Pink antifreeze

[Mr Spigot]

I have just acquired a 1952 MM convertible with original sidevalve engine. I noticed that the water in the radiator is pink and there seems to be some pink residue around the hose housing. I recall reading that these old cars need ethylene glycol antifreeze (blue) rather than the modern pink stuff. Is this correct? Should I drain the water out and refill with Bluecol?

[King Kenny]

I use blue in my Minor. However my old VW camper had to have pink. I think it was because there are aluminium parts in the VW cooling system and blue would react with it. I do not know if there would be a problem with the pink in a Minor, but it would not be a bad idea to flush the system anyway and refill with blue.

[Mick Lynch]

Good question and I don’t know but further to King Kenny there is a lot of aluminium to water surface area on the USHM3 engines with the thermostat housing, water jacket / dynamo bracket and block drain valve housing.

[ndevans]

My antifreeze is yellow. Can't remember the brand, but I've just drained the system, it's been in there for over 2 years and is still perfectly clear.
In the past, I've used blue antifreeze, which has always been fine.

[simmitc]

The standard answer to your question is yes, drain, flush and refill with Bluecol. Plenty of discussions about this on this forum and loads of anecdotal evidence that modern antifreeze will seep and leak leading to the deposits that you have found.

[myoldjalopy]

The standard answer to your question is yes, drain, flush and refill with Bluecol. Plenty of discussions about this on this forum and loads of anecdotal evidence that modern antifreeze will seep and leak leading to the deposits that you have found.

Yep. Agreed.

[Mr Spigot]

The standard answer to your question is yes, drain, flush and refill with Bluecol. Plenty of discussions about this on this forum and loads of anecdotal evidence that modern antifreeze will seep and leak leading to the deposits that you have found.

Perfect. Thank you for such a definitive answer.

[olonas]

Probably a bit over the top, but I mix Bluecol with de-ionised water rather than tap water.

[svenedin]

Probably a bit over the top, but I mix Bluecol with de-ionised water rather than tap water.

So do I. If you have a condensing tumble dryer you can use the condensate water.

Stephen

[ndevans]

Probably a bit over the top, but I mix Bluecol with de-ionised water rather than tap water.

Agree on this, I do the same. Not sure why though, does it cause less corrosion?

[svenedin]

Probably a bit over the top, but I mix Bluecol with de-ionised water rather than tap water.

Agree on this, I do the same. Not sure why though, does it cause less corrosion?

It depends where you live but in my area the water is extremely hard and this scales up kettles, washing machines etc. The same in the car cooling system.

Stephen

[Chief]

It depends where you live but in my area the water is extremely hard and this scales up kettles...

And by that we mean if you cut the outer metal off the kettle, you'll find a whole new kettle shaped limescale block...
(though maybe the acidity of anti-freeze would counteract the limescale, personally I wouldn't want to risk it).

[Bill_qaz]

Retracted mixed up what is topping up my modern car SiOAT is not copper and brass friendly. But not all AIT is blue check the spec not the colour

[svenedin]

This seems to come up every year as soon as it gets cold!

I go by what this article says: https://www.mg-cars.org.uk/imgytr/hints ... freeze.pdf

Blue only. No pink.

Stephen

[neilmorey]

My car was filled with 4life coolant, which is pink in colour and is perfectly okay to use in a minor.
https://4lifecoolant.co.uk/faq

I guess the problem is you just don't know what the previous owner has used to be able to have confidence, rather than there being an definite problem.

[Bill_qaz]

Like I posted its the spec not the colour, as nielmorey post link shows.his IAT is red

"Forlife is an IAT coolant, although it is red in colour, and can be used in all coolant systems designed to use IAT."

[ndevans]

This is the stuff I use:-

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... QEw&adurl=

It's been in 2 years/~3000 miles, and still crystal clear.

[Classiccars]

That's what I was advised was best to use so that's what I bought.

[Bill_qaz]

This is the stuff I use:-

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... QEw&adurl=

It's been in 2 years/~3000 miles, and still crystal clear.

But that is OAT

[geoberni]

I got tired of this Antifreeze question popping up on facebook last year, it was just about every week at one point.

Here's what I posted:

There has been some discussion about Antifreeze recently, with some limited opinion claiming that it doesn't matter and the Red Stuff is fine....
To try and get a definitive on this, I contacted Tetrosyl Ltd, the parent company of Bluecol, the long standing UK Antifreeze manufacturer. This was the reply:
In terms of suitability, there will be much information available on the sites used by “enthusiasts” such as Pistonheads etc. The general school of thought is that older cars should use the traditional BLUE products such as Bluecol BLA001/005 etc which are the 2 years products.
The longer term 5 years RED products would be unsuitable because they are based on OAT technology which does not like the older rubber seals found in pre-1980s vehicles.
Kind regards
Michelle Law
UK Marketing Product Manager
Tetrosyl Ltd

So there you have it from the UK Marketing Manager
Don't use OAT/HOAT products irrespective of colour, which will change depending on manufacturer.

But, you should also note that there is no standard for Colours added to Antifreeze.
As this article says https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/h ... 1/1272436/

The truth is, color is not a reliable predictor for what type of coolant you have. For example, OAT coolants are usually orange, yellow, red or purple. HOAT coolants are orange and yellow for the most part. Then the older IAT coolant is green. Coolants that manufacturers sell can confuse matters even more, like Honda’s blue coolant.

That's why you need to read what the bottle says and and not rely specific color you’re pouring. If the the bottle's description has you tripped up, check your owner’s manual for the right kind of coolant.

As an American article, while saying that the 'colors' vary, they say that IAT is 'Green' they don't know it's Blue over here. That's why their closing comment is the bottom line, read the description....