Coolants - Pick The Right One!

[2011_drivetech4]

Hello Everybody,
Here's an update. I went to TASS on saturday and asked to check the condition of coolant, level of coolant in tank & head gasket. I got reply that the everthing is fine and TASS topped up the coolant to Max level (No payments from my pockect). To my question on the decrease in level of the coolant, the reply was that the pressure developed inside the tank would have caused the level to go down !!! I will check the level today.

 

[jarpickle]

If there is air inside the radiator it can be removed.You need to do this early in the morning.Park the car on a level ground.Remove the radiator cap and start the engine.If there is air it will come out this way.If not then it is not normal for a car to consume coolant just after a couple of kms and in no way should the coolant get muddy.

 

[2011_drivetech4]

A small update with the coolant issue.

Level of coolant in the tank is ok. I have observed the level for sometime now. So far Vista has given me trouble free ownership. Only the struts were changed under warranty. I am quite saisfied with the car .

 

[jarpickle]

What about the condition of the coolant.Is it getting muddy?Any deposits founds in the coolant?

 

[2011_drivetech4]

No deposits were found neither it is muddy. The colour of the coolant is dark red colour. I have seen only blue colour for the coolant in most cars . TASS topped the coolant to the Max. level. during my last visit and it retains the same level.

 

[jarpickle]

I think Red is the new one.Found in diesel cars.

 

[patkar_a]

An experience about coolant Flushing.
Few days back My oldy goldy Omni started overheating,and the Fluid level used to go down subsequently after a brief driving of 500 kms. Took my car to my regular mechanic,just check it,a metal elbow of radiator which is connected to engine was rusted and coolant was leaking through it.He replaced it with new one.The radiator inside had a lot of oil sludge and mud inside.

But i also told him to clean the the radiator.He advised for a radiator flush.
He just put the flush into the old radiator water.Told me to come next day after 5-10 kms of drive for replacing the water.
Went next day he flushed the radiator water,found the inner part of radiator was quite cleaned,looked as if new.
Next new coolant was poured,and vroom!!!

 

[Sidd7hartha]

The glycol based aka the gree coolant was widely used after the water . Water vapourises so soon , corrode parts and freeze in low temp.

Green one is widely used till now.

this one has Low life compared to all.

red and pink and blue liquids have surface in recent years .

Still many do not know about its importance. These can be called as kinda performance coolants . better life and absorb some what more heat than other.
Practically any coolant can be used for your car. Just replace according to time.

Brand value do matter in this. I prefer using wurth than anyother in this case.

Which coolant to be used for Maruti Cars ?

 

[jarpickle]

Please check you car manual.The specific type of coolant is mentioned there.

 

[sarav.sandhu]

FYI all, Figo TDCi uses Reddish-Orange colored Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT). Hence, no replacement for next 5 years :)

 

[octane_fx]

Does any one know the brand name for waterless coolant that i can use in my TATA NANO ,
Names and prices will be appreciated. if not waterless at least the best.

 

[jarpickle]

It is called Evans waterless coolant.I am not sure if its available here.

You will have to flush the oil coolant oil of the radiator and the engine and use a hose pipe to circulate water and then Evans prep fluid to get rid of any residue.After that you can pour waterless coolant into the radiator and overflow tank.

 

[deepakkol]

I don't have to explain you what exactly is Coolant and why it is needed. But to reiterate, let me explain it here. A coolant is a fluid which flows through a device (read engines) to prevent its overheating, transferring the heat produced by the device to other devices that use or dissipate it. So an ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, and chemically inert, neither causing nor promoting corrosion of the cooling system. Coolants can be classified to following types:

1. Gases
2. Liquids
3. Molten metals and salts
4. Liquid gases
5. Nanofluids
6. Solids

I will limit the scope of this thread to Liquid Coolants.

