The Camaro Club (UK)

Can I use ready mixed coolant from UK car stores?..or does it need be something note specific?

I buy coolant from the Opel dealer here, the GM mix.

Usually the rule is to stick with the colour that's in there. I use the green stuff in my 87 and 79 (which has a 74-76 engine in it). The manufacturer is Comma. Don't seem to have any issues with it, been running it for 2 years daily use and it's clean as a whistle in my 87. The difference in coolants is the types of metals they're suited to and not suited to. Ours are iron and copper (radiator). Newer cars have a lot of aluminium and use the pink coloured fluid. There are whole threads of info out there, so that's just a very brief summary, sorry.

I buy the concentrate as i'm not a fan of paying for water I got one 5 litre concentrate bottle and used it for a coolant flush, then used that empty bottle as a 50/50 mix bottle... it's got markings on the side so filled it to the 2 litre mark with distilled water, then bought a 5 litre concentrate and poured it into the bottle with water in it, up to 4 litres, so now when i need to top up, i know it's exactly 50/50 going in.

My manual has gone for a walk so i can't check but it says in there that the requirement is glys...something. Glycol? Glyserin? Both used in foods and antifreeze, yummy.

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Cheers.....I think its green coolant in mine although when I first checked levels the expansion tank just had dark color dregs in it and the rad was around 3\4 full so I topped up with distilled....so I can't tell the mix at the moment

Doesn't matter which you use, pink or blue but if you swap between them you need to thoroughly flush the system as they dont mix.

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Thanks......I still can't tell what color is in...as stupid as that sounds....I had to top up with distilled as mentioned in earlier posts and maybe this has diluted it....it looks like it might have been orange.....guess a flush would be the best thing as I don't think its wise to just have distilled water in there?....the level in the expansion now sits at "full cold" when car has been driven so it seems its still short of coolant....not sure what's happening unless there's an air lock as the car was laid up for 3 months....

It could be quite diluted if it's hard to tell the colour. Not really an issue if it's for a short term i.e. during flushing process but in the longer term will cause corrosion issues. Coolant also acts as a lubricant for the water pump so running straight water for a while could cause issues. Sounds like a good flush will do the trick, usually 2 - 3 refills with water to get it clear. Once refilled you can burp the system to help it sit at the right level - one way is to remove the radiator cap (when cold) and start the engine, wait for the thermostat to open and it should burp itself at first, then you can squeeze the hoses (all the time with the cap off) then keep filling until the radiator is full. Keep squeezing the hoses a few times during the process. Place the cap on, let it get up to operating temp, a few revs to agitate the system. Wait for it to cool, check levels again, top up and repeat the process if there's any doubt.

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How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

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Thanks.....I was told the engine was rebuilt so had assumed the coolant would have been filled to the correct levels...I'll use a coolant checker to assess the current mix and if its questionable .I'll take your advice and flush and start afresh with new coolant.

Ive heard theres a coolant called Prestone whuch mixes with any coolant...is that correct? If so would i get away with just drainin the system without flushing?

I know of American car owners that use Prestone, do you know which version is the one that mixes with different coolants?

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How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").