proper coolant for aluminum rads ?

[eklips3]

i've heard of people using specific types of coolant when they're running aluminum radiators to avoid corrosion or oxidation.

so what kind of coolant do you guys run with your aluminum rads ?

do you use the basic green coolant you find anywhere or do you use the silica ( or silicate ? ) free coolant ?

[sbc]

I just use distilled water with some wetter mixed in for the sake of the water pump. Its fine as long as you dont drive in the winter.

I haven't had any problems at all for about 2 years.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Originally Posted by sbc

I just use distilled water with some wetter mixed in for the sake of the water pump. Its fine as long as you dont drive in the winter.

I haven't had any problems at all for about 2 years.

You need to run some coolant with it too. Coolant acts as a lubricant and also helps keep the miscellaneous metals you have in the cooling system from oxidizing.

[Mister.E]

Yeah i agree with Ray. I used to pour in 1 bottle of water wetter and then add a mixture of 90% distilled water/10% coolant until the system was full. shit worked like a charm and never had any problems with oxidizing. the key is to use distilled water, normal hose water is shit.

[Bigsyke]

The water wetter and coolant will form black oil in your coolant. Water wetter doesnt really have enough corosion inhibitors to keep your system free of corosion and oxidation for long.

If you want the best worlds of a surface sufficant, and a silicate free organic coolant, then you want Honda long life Type II.

Do not add just plain green such as prestone. You will burn through water pumps.

[eklips3]

so looks like you guys are saying to stay away from green coolant.

does the water wetter make that much of a difference ? i've had a bottle sitting for about a year now ... maybe longer . but i havent used it because people say it dosent really make any difference. maybe its cause they had stock rads ??

[g00se]

Honda brand coolant uses a proprietary organic compound for corrosion inhibition, they use no borates and no silicates (I think no sodium salts at all, except perhaps phosphate) Honda coolant will not gel, it will not de-stabilize (it lasts a lot longer), and it will not erode seals. It's also already premixed 50/50 with distilled water.

You can get lots of other coolant brands that are "silicate-free" but make damn sure they say that clearly! "Low silicates" or "aluminum compatible" is not enough. But the other brands may (or may not) have borates, nitrates, and all the other sodium salts in various concentrations - we'll never know as they are not required to publish their formula.

One final point - coolants are dyed by the mfg. to be any color they want! The pure ingredients (mainly just ethylene glycol) are a pretty much clear solution, and it's dyed so you can identify it when it's leaking. The contents of the coolant have absolutely no bearing on it's color. Don't ever use a coolant just because it has the 'right' color, and don't ever mix brands of coolant, no matter what their color.