Rust Inhibitors

[64beam]

Hi,

The Rootes WSM suggest to use a ethylene glycol based antifreeze/rust inhibitor in the engine. Are there any particular products that Tiger owners have found to be inadequate? Do I need to be careful what I choose when changing to an aluminium inlet manifold? The reason I ask is that in talking to a work colleague regarding engines, he found certain products that have salt in the ingredients sped up corrosion in the engine's water passages.

Thanks, Robin.

 

[mikephillips]

I read an article once that recommended that if the car was designed for the older green type antifreeze you should stick with that. Newer formulations for modern cars that have additives for the plastics and other different materials found in them should be avoided. Don't know exactly how true this is but I've always used the green stuff and had no problems, and I have an alloy intake.

 

[George Coleman]

Any ethylene glycol based antifreeze/rust inhibitor will work great the green dye is there so you can see if you have any leeks in your system. The main thing is that you should not use any thing over a 50/50 mix in your car, if you go over the 50 antifreeze/50 water mix you will see your water temp go up and in some cases you may over heat, also the rust inhibitor used can have a reverse affect and cause corrosion!

 

[V_Mad]

Hi,

The Rootes WSM suggest to use a ethylene glycol based antifreeze/rust inhibitor in the engine. Are there any particular products that Tiger owners have found to be inadequate? Do I need to be careful what I choose when changing to an aluminium inlet manifold? The reason I ask is that in talking to a work colleague regarding engines, he found certain products that have salt in the ingredients sped up corrosion in the engine's water passages.

Thanks, Robin.

If you can find a regular antifreeze in this day and age that is not suitable for use with aluminium, maybe you should offer it to the science museum!

Do tell us more about the names of the products with corrosive salt ingedients!!

 

[64beam]

Hi Chris,

I have no trouble in finding the correct coolant additive, it was the fact that the person I was talking to had seen issues associated with certain products. He did not go into specifics, just to be aware of dis-similar metals. I had a look at a few product site (Castrol and Penrite) and they are all OK with cast iron and aluminium.

Regards, Robin.

 

[V_Mad]

Talking of antifreeze, I recently flushed the Tiger cooling system with some proprietary cleaner, then after several cloudy flushes, it finally came clear, and I refilled with water and antifreeze. I think most of the crud came from the block as I had previously flushed the rad many times.

After starting the engine, this was followed by a steady drip drip from the water pump area. It often seems the case that fresh antifreeze finds leaks that were not there before, although it may have been the flushing cleaner I used; I guess thats the risk you take.

I took the extra precation of renewing the thermostat housing as I was advised these are of poor quality. I am glad I did, the flange had bowed badly, and there was internal corrosion, even though the chrome exterior looked like new. I would definitely recommend you do the same; they are cheap enough anyway.

I tightened some bolts on the water pump yesterday, and I am hoping this has cured it, otherwise it will be a radiator out job to replace the water pump. At least its out of season now, so hopefully I will not miss out on any nice classic meetings, although I always miss the car when its not on the road.