Antifreeze

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Thu 14 Oct 2004 20:56
Antifreeze - John24
It's that time of year again and I read with interest the note in FAQ's about the different types of antifreeze. Having acquired a used Mitsubishi towards the end of last year the reference to low silicate mixtures was noted and I went looking for such an animal. None of the antifreeze mixtures in the local motor factors mentioned silicates, only that they were "suitable for all engines". Fine, I went down to the local Mazda dealership's parts dept. "Low silicates? Never heard of them. We just stock Unipart." I described what I'd read and he phoned the service dept. "What antifreeze do we use? Just the usual stuff? OK." "Sorry, mate. Just Unipart". So, what now?

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Thu 14 Oct 2004 23:23
Antifreeze - Ian D
I would have thought if you stick to the same colour antifreeze as is in the car it should be fine. What colour is in there??
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 09:49
Antifreeze - madf
Try your local Motorfactors (yellow Pages)

madf


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Fri 15 Oct 2004 12:13
Antifreeze - John24
Hi, Ian. Unfortunately been down that road. If you really want a sore head check out www.vectorbd.com/peugeot/archive/99_8/0415.html . The current antifreeze can only be described as a very pale blue.
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 12:16
Antifreeze - John24
Sorry Ian, missed out _ between 99 and 8. Maybe mods. can change.
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 12:21
Antifreeze - John24
Me again Ian. The redirect doesn't seem to work but the URL will take you there
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 13:56
Antifreeze - Mark (RLBS)
It does now. There was a full stop on the end of it.
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 14:31
Antifreeze - Aprilia
Colour of antifreeze is totally irrelevant - the colour is due to a dye.

For what it costs I would stick to the manufacturer's OEM antifreeze - go to the parts dept. and I'm sure a Mitsubishi branded antifreeze will be listed on the parts database. If they won't help then contact Mitsubishi technical dept. in the UK.

Antifreeze works by passivating the metal surface. Most (but not all) European antifreezes use silicon-chemistry; the Japanese seem to prefer phosphate-based antifreezes. This is important because the plastics, silicone and nitrile etc. components in the engine are designed to be compatible with the appropriate antifreeze chemistry used.
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 22:57
Antifreeze - hillman
Hi, Aprilia.

Tell me more! I used to change my radiator fluid twice a year, spring and autumn, as the handbook directed until manufacturers started to leave anti freeze in all year round. It used to be called Bluecol. When I changed it the colour used to be brown. Sometimes it had gungy froth on the top.
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Fri 15 Oct 2004 23:37
Antifreeze - v8man
I do like the pretty pink colour in my wives Skoda.
--
"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do"
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