Halfords OAT antifreeze?

[Gaz]

Went in to Halfords looking for some anti freeze for the coupe quattro, I usually buy the pink stuff from motormania but they have shut down now.

I was wondering if the Halfords OAT concentrated antifreeze is pretty much the same shizzle?

Its pink/red in colour so i presume it will be okay?

I dont want it turning brown on me.. :/

[John.]

Originally Posted by Gaz

Went in to Halfords looking for some anti freeze for the coupe quattro, I usually buy the pink stuff from motormania but they have shut down now.

I was wondering if the Halfords OAT concentrated antifreeze is pretty much the same shizzle?

Its pink/red in colour so i presume it will be okay?

I dont want it turning brown on me.. :/

I would say the OAT stuff would be a no no. Comma do one that's red/pink that has ethylene glycol in it, might be called G30 ??...or x-treme maybe.
The OAT stuff is for newer cars.

[ChrisG]

you want the blue stuff.
There may well be metals in your older car that get 'eaten' ,slowly, but never the less, by the pink stuff.
IIRC I paid about £14 for 2.5 litres of 'blue', early in 2015.
Try motor factors, I never have problems getting it from them but Halfords et al - forget it.....

[Gaz]

Originally Posted by ChrisG

you want the blue stuff.
There may well be metals in your older car that get 'eaten' ,slowly, but never the less, by the pink stuff.
IIRC I paid about £14 for 2.5 litres of 'blue', early in 2015.
Try motor factors, I never have problems getting it from them but Halfords et al - forget it.....

Im a little confused now.. ive always gone for red-pink stuff because i thought it was better for aluminium heads?.. Like the KV 5 cylinder has.

I also always flush out a new (to me) car before putting it in just incase there is any green/blue stuff in there, as they turn brown and sludgy if mixed together.

I have pink in the CQ kv and pink in the c4 AEL A6.

It also says that this OAT halfauds stuff contains etenol glycol? And that i thought it was similer to the vw g-12 pink stuff.

Ive always thought the pink stuff was better, and thought it was what VW/AUDI use.???

have i been doing the wrong thing?

[Daveymaclad]

For a moment I read OAP antifreeze....

[Mellis46]

Originally Posted by Gaz

Im a little confused now.. ive always gone for red-pink stuff because i thought it was better for aluminium heads?.. Like the KV 5 cylinder has.

I also always flush out a new (to me) car before putting it in just incase there is any green/blue stuff in there, as they turn brown and sludgy if mixed together.

...

Ive always thought the pink stuff was better, and thought it was what VW/AUDI use.???

have i been doing the wrong thing?

Only what I have always done. Rule is dont mix the colours, thats when u get the sludge. If you have the blue put the blue in unless its completely flushed out, then you can choose what you put in.

I do a full flush and put in the pink G12+, latterly G13 straight from TPS in both my KV 90s and now the AFN A4. It says on it its backwards compatible with internal components and its what Audi supply when you ask for antifreeze. Never had a problem. Hopefully Ive been right...?!

[Gaz]

So... is OAT basically what G12 is?

Also, I've just been reading that OAT is bad for copper radiators and heater matrix's? And is no good for lead soldered rads either?


Does my kv quattro, or even my c4 AEL A6 have any copper in the cooling system? Or lead solder?

Hummm... the more i look into this, the more un sure i become. :-\

http://www.aa1car.com/library/2004/us120426.htm

[vag]

I also use vw G13 in my mk2 golf 16v, used it for the the past 6 years and had no problems.

[John.]

I use blue stuff in my 1990 CQ
Stuff I got for S2 was Comma pinky orange colour but wasn't OAT(?) but does have ethylene-glycol content. I was dubious about the Comma stuff as I think the colour is an indication as to whether it contains silica which OAT stuff has?? Anyway it was what was listed for the car so got it.
Bit of a mine-field out there!

[Mellis46]

I dislike situations such as this, there is a similar one when it comes to gearbox and differential oils and the difference between gl4 and gl5.

I dont really know what oat is, Organic Acid something or other, could even be marketing, its supposed to increase the life of the product.

G12 which became G13 has a life of 5-6 years which is about the same as the other "premium red" antifreezes, the blue lasts 3 years if i believe the old bottle the Peugeot 306 used to swallow in my shed. Whether that makes them fundamentally "the same" as the G13, we need a chemist! Have always just gone and got the stuff Audi sell, its one thing less keeping me awake at night...!!!

Re the cooling system on the KV, the 2.2E had a slim aluminium radiator, the "heavy duty" (dual) radiators were copper, 90q has those, or used to, i renewed them both and know the main radiator is a Behr which is aluminium (much fatter than the 2.2E one). The replacement mini radiator fitted to the front is painted black as was the original...

I have owned this 90 since 2007, so its had 2 complete lifecycles of G12/G13, going to change it again when I do the timing belt and water pump next time - the colour of the coolant is still bright pink and the level is bang on so nothing appears to be breaking down.