"Red" Antifreeze ?
I was told recently that the red antifreeze had better cooling capacity than the green or gold fomulations. I do not know much about the formulations of antifreezes. I currently use the gold Zerex in my car, but have heat issues, especially with high ambient temps. If you know anything about the red antifreeze and using it in an older car I would like to hear about it.
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
Larry,
Cooling capability is based upon thermal transfer capability.
What's in this red stuff? Who makes it and what is the specific ingredient they claim makes it better than the others?
p.s. I know what will and it may not be what we want to use in our always super hot 427 mid year cars. -
Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
Are you referring to DexCool? If so, stay away from it in older cars. There are incompatability issues with the lead solder in radiators and heater cores. General consensus is G-05, or equivilent is the best route.
If you are having cooling issues, you more than likely have a problem that no cooling system product or additive will cure. Timing, water pump, radiator and fan clutch are the most common problems. If you will do a search on this site, I am sure you will find more posts, than you ever care to read, dealing with overheating.Dick WhittingtonComment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
All modern OEM approved antifreeze products are ethylene glycol based and have the same thermal characteristics.
Color has no bearing on cooling. It's there to identify the type of corrosion inhibitor package.
Toyota antifreeze is an OAT that is dyed red, but it is a different formulation than Dexcool which is orange. If you look up all the antifreeze products on the Valvoline Web site you will find about half a dozen, most of which are OATs recommended by various manufacturers, and most of the OATs are dyed red.
There are some questions about the ability of OAT antifreezes to protect solder, which is not used in modern cooling systems.
Green IAT type antifreeze is obsolete - not used by any OEMs, and it has a habit of clogging up radiator tubes.
HOAT antifreeze, like Zerex G-05 (dyned amber), which contains both organic and inorganic corrosion inhibitors is the new "universal" antifreeze that will provide excellent protection to both modern solderless cooling systems and vintage systems that contain solder without clogging up the tubes with silicates.
If your engine is running hot your cooling system has likely degraded to less than original performance or there is something wrong with your spark advance map. There's no magic bottle of fluid that will make it run cooler. The usual suspects are a clogged OE or low capacity replacement radiator, degraded fan clutch, or dead vacuum advance control. These issues have been discussed many times over the years on the TDB.
DukeComment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
Duke,
I think ther info you provided on the OATs is the answer I was looking for. Since I do not have an advance or VAC control. The fan clutch seems good. I keep on finding my way back to the radiator, which is OEM and I hate having to to replace, even with a DeWitts direct fit replacement.
Thanks.Comment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
If your car is a '66 it should have a vacuum advance distributor, so installing a correct distributor for the engine configuration may solve the problem, but if the radiator is truly a 45 year old original it is probably marginal at best due to deposit buildup in the tubes.
DukeComment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
Sorry, I meant to write "Since I do not have an advance or VAC control problem."
My advance curve and timing is correct and my VAC works as it should. The radiator is an OEM that was "restored" about 12 years ago.Comment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
The only way I know of to "restore" an OE aluminum radiator is to clean it up on the outside and paint it. It may look new on the outside, but the inside may be junk.
There is no way that I know of to disassemble the OE al. radiator and rod it out like can be done to a brass radiator.
Once an aluminum radiator's tubes get clogged to the point where the engine runs hot or overheats, it's toast and worth salvage value for the weight of aluminum.
You may be able to get some specific guidance if you state the model year, engine, options affecting cooling like A/C, and any modifications from OE configurtion of the engine and all cooling system components. Also, state as specifically as possible the driving conditions when it gets hot or overheats including temperatures that you read on the gage and whether or not you have verified gage temperatures with an IR gun.
The more test information you supply, the better the diagnosis you will get.
DukeComment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
Duke is correct about aluminum radiators. In another life, I owned and operated a radiator repair shop. All you can do is clean them with Tri Sodium Phosphate (found at Lowes, Sherwin Williams, etc in the paint department) and repaint them. The tubes will oxidize internally and there is nothing you can do about it. If you use the same cleaners we used for a brass/copper radiator (caustic soda) the raidiator would become so clean you could not even see it.
Dick WhittingtonComment
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Re: "Red" Antifreeze ?
I called about four auto parts store before I found G-05 at a Car Quest.Comment
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