What AntiFreeze

[over_the_hill]

Giving things a quick check over at the weekend and coolant looks a bit low. Have also noticed odd and
occasioanl puffs of white eminating from the
exapansion tank so suspect a bit of boiling off.
The expansion tanks was in fact empty, but no signs
of any leaks and Oil looks ok. Possibly an air block ?
However, after checking the Bible I couldn't find
any mention of spec. for the AF.
Recommendations/advice please.

[IPAddis]

I've used Bluecol and Shell Helix antifreeze before. Apparently pretty much any decent anti-freeze will be fine.

Ian A.

[steve290353]

I use Halfords advanced protection anti freeze it costs a bit more but i am told its much kinder to your radiator and lasts 5years, good luck Steve.

[ian8542]

A good quality type specifically for aluminium engines is the one to use.
I think they are now all red liquid types.
I use Comma Xtreme Red. 5 year protection.

It sounds like you should identify the cause of the boiling off and lost fluid first though.

[ATG]

Expansion tank lid knackered?

[JonRB]

Just make sure that you don't mix different types (ie. colours).

If you have blue coolant in at the moment (likely) then replace with Blucol or any other ethylene glycol anti-freeze (eg. standard Halford's coolanr, NOT advanced).

If you're prepared to flush out the entire system and refill the you can choose pretty much what you want (within reason).

Blucol seems to be getting a little hard to find these days, so basic Halfords seems to be the next best thing at present.

[ian8542]

Yes i forgot to mention the red and blue should not really be mixed.
It wouldn't hurt to flush the system and start a fresh, then you know when it was last changed.

[JonRB]

ATG said:

Expansion tank lid knackered?

Wouldn't hurt - they're under a tenner from your local VW/Audi dealer so worth doing.

Don't forget that it is usual to have to top up occasionally - it just gets "used up", so not necessarily a cause for concern if it just needs an occasional refill.

[woody_450]

over_the_hill said:

The expansion tanks was in fact empty

Hi

Checked mine when it was cold and it was empty too, should it be like this?

Rich

[zumbruk]

No. It should be approximately half-full when cold.

[woody_450]

zumbruk said:

No. It should be approximately half-full when cold.

Cheers, I'll throw some water/antifreeze in tonight...

Rich

[WooHoo]

I had a similar problem with mine recently, in that the expansion tank was empty but couldn't see any obvious leaks - suspected it was an air lock at first too...

Needed to do a big drive last Friday though, so topped up and ran engine for a while just to check - To my alarm, discovered coolant escaping from bottom rear of inlet manifold (valley gasket had blown, as the friendly AA guy who therefore recovered the Chim to a garage explained). Apparently this is not at all unheard of - I guess they just get cooked over time?

All fixed now (V8 Centre in High Wickham did a great job, and sorted a lightly blowing manifold gasket too...), and didn't cost too much either.

Unlikely yours'll be the same, but might be worth a glance down the back of the plenum!



Andrew