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So, coolant isn't as simple as it used to be...

James_M

James_M

PCGB Member
Member
Evening all

I've recently had a new rad put in the S3 to try to cure a persistent but never actually visible coolant leak. The car has always had pink coolant and this is what the garage put in this time too after replacing the rad.

I've not driven the car since but have a long trip tomorrow so went to put my bottle of coolant in the car just in case - empty. Off to Halfords to find that coolant type is now particular to the car - silicate (blue) or OAT (pink). Obviously 944s and 968s aren't listed in the Halfords leaflet (964s and 993s are, chortle) but the chaps in the shop were convinced that, as rule, pre '98 cars need the blue stuff (silicate). I Ignored this and bought another bottle of pink (OAT).


Thoughts?
 
Just so that I am clear, you have not lost any coolant out of the system, James, but are going belt and braces by taking spare coolant, which unfortunately you have run out of.
 
The leak may be the heater valve and is so slight that it is lost in the heat of the engine bay and the darkness of the bell housing

Blue in my case btw
 
If you have blue (may look green with age) then stick with blue standard antifreeze, if its pink (which turns brownish red with age) stick with pink

Swapping from one coolant type to the other should only be done if the whole system has been drained and really carefully flushed, otherwise the combination of one type with another will cause a jelly to form wherever the flow is a bit stagnent, which then will eventually shift through the system and clog anywhere where flow is restrictive, such as in radiators and heater matrixes.

If yours already seems to be pink, then stick with pink with just a hint of finger crossing that whoever switched it over did it properly.
 
yes and when it comes to specialist cars take anything halfords says with a pinch of salt!

commas website have some good info, its pretty important to be using the correct stuff thats compatible with the head and block as well........
 
Mine's yellow!!!

I use the Prestone stuff from Costco. Gave the system a damn good flushing out earlier this year when I changed the radiator too.
 
I 'm sure that one of the 928 chaps did a coolant change and mixed them and it made a very big mess, I'll try find the link.
 
ORIGINAL: strath44

I 'm sure that one of the 928 chaps did a coolant change and mixed them and it made a very big mess, I'll try find the link.
Click to expand...

As did I upon buying a Pug 306 GTi-6 and getting the cambelt kit and water pump changed by the local garage. Thanks to its header tank design (on the side of the rad with no window) it was hard to tell what colour the coolant was, and so I topped it up with coolant from Peugeot (Green, but pretty much the same as blue (IAT) coolant). Within a week I have a few white precipitates forming in header tank and cap. I feared the worst. After flushing the entire engine a few times I refilled with OAT, what the garage had put into the car. I did not initially put in OAT since it came with a copper cored radiator. Lesson learned is what I shall say.

 
When I dropped off my S2 at the indy for its service/MoT I asked about an anti freeze change...not necessary as water pump was done within living memory, but they did comment that the stuff they now use is orange.......
 
Thanks everyone, very helpful as always.

In the event, I lost no coolant on the run (over 200 miles) so the issue didn't come up. After replacing fan switch, fan relay, heater valve and radiator I am hoping to have cured all the issues...
 
I wouldn't be using the red (OAT) stuff anywhere near a 944 engine. I found a very detailed piece about it before if someone wants to try the search function on the site as I can never get it to work. There was some chemical in it that did not like sa certain part of the 944 engine if I recall. Got to use the blue stuff.
Alasdair
 
As with many car developments these days (synthetic oil, iridium spark plugs) the primary advantage of the "new product" is not performance, but longevity. This approach ensures that emission levels in newer cars remain within spec in the face of neglect.
As that does not apply to 24-year-old cars owned by obsessives (present company excepted), is it really necessary to switch to a new product on the basis that it's new, it costs more, so it must be "better"?
The Bluecol web site shows the two types: blue (2-year) and red (5-year, OAT inhibitors). Perceived wisdom seems to be not to mix them, but to change them at those intervals. As changing and refilling coolant on a 944 seems to be a total nightmare (viz Clark's Garage), it would appear to me that, as changing coolant is simply to renew the inhibitors, you don't need to completely drain the system, just get the bulk out. Mine is filled with blue and I plan to use my fluid extractor pump (Pela) to take as much as I can out via the expansion tank filler cap and feed the suction pipe down the hose that connects to the thermostat housing, then refill with blue mixed 50/50 with soft filtered water and get rid of the air using the bleed screw. That way I only have to undo one jubilee clip and pull the hose off. Always try the easy way first !!
I'll post the results.....
 
I always thought that Aluminium Blocks/Heads required Red(Pink)fluid? That's what I use anyway and, always did in "YOBO" [8D].
 
There is a quite good article here on the subject, including a colour chart with loads of variants in it...
There appear to be some simple rules (my opinion so don't take as gospel !!!)
1. Don't mix red and blue or you will get jelly in the system, so if you switch, make sure you drain the system fully
2. Don't use hard water in the mix or you will get solid precipitants
3. Do change it regularly to maintain levels of inhibitors
I can't find any article that says you must use red with alloy engines / heads, but a few that say the main advantage of red is longer life.
 
...or get an old 911, and avoid the coolant problem. That's OK if you have lots of money and spare time, and don't mind an engine that sounds like a bucket full of nuts and bolts being shaken up and down...
 

ORIGINAL: Veerzigzag

...or get an old 911, and avoid the coolant problem. That's OK if you have lots of money and spare time, and don't mind an engine that sounds like a bucket full of nuts and bolts being shaken up and down...
Click to expand...

Ooohhh A little harsh sir! [8|]
 
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