Coolant?

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superloopy
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Coolant?

Post by superloopy »

Just topping up my V6 with genuine blue antigel. I take it this needs to be diluted cos it says 'concentrate' but nothing anout the mix ratio. Does a 50/50 dilution seem about right or should i go more or less?

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Re: Coolant?

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

50/50 Sounds good if it is concentrated and not pre-mixed.
I sometimes add a little more to top up later on when the system settles down a bit.
we have had minus 18 Degrees C here in the Ise valley and I go 60/40 these days.
if your parking your car at the side of a semi-detached centrally heated home
and don't have particularly cold winters 50/50 is fine.
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superloopy
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Re: Coolant?

Post by superloopy »

Says concentrate on the bottles but no instruction as to dilution ...

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Mike

Xantia Activa Dante Red MK1 (96) 121k - SORN, to be broken
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Deanxm
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Re: Coolant?

Post by Deanxm »

All concentrate is formulated to be 50/50 mix
Those in the knowsaybad things happen if you add too much water and worse things if you have too much coolant.

The main thing is that nothing transferred heat like good old H2O but there were other reasons like viscosity, cavitation and some others depending on coolant/ antifreeze type. tap water breaks down the corrosion inhibitors too apparently and deposits timescale so use deionised water............so they say.

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superloopy
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Re: Coolant?

Post by superloopy »

Nah .... needed straightaway (just how far up a V6 expansion tank do you fill her, i cant see any min/max marks at all as per handbook) so 50/50 mixed with tap water.

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Mike

Xantia Activa Dante Red MK1 (96) 121k - SORN, to be broken
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Re: Coolant?

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

allow some space for expansion to err on the side of caution if there are no marks on the expansion tank
(at the side) about 1/3 off the bottom.
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Re: Coolant?

Post by Stickyfinger »

Mine settled out at 1/2 inch below the cap. I use 50/50 and distilled water (really very cheap from truck stops)
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Re: Coolant?

Post by Old-Guy »

Distilled water is best, but it doesn't need to be sterile. Anyone with a domestic dehumidifier throws lots of it away - I keep a 20L poly-drum topped up from our dehumidifier. Rain water (plenty around at the moment!) is almost as good. Tap water, even if you live in a soft water area, contains negative ions: hypo-chlorite and flouride deliberately added by water companies, nitrate and phosphate from fertilisers and detergents, and in hard water areas, carbonate leached from the soil and bedrock. All these anions make the coolant an electrolyte (a conductor of electricity) and thus much more corrosive in the presence of the various dissimilar metals in the cooling system: copper, cast iron, zinc (plating and alloys), aluminium alloys. This means the corrosion inhibitors in anti-freeze have an uphill battle from the start.
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Re: Coolant?

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

I never thought of using the dehumidifier water I have been waiting to defrost the fridge once a year
Thanks for that #-o .
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Re: Coolant?

Post by Old-Guy »

Stickyfinger wrote: I use 50/50 and distilled water (really very cheap from truck stops)
Worth knowing. Distilled water from some supermarkets is more expensive than cheap beer!
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Re: Coolant?

Post by CitroJim »

What about the condensate out of a condensing central heating boiler? Is that usable?

I always use a 50/50 mix of water/antifreeze..
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Deanxm
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Re: Coolant?

Post by Deanxm »

No Jim, that will pick up acids from the flue gasses which is why they are run to a drain.
My local parts shop sell it for about 50p\ltr but I use dehumidifier water.

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Re: Coolant?

Post by CitroJim »

Thaks Dean, won't be using that then!
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Re: Coolant?

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

Humidifiers are pricey mine Has a Thermoelectric Peltier Module basically a computer fan over an alloy heat sink
it needs 30% relative humidity to produce water from the atmosphere and it runs on a laptop power supply 12 volts dc, I bought it from Aldi for £30 ok it doesn't make much more than a litre of water a day or over night but as Old-guy says save it up.
if not find a neighbour who has solid walls in their home (old council houses) chances are they have a dehumidifier because when you put furniture up against an outside wall the wall cannot breathe properly. we strive so hard to knock down chimneys and install insulation that we forget that old houses built with solid walls still need to breathe.
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Re: Coolant?

Post by Old-Guy »

falling-out-with-my-car wrote:.. we strive so hard to knock down chimneys and install insulation that we forget that old houses built with solid walls still need to breathe.
Not us! We have got rid of a couple of redundant chimneys, but have left future owners the option of having an open fire or installing a wood-burner. The 17C part of our house has no damp course in the walls and that under the flagged hall is just a layer of puddled clay. A dehumidifier is a much 'greener' and cost-efficient way of eliminating damp than central heating.
2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue
1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - after 11 years now owned by XanTom
1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
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