The most common liquid coolant is water. In a typical automobile engine using liquid cooling system, the water is filled in to the radiator. Normally water contains lot of chemical substances, which makes its pH to vary depending on the source. It is completely good to use a pH neutral water in radiator. However, it is always tough to guarantee a neutral pH for water, though it is defined theoretically. Depending up on the acid/alkaline property of the substances in the water being used, radiator, engine block, cylinder head etc. can face a threat of corrosion. This is were Coolants are useful! Following are the major advantages of mixing coolant:

1. Acts as a corrosion inhibitor. corrosion inhibitor is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, decreases the corrosion rate of a metal or an alloy.
2. Acts as an antifreeze agent. An antifreeze agent prevents a rigid enclosure from undergoing physical stresses and catastrophic deformation due to the expansion that occurs when water turns to ice.
3. Increases the boiling point of the water. With higher boiling point, water can be raised to considerably higher temperatures (above 100 degrees Celsius) without introducing high pressures within the container or loop system.

Be informed that coolant mixes are toxic and sadly, is a cause for environmental pollution. Coolants are color coded to identify coolant type according to the chemical compound being used. There are 3 types of coolants, based on the color:

Green/Yellow/Blue Color

These coolants are glycol based products and contains ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, or propylene glycol. Silicates and Phosphates are also added to the mixture to prevent corrosion. ethylene glyco and diethylene glycol are highly toxic in nature. However propylene glycol is relatively safe and is used widely because of this reason. propylene glycol can increase the boiling point of water to 187 degree Celsius. These type of coolants need to be replaced completely once in an year.

Orange/Dark Green/Pink

These type of coolants are Organic Acid Technology (OAT) based products containing ingredients as sebacate, 2-Ethylhexanoic acidm, and other organic acids. These are Organic compounds and hence is very environmental friendly. Silicates and Phosphates are not used in these type of coolants (except in the case of Toyota's pink extended-life coolant, which adds a dose of phosphate to its extended-life OAT-based antifreeze). Though normally these coolants are colored either Orange or Pink, Honda has an extended-life OAT coolant that is dyed dark green and does not contain 2-EHA.

The corrosion inhibitors in OAT coolants are slower acting but much longer-lived than those in traditional coolants. Consequently, OAT coolants typically have longer a recommended service life. OAT coolants offers highest life and need to be changed only once in 5 years or 240,000 km (150,000 miles).

Red

These type of coolants are built with the Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) formulation or better knows as G-05 (e.g., Zerex G-05) This formulation also uses organic acids, but not 2-EHA (different organic acids are used). Hybrid OAT coolants add some silicate to provide quick-acting protection for aluminum surfaces. Silicate also helps repair surface erosion caused by cavitation in the water pump. Hybrid OAT coolants are currently used by many European vehicle manufacturers as well as Ford and Chrysler and claims to have an extended service life of five years or 240,000 km (150,000 miles).

PS: DEX-COOL specifically has caused controversy.

So one final question, Which coolant should I pick? The safe answer is the type specified by the vehicle manufacturer. Many antifreeze suppliers have introduced Universal Coolant or Global Coolant products that are one-size-fits-all coolants claimed to be compatible with any new vehicle cooling system as well as older vehicles. One very important point to keep in mind here is that universal coolants and extended-life coolants are not lifetime coolants. The corrosion inhibitors in all types of coolant eventually wear out and must be replenished by changing the coolant. Leave the old coolant in too long and the cooling system will experience corrosion problems. Also, not that it is not advisable to mix different type of coolants, though manufactures tend claims that they will do no harm.


Source: Various resources.

Hi Shynish,
Thank you for this great thread and this is the only thread I have found on coolants. The reason I am reaching out to you is because I am about to embark on a business to import and sell coolant, additives etc. However, before I go about doing this, I wanted help in understanding the segment.
I am sure it will take up your time and if I do not hear from you its fine. The starting question I have is that in the market there are various types of coolant but it is not clear if the coolant is used along with water or as is. If iu look at some of the coolants they say "Top Up" or "Add to 3 parts of water"and some say "Do not add water".
The other question I have is confusion between Radiator Additive, Antifreeze and coolant . Are all the same or they are different to each other. Another product is the radiator stop leak- is this another product category?

Hoping to hear from you
Regards

 

[Aditya_Rnc]

I own a maruti 800. Today i went for a coolant change. The mech flushed the coolant and poured 2l coolant into the Radiator, mixed with very little amount of water, about 200ml. Is it ok or should i do anything? The coolant is minutely diluted.

 

[Driveright]

Some brands come pre diluted and others need to be diluted as per manufacturer recommendations. If you have the bottle or know which brand was used it would be easier to determine if what went was correctly diluted .