Where will I get the best priced decent Anti Freeze?

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 10 Oct 2007, 14:17

And which is the best?

I'm not looking at your corner shop/local factors, but more a main chain
where they're not charging a king's ransom!?

Any recommendations?

Andrew

KP · Post by KP » 10 Oct 2007, 17:38

GSF or Eurocarparts.

davethewheel · Post by **davethewheel** » 10 Oct 2007, 18:57

just picked up some citroen anti gel from eurocarparts about a fiver a litre bottle.

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 10 Oct 2007, 22:34

You should be able to get a 5 litre bottle of generic glycol anti-freeze suitable for your Xantia for under a tenner, I paid about that last week.

I bought some for my Dad too and he complained that it had gone up 14p since he last bought some in 2002

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 11 Oct 2007, 08:17

were ever you go make sure its concentrated, not ready mixed
regards malcolm

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 11 Oct 2007, 10:39

Problem is: the last couple of months I've managed to replace several
water pumps, heater matrixes and cooling pipes on various cars with
them now running on straight water and I realise this isn't a great idea!!

This madness was thanks to the plan of watching and waiting to see if
there were any additional leaks/problems before putting expensive
5year protection antifreeze concentrate in them

- been there/
NOT done that in the past...

Should have put anti freeze/summer coolant in as I went along but as
you may have realised, things have been a tad busy but now I'm thinking
about the imminent cold winter months and realise I've managed to get
6 cars running without decent protection!!

At 3-4 litres each for a minimum realistic protection that starts becoming
a LOT of antifreeze and it's £18 per 5 litres around these parts. There
must be some economy of scale if I buy at the right place though I just
can't find it yet!!

Does anyone know if the GSF 98071 ANTIFREEZE-5L GENERAL USE
at 12.85 is 2 or 5 year protection?

Andrew

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 11 Oct 2007, 12:19

Andrew, what you don't seem to mention is the protection against corrosion dangers. How much a cylinder head or radiatior against the cost of corrosion inhibitors?

I've seen bulk coolant which will make it cheaper for you but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that as oxygen is present in the cooling system, parts are rusting away as we type!

There is a lifetime product available at an even higher price but I'd prefer to change it regularly and have bought standard comma glycol-ether based or whatever it's called. And don't mix it with tap water either, it's too impure. Sorry if you're already aware of this but feel it should be mentioned.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 11 Oct 2007, 12:37

MikeT wrote:Andrew, what you don't seem to mention is the protection against corrosion dangers. How much a cylinder head or radiatior against the cost of corrosion inhibitors?

I TOTALLY AGREE! I want to sort this situation asap - at the moment time
has a horrible habit of zapping past VERY quickly with everything!!

One minute it's August etc...

Andrew

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 13 Oct 2007, 08:57

OUCH!!

Had to bite the bullet and buy 6x 5litres of blue concentrate...
Best price I could find was £8.50 per 5 litres, a damn sight better than £18!!

No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing this weekend!

Andrew

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 13 Oct 2007, 23:13

I'm a bit concerned about a few things that have been said here in relation to anti-freezes and their potential life expectancies etc, so dug up this article that everybody should read as it dispels a lot of myths about anti freezes, how they work and other causes of corrosion.

http://www.tectaloy.com/images/document ... ol%202.pdf

FWIW, I usually buy a 95% ethylene glycol concentrate. To clarify this, most concentrates have a figure in their name and in the brand I buy, it is either 50 or 95 which is indicative of the % of ethylene glycol. I usually add this at a rate of around 70% of 95% glycol to approximately 30% of demineralised water. My logic being that over time as the system gets topped up, often with the straight water, by the end of its life expectancy, I'm running at around 50% glycol/water mix.

For the record, I buy my 95% glycol concentrate or around A$30 (13.30 UK pounds) for 5 litres and rarely see it for any more than approx. A$45, (20 UK pounds) so they are having a lend of you guys at some of the the prices quoted.
You can be easily fooled by them quoting a 50% as a "concentrate" when it's not or with mixes down as low as 20% which is far too low for an average engine. (Kind of stuff you stick in a car you're about to sell to a dealer so he thinks you've maintained it well.)
In a typical system, going "by the book" you would get almost 2 average cars from a 5 litre bottle of 95% once diluted to correct strength.

Alan S

thorter · Post by **thorter** » 14 Oct 2007, 09:42

For the Hdi, the specified antifreeze is Glysantin G 33 OAT coolant with high reserve alkalinity. Here is a link to site for BASF who produce the inhibiters.

http://www.performancechemicals.basf.co ... s/products

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 14 Oct 2007, 18:19

thorter wrote:For the Hdi, the specified antifreeze is Glysantin G 33 OAT coolant with high reserve alkalinity. Here is a link to site for BASF who produce the inhibiters.

http://www.performancechemicals.basf.co ... s/products

But where can I buy it from? Do you have a Citroen part number?

Cheers

thorter · Post by **thorter** » 14 Oct 2007, 21:59

No, I havn`t needed any yet. But at least you know what to look for on the label. You could also try a Google search for manufacturers.

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 14 Oct 2007, 22:41

thorter wrote:For the Hdi, the specified antifreeze is Glysantin G 33 OAT coolant with high reserve alkalinity. Here is a link to site for BASF who produce the inhibiters.

http://www.performancechemicals.basf.co ... s/products

If we're talking Xantia here, are you certain about that?

I didn't think OAT coolants were recommended in cars of the Xantia era even though they were around but at that stage treated with extreme caution due to their non proven abilites.
Use OAT in a system with residue of ethylene glycol in it and then you should see what corrosion's all about.

If it's C5 and that era, yes, OAT was the recommended fluid as far as I know.

Alan S

thorter · Post by **thorter** » 15 Oct 2007, 10:21

Yes, but well spotted.

According to both Revue Technique and the BOL, year model 2001 uses Glysantin G33 (or Revkogel 2000, or Procor 108). Previous years use Revkogel 107 or Procor 3000), presumably ordinary non OAT. Also note that it could well be that the 2000, 3000, 107, and 108 numbers have got mixed up; this is the same in both publications.

According to Revue Technique, G33 has unlimited life, presumably due to the "alkalinity reserve".