Coolant type for '93 Griff 500

[bergxu]

Hey gents,

Have heard plenty of debate on here about coolant type. Here in the US, we have three primary options which I think would suffice in the Rover V8, photos of which I've attached to this message. The first is what's called "G48" and is what BMW, Mercedes, etc..all use and is blue in color which I've seen referred to as "blue glycol based" on these forums. The second is what's meant to match the factory fill on older LRs and Jags and is pink-ish in color, a photo of which I've also attached. Third type of coolant is the old school green color ethylene glycol stuff that was always found in old American cars. I keep all of these on hand for other cars of mine and since my Griff is due a coolant flush this year, I'm wondering which I should use as the information I'm getting is a bit conflicting...."use blue glycol based only"....."use LR stuff only..." so would like to set the record straight as the LR stuff, at least here in the States, is not blue. I don't intend to use green, but wanted to mention it for posterity. Thoughts??

P.S. Sorry for the sideways photos!!

Edited by bergxu on Tuesday 16th May 22:02

[Belle427]

Don't over complicate things and use the blue.
Key thing is not to mix the different types.
Just needs changing every few years.

[bergxu]

Thing I'm trying to sort out is the IAT versus OAT component of the coolant. The old green "traditional" stuff is IAT whereas the blue is OAT. Then you have the ethylene glycol base versus polyethylene glycol base to deal with. Then I see others saying never use pink but that jug of Peak in the photo above indicates it's for older Land Rovers and it's pink in color. It's just enough to make one's head spin when trying to sort out what's the most beneficial formulation for something like this...

[blaze_away]

Use the old style blue Glycol antifreezes.

Both ethylene glycol (aka MEG mono ethylene Glycol) and propylene glycol are ok

NEVER use OAT (pink or orange usually) . This is ORGANIC ACID TECHNOLOGY. OAT will corrode any component that has copper in it ie your heater matrix or radiator or other connecting pipes.

fwiw I was an industrial chemist who Quality Controlled 1000's of tonnes of the glycol stuff that my company produced.

If you are interested you can read about pros n cons of PG vs MEG here
https://www.monarchchemicals.co.uk/Information/New...

Edited by blaze_away on Wednesday 17th May 22:55

[Mr.Grooler]

Agree, ignore the colour - it’s not linked to the type of coolant as you have discovered. Just use a traditional glycol based stuff and ignore OAT for older engines like these.

[bergxu]

Thanks gents, so the blue stuff here is in fact OAT, and I don’t think it’s available here any other way so I’d need to stick with green if I am to use IAT.

As an aside, what about HOAT type? Peak makes a coolant that they sell here called “global” which is gold in color and they claim it can mix with anything. I’ve had it in my TR6 and have it in my Daimler V8 and so far seems not to be doing any harm, but???

[Belle427]

A previous discussion here just to muddy the waters.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[bergxu]

I’m guessing the “traditional blue glycol” coolants you all speak of in the UK are the equivalent to our green colored ones here in the US which are an IAT coolant and were what was used in cars here from the 1920s to the 1980s. The only types of blue coolant we can get (unless I ship some over from England) are the G48 which is the Mercedes/BMW stuff and is OAT or another type of blue formulation for Asian vehicles, also OAT.

I know you say don’t worry about the color, and I’m not worried about the color per se but that’s the indicator as to what type of coolant we are dealing with, hence why I’m referring to them by color, and also to clarify the differences in how they’re marketed here versus there.

I know that Mercedes-Benz cars came with a green colored factory fill of coolant back in the 1970s and 1980s (which was likely just the good old IAT type stuff that our domestic manufacturers used) and then switched to G05 type which was orange in color in the 1990s and eventually went to the G48 type in the early 2000s and I’m fairly certain they said it was backward compatible for their older cars, so I may call the MB Classic Center and ask them for an official statement, which would also help to clarify if G48 will damage copper/brass components.

Thank you all for the replies thus far!

[Belle427]

Not sure what they use in the older Chevys and Fords over there but their lubricants seem to be very good quality and highly regarded.

[PabloGee]

Interesting to see the point of view on OAT - I bought my Chim a year ago and was doing my first check on the fluids, saw the coolant expansion pot could take an inch more, merrily added some blue stuff prior to contacting the previous owner who told me he'd put the pink stuff in because it was penned to last longer.
Then I read that mixing the blue stuff with the pink stuff can turn it to porridge inside the engine, so spent a day flushing the system through with water, emptying and refilling, then concluding with a fresh dose of the blue stuff.
Reading this makes me feel much happier about having ditched the expensive OAT stuff!

[bergxu]

Here’s a rather helpful link I found;

https://gmb.net/blog/inorganic-vs-organic-coolants...

[Sardonicus]

G48 dont use piss poor old school 2 year blue