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Which antifreeze is right for my car?
1929 Lagonda 2 Ltr honeymoon coupe.
I use standard blue antifreeze (Eurocarparts Triple QX but others are also available) in my 2 Litre and have done for many years. I dont really add it for the freezing protection as the car is kept in a warmish garage but for the corrosion inhibition. For the latter, I understand it is important to change it every couple of years.
The more modern pink/red antifreezes I believe can be problematical in older cars and generally arent recommended.
The waterless coolant options typically attract strong opinions on their use…. some like them, some dont.
Nobody really seems to have a poor opinion of blue antifreeze however, so probably the easiest/safest bet.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should an “Extended Life” antifreeze, which utilizes Organic Additive Technology (OAT, H-OAT, or N-OAT) as one of its chemicals, ever be used in our cars.
Antifreeze that can be used safely is the old older-fashioned Inorganic Additive Technology (IAT) additive.
You can’t always tell by the color of the antifreeze always look for IAT antifreezes.
These old fashions antifreezes have a short life of about 2 years so should be regularly changed to be effective.
Thank you both D C W Humphreys and Len for the information, very helpful.
I also went back to David Ayre who rebuilt the car and he has used Fernox Aphihi 11 & de ironised water.
I raised this question as I thought one of the antifreeze was not good for older cars but I didn’t know which one.
I too have heard bad reports regarding Forlife antifreeze. Fernox products, although intended for household central heating systems, seem to be good for our cars. Their technical department is helpful, furthermore going by the VSCC forum, many VSCC members favour Fernox Alphi 11 … indeed I’ve bought some to use in my V12, once it actually gets to the stage of being running! As an aside, Fernox DS40 is recommended for cleaning rust and scale, and without attacking aluminium, so I will be using that before the antifreeze stage.
Laurence
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