can then mix a concentrate/distilled water solution to know that you won't be diluting it by adding a now partly good new solution to a current weak solution, therefore corrupting the whole lot.


Getting the picture yet fella's?


tools, concentrate, distilled water, simply adds up to more expense and hassle than neccessary in my book.


any quality branded pre-mix solution , wisely chosen, and replace the whole lot following a thorough flush, is best practice by far if you ask me.


what would Chris know, he'll be sunbathing Boxing Day with bbq'd turkey sandwiches!

aah, but what about the bit in the block you can't get out mate

apart from on our handy boxer motors of course.....but then we end up with the bottom few inches of the rad that don't drain due to the height of the bottom hose which means removing the rad.....

It's hardly a chore Kev one bolt,couple of connections and some careful jiggling. Can then pick all the dead insects out.

lol, you're right there mate.

looking forward to getting some flies into my rad in the spring

I don't know anybody here that use distilled water. We just use tap water and mix it with antifreeze. Don't have any problems with corroded heads

SteffenJ3316V wrote:I don't know anybody here that use distilled water. We just use tap water and mix it with antifreeze. Don't have any problems with corroded heads

you've probably got better tap water over there mate. here (especially in lincs) the limestone limescale that is in our water is pretty high, ruins kettles in a few years


at least the distilled stuff is cheaper than the bottled spring water that gets sold here, now that is a rip off!

bought a 25L drum for £10 tonight.

guess that still seems daft though?

Im also in the distilled water camp.... alfa heads are a funny thing,, and will corrode for the fun of it.

I get the distilled water from halfords and just mix it with the antifreeze at home.. im quiet a simple lad, so if im after a 50 / 50 mix, its 2.5 litres of each into a 5 litre tub, fill up the car, the rest is sits on the shelf as top up.

I also purchased a refractometer, they are about 20 quid and then you know for sure what ratio / temps / protection you have.
the stupid little things with the floating balls are horribly in accurate

:O)

I always use Prestone because it mixes with all types

KevJTD wrote:bought a 25L drum for £10 tonight.

so long as you've got enough mate