going from blue antifreeze to different type?

[slybunda]

mk3 ford fiesta zetec 1.6, iv been using the blue coolant since forever, its usually specced for 2 year change intervals. i believe i have to use blue due to the engine being an iron block and aluminium head.
since im draining it out again an dont want to keep changing it on such a regular basis, every 2 years is around 6000 miles for me. iv seen the pink coolant thats rated to 5 years, as is orange too.

can i switch to one of those or should i not risk it and just stick with the blue stuff?

[sidgolf]

I did this on my 30 year-old BMW with alu/iron engine no problems.
As far as i could work out at the time, pink antifreeze is only a problem in real olde-worlde cooling systems that contain yellow-metals, i.e. soldered rads.
Got to make sure you flush-out all the blue first, the 2 colours don't like each other and will form a sludge if mixed.
Like you the 5 year interval rather than 2/3 was why i changed.

[slybunda]

thats good to know. saves money in the long run too as long as engine doesnt blow up lol.

[bearman68]

I generally fill everything I have with red too - but make sure all the blue is fully drained out - they don't like one another, and can cause a nasty sludge.

[slybunda]

ahh yes the sludge. that happend to me when i was a car noob and added water wetter to my blue antifreeze. got brown gunk floating in the expansion tank.

[finishing touch]

Blue will run longer than 2 years with no problems.

I use Comma G48 (which is actually green) in my Merc, Lotus and MX5 and it's usually a problem, hose replacement etc, that forces a fluid change.

[slybunda]

I was using eurocarparts triple qx blue for many years on 2 year intervals. Usually shorter intervals if leaks etc developed.
You guys rekon it can be pushed longer? 3 years even?

[gordmac]

In the good old days changing antifreeze every few years was unheard of!

[GreenV8S]

gordmac said:

In the good old days changing antifreeze every few years was unheard of!

In the good old days, it only had to stop the coolant crystalizing.

[Emanresu]

Colour has fk all to do with it, it’s just a sales pitch by the parts sales guys. Oooo red is better than blue.... Read your owners manual, find out what your car needs and buy it.

[slybunda]

There is a difference in the antifreeze its not just colour. Only a clueless person would believe all antifreeze is the same with just added dye for aesthetics.

[E-bmw]

gordmac said:

In the good old days changing antifreeze every few years was unheard of!

I don't know which "good old days" you are thinking of but yes it was heard of.

[slybunda]

Arent new cars specced with longer coolant change intervals? I think ford has 10 year or 150k miles on the new cars but not sure?

[trickywoo]

Prestone which you can get from ECP says 10 years and mixes with anything and is compatible with anything.

I did some research and didn’t find any negative reviews at the time.

[slybunda]

Thanks will look into that.

[slybunda]

is this the stuff: https://www.toolstation.com/prestone-antifreeze-co...

first time iv seen anything that can be used in the place of blue coolant and can go 10 years. bit shocked at that