Beelzebub Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 I'm about to fill the coolant system on my 1.8K The coolant I've got here is Comma Xstream red. I've been reading this thread here & am now unsure if this is the correct stuff. Second question. What ratio is the coolant mixed with water ? TIA Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Den Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 XStream Red is available in two forms, premixed and concentrate. If it's premixed, you don't need any more water added, if it's concentrate then it's a 40% coolant 60% water mix, IIRC (but it is specified on the label of the concentrate coolant). Den http://www.dens7.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 50:50 - preferably with distilled water (IMHO) on the basis that it's a known quantity. Some people are happy with gritty cr@p from the hosepipe - depends on what your tap-water is like, really... You'll be hard-pushed (Mav will say otherwise ) to find PG-based coolants readily - I can only get EG stuff (such as Xstream Red) There's nothing wrong with it - and if you find you need to top up a leak at some point, you'll be glad that you can buy compatible coolants off the shelf (except in Halfrauds during the summer - they seem to think 'antifreeze' is only needed on the shelves in winter... ) Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Loads of stuff on this in the archives. The upshot of the arguments is that some people say EG is ok and some would only use PPG. I use PPG because it reduces localised boiling - which is important in an ally head. You'll have to search the archives and make up your own mind, cos there's plenty who will argue either way til you're blue in the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 Thanks for the replies. Confused, you bet Charlie, you mentioned localised boiling. Well, I've seen the evidence of it with my own eyes on my old cylinder head when I was at Oily's place. My heater matrix also developed a leak about a year after changing to Comma Xstream red 🤔 Could be a coincidence. The garage in Haddington's got Coldstream & I've got loads of the red stuff. However I'm still undecided & will have to do more research into the effect the OAT is going to have on the copper tubes in the heater matrix before I fill the cooling system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 *arrowup* *arrowup*Ba..........Doing *arrowup* Keep Em coming 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted May 17, 2005 Support Team Share Posted May 17, 2005 When I fitted my Laminova, I changed the coolant to Propylene Glycol for the reasons outlined in the thread you referenced above. Since then I have been unable to find anywhere locally that stocks it and when I rebuilt my car this winter, I ended up going for the Halfords premium antifreeze and mixed it 1:1 with de-ionised water. I have read loads of stuff on the web and there is no consistent story. I consoled myself with the fact that this premium antifreeze is suitable for any number of tin tops that must have a) aluminium engines and b) heaters and if it were that bad then there would be no end of cars with wrecked heads and leaking heaters. I suggest that you buy a premium antifreeze which says on the label suitable for aluminium engines and change it every couple of years rather than the 4 or 5 the blurb says you can leave it for. Most Caterhams are obviously run on ethylene glycol + additive package as that is what the factory fill the system with. Every car that gets serviced by Caterham will also be refilled with that coolant so I'm pretty sure if there were real problems they would have surfaced by now. Now I'll go stick my head back in the sand 😬. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Riches Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Don't buy ready mixed anti-freeze solution, it's just an expensive way of buying water 60%, and anti freeze 40%, or what ever percentages they can get away with, possibly 75% H2O and 25% anti freeze. 1982. 5 speed, clamshells. B.R.G / Ali. The True Colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil A Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 My coolant appears to be clear I am thinking of changing it as a matter of course. If I don't know what type of coolant was in it before, is there any potential problems if I use a different type? Fellas, smoke me a kipper, I will be blatting for breakfast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted May 18, 2005 Support Team Share Posted May 18, 2005 Neil - ideally you should flush it through with clean water but it sounds like that is what you have in there now . In reality you'll never get all the old coolant out and as long as there is very little of the old coolant left you should be OK. The additives in most premium coolants should prevent any problems. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil A Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Shaun, Numpty question I know but, Is that a case of forcing water through the system, or should the engine be run with just water in to help clean it out. A neighbour of mine had a pipet type thingy with balls in it which he used to gauge whether I had antifreeze in the system and it showed that it did, but whether it had enough I don't know. Cheers Fellas, smoke me a kipper, I will be blatting for breakfast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted May 18, 2005 Support Team Share Posted May 18, 2005 Neil - I would just drain the system, refill with water and drain again - that should get most of the existing coolant out. I guess that running the enine very briefly would allow the water to circulate around the block and that might help but I wouldn't want to run it to warm with just water in it. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil A Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Cheers Fellas, smoke me a kipper, I will be blatting for breakfast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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