Shelf life of antifreeze?

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Wed 14 Sep 2005 11:50
Shelf life of antifreeze? - MCH
Morning all,

Does neat antifreeze have a shelf life?

I've had 5L sitting in my garage for about 2 years. I know it degrades in engines when diluted with water, hence the recommendation for bi-annual changes, but what if it remains in the bottle?

Should I flush it down the drain or can I use it.
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Wed 14 Sep 2005 11:56
Shelf life of antifreeze? - MCH
Sorry, I didn't mean literally down the drain, that would be irresponsible. Maybe the local refuse centre.
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Wed 14 Sep 2005 12:30
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Cliff Pope
I think in use it degrades in two ways.
It is hygroscopic, so absorbs water. Also the anti corrosion additive gets used up, as it fights corrosion.
I would have thought in a sealed plastic bottle it would last for ever, certainly a lot longer than 2 years.
A rusty leaking tin might be another matter though.
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Wed 14 Sep 2005 13:53
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Chris M
www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/print/0,2230...l

Chris M
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Wed 14 Sep 2005 19:12
Shelf life of antifreeze? - MW
On the Halford longlife red stuff at £15 for 5 litres, the pack has a 'flush down the toilet' disposable piece of advice. The first time I have seen that.
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Wed 14 Sep 2005 19:49
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Cyd
Provided the bottle has remained tightly shut and the bottle is nearly full and the a/f is not diluted then the shelf life is way way in excess of five years. I once asked this question of my engine colleagues at Land Rover and they said "10 years probably, if not more"

Small quantities of antifreeze (ie about 2-3 litres undiluted equivalent) should be flushed down the toilet.
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Thu 15 Sep 2005 10:31
Shelf life of antifreeze? - horatio
You have your answer now, but just to add mine :o)

Neat antifreeze will last forever, even if the container has been opened and partially used...presumably you replaced the cap :p It will be fine to use when ever you want.

I am surprised by the advice to pour down the drain mentioned in later posts. I know it is a poison, and I know water treatment works say they have huge difficulties trying to get stuff like Ethylene Glycol out of waste water. Having said this when was the last time you saw advice from your council what to do with waste antifreeze or an antifreeze container at your local civil amenity site? So they aren't exactly making it easy and clear to us.

I will look at the Halfords red, and I will write an email or letter, quoting the Halfords advice, to Welsh water to see what they have to say on the matter. If I get a decent reply I'll post it to this thread.
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Thu 15 Sep 2005 21:49
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Cyd
Horatio

Unless i'm reading things wrong, no-one advised putting a/f down the drain. The advice is to flush it down the toilet. There's a world of difference.

I asked Severn Trent the same question about 18 months ago for the same thread and they confirmed the advice.
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Fri 16 Sep 2005 00:00
Shelf life of antifreeze? - horatio
You're right there is a world of difference, if your house is plumbed to have clean water drains seperate from your waste dirty water drains. As it happens my house is plumbed so all drains go the same way as toilet.

But the advice was down the toilet, so everyone should go along with this. The reason is that toilet drain water has to be cleaned at the sewage treatment works. surface Drain water can go straight into a river.

Thank you for correcting me.
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Fri 16 Sep 2005 00:11
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Civic8
>>But the advice was down the toilet, so everyone should go along with this. The reason is that toilet drain water has to be cleaned at the sewage treatment works. surface Drain water can go straight into a river.>>


How many areas have this?.Not a good idea, if you have no idea how its disposed off,get in touch with local council to find out.But if you do use it suggest half its life would be about right
--
Steve
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Fri 16 Sep 2005 12:44
Shelf life of antifreeze? - horatio
Steve.o,

How many areas have what? I suspect you're bringing up a valid point that some areas might discharge their sewage directly into the sea, not many areas do this, but you are right to be asking if we should be putting a poison into the sea. Raw sewage is bad enough with bleach etc, adding Ethylene glycol can't be a good idea.

Ah well, we'll kill the planet one day, and it will be no ones fault as usual.
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Thu 7 Oct 2021 16:05
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Uncle Stoatwarbler
FWIW, "down the toilet" is fine - glycols are toxic to mammals and birds

They are not toxic to aquatic life and they get broken down fairly quickly in sawage treatment plants

Avoid "drains" - unless they're wastewater ones, they tend to go to stormwater and to the nearest stream

G13 onwards are glycerine based and even less toxic
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Thu 7 Oct 2021 18:32
Shelf life of antifreeze? - Andrew-T

As we are back to discussing antifreeze, I would only comment that as all except very specialist stuff is fully water-miscible, the amount anyone is likely to dump from one cooling system will soon get diluted to very low levels - and as has been said, will decompose soon as well. There are far worse waste products from cars than stale antifreeze.

While on the topic, my 2008 Pug diesel had its original coolant returned to the engine when the cambelt and waterpump were changed at 10 years old. It was topped up with blue coolant and is still a clean blue. 21st-century antifreeze seems to be much more durable than earlier stuff. If it can stand life in an engine for 13 years, I should think its shelf life must be at least as good.

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Fri 16 Sep 2005 14:27
Shelf life of antifreeze? - John F
It's a type of alcohol, so probably the same as the shelf life of a bottle of whisky, although only a connoisseur [who tend to be short-lived] would tell you if it improved with age.
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