Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Wayne on 29 August 2010, 10:16:31
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Guys - rang Vauxhall and they are out of Antifreeze till next Wednesday apparently, plus they are closed today for the parts department
I need to do a coolant flush, is it bad for the car to use Halfords Red Antifreeze?
Anyone used it?
i wanted to get it done today as I'm flat out with work next week
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yes will be fine :y
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Safe to use this ?
and yes yes, I know it ain't cheap
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=219452&categoryId=229902&langId=-1
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Yup, twice the price of Vauxhall's stuff....but fine to use
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I take it there is Zero difference between this and the VX stuff at all? or is it just the rip off price difference?
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maybe a slightly different forumla or something, but nothing to worry about ESPECIALLY as you are flushing....for topups I would try and stick to the same formula, but a total change wont matter
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on the 2.5 V6 Petrol, is it 5 litres? And mix with water? Or just pour it in neat?
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Depends how much you have in there already.
For a full flush you want a 50/50 mix.
For brass monkey conditions 70/30 max. ;D
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I use this stuff personally, can't be arsed mixing it, and with a halfords trade club card it's a little cheeper.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_185166_langId_-1_categoryId_229902
Nope, above is 2l bottle
5l here
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_160508_categoryId_229902_langId_-1?cm_vc=IOV4PDPZ1&iozone=PDPz1
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on the 2.5 V6 Petrol, is it 5 litres? And mix with water? Or just pour it in neat?
Depends how you buy it, vx and halfords sell it neat, which is cheeper, but halfords sell it ready mixed as well.
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I think the whole cooling system holds 10.5 litres on a V6.
Unless you take the coolant pump off you cannot drain the engine block (which holds about 4 litres).
My preferred method of flushing is to:
- drain as much as possible using the tap on the radiator, refill using plain water & run the engine up to temperature with the heater on.
- repeat as many times as necessary to flush all the signs of the old coolant.
- drain as much as possible of what is now plain water using the drain tap.
- add 5.5 litres of concentrated coolant to the header tank and then add as much plain water as necessary to bring the level up to the mark in the header tank.
If you started with a 5 litre bottle and a 1 litre bottle you will now have a half full 1 litre bottle of coolant. Add half a litre of plain water and you will now have 1 litre of mixed coolant for topping up with.
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Thanks Andy, ive just come back in after doing Exactly what you posted, thank god! i used 5 litres approximately of this
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_219452_langId_-1_categoryId_229902
i will wait till the morning and top up to the level required, but at the moment its at the right level
i drained and flushed it fully about 5 times and went for a spin in it to get engine really hot
hope i did good ;D
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excellent time to get some biodegreaser in the flush cycle too
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excellent time to get some biodