Pink coolant vs blue coolant
Discussion
Hi folks,
Is there any difference in these and can they be mixed? Both are apparently ethlene glycol.
Mrs.NCoT's Puma takes this "special stuff" from Ford dealers, don't know why it's special but according to PumaPeople it's important to use it.
I bought the premium Halfords stuff which is pink, can I use it safely in my other cars which just have normal blue stuff?
Is there any difference in these and can they be mixed? Both are apparently ethlene glycol.
Mrs.NCoT's Puma takes this "special stuff" from Ford dealers, don't know why it's special but according to PumaPeople it's important to use it.
I bought the premium Halfords stuff which is pink, can I use it safely in my other cars which just have normal blue stuff?
no dont mix them, pink is longer life (5 years) blue is normal (2 years) for some reason mixing the two counters the effects of the pink meaning you will still only have 2 year life.
best is just to do a full coolant drop as 5 liters of pink premix is only about 12quid.
this is coming from a halfords employee so its about 2% correct :P:P
Thom
best is just to do a full coolant drop as 5 liters of pink premix is only about 12quid.
this is coming from a halfords employee so its about 2% correct :P:P
Thom
Don't mix them.
http://www.bluecol.co.uk/index.cfm?page=75
http://www.bluecol.co.uk/index.cfm?page=75
Bluecol said:
Green antifreeze does not mix with long life antifreeze. Never mix the two colours in a cooling system. The organic acids in orange types will cause precipitation of silicates in the green type and corrosion protection is greatly reduced.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Cheers guys. Nuts, already opened the pink and mixed up some so too late to take back. Ah well! Will get some blue for topping up and use the pink in the Puma.
Does anybody know if the "special" Puma stuff from the Ford dealer is basically just longlife stuff?
Its just long life stuff, also pink has some additives to stop corrosion in alloy engines. Although I've never actually noticed a difference as long as the coolant is changed on time. Does anybody know if the "special" Puma stuff from the Ford dealer is basically just longlife stuff?
Some cars need the red stuff others dont care. My TVR has the old green organic stuff and is very happy with it. I could use blue or red as well without problems.
My Omega had blue in when I bought it, but its supposed to be red. It was changed as soon as I got the car but it was already too late, it had correded the oil cooler from the inside and it had to be replaced.
My VW golf has always had the red stuff in, I stick with it as its cheap and I dont want to find out if the blue stuff will also eat any parts...
My Omega had blue in when I bought it, but its supposed to be red. It was changed as soon as I got the car but it was already too late, it had correded the oil cooler from the inside and it had to be replaced.
My VW golf has always had the red stuff in, I stick with it as its cheap and I dont want to find out if the blue stuff will also eat any parts...
The difference in the coolant is the corrosion inhibitor system used, the "pink" coolant is a straight OAT Carboxylic acid inhibitor, and what you want to use on the Puma.
Use the following link to get the technical detail:
http://www.arteco-coolants.com/products%20content....
The other coolants will stop freezing but the real issue is corrosion inhibition, and that depends on the metals in the engines and the heat exchangers, plus the fluxes. Use the wrong coolant and you get a chemical reaction, this will then wipe out the inhibitor and poison the coolant. This in turn will allow the engine to corrode. I would try to avoid having that happen.
Use the following link to get the technical detail:
http://www.arteco-coolants.com/products%20content....
The other coolants will stop freezing but the real issue is corrosion inhibition, and that depends on the metals in the engines and the heat exchangers, plus the fluxes. Use the wrong coolant and you get a chemical reaction, this will then wipe out the inhibitor and poison the coolant. This in turn will allow the engine to corrode. I would try to avoid having that happen.
Edited by GavinPearson on Saturday 7th March 11:30
bigdods said:
My Omega had blue in when I bought it, but its supposed to be red. It was changed as soon as I got the car but it was already too late, it had correded the oil cooler from the inside and it had to be replaced.
They are pretty susceptible to corrosion are those coolers... I recently bought a Z32SE to fit to replace the 2.5 in my Omega. The engine was described as "Head gasket failure", yet all the symptoms they described was classic oil cooler failure.Got the engine home, and the colour of what coolant was left (that wasn't mixed with the oil) was the nasty green/yellow sort. No wonder the cooler had gone after just 60k miles!
I've always run a 50/50 mix of the VX Red antifreeze in my cars, and never had any issues due to it. Also flush and change it every 12 months or 12k miles (I care not about the 5 year intervals, better to be ontop of things than just leave it), but I do buy it in 20ltr drums of concentrate, so its not like I don't have enough spare
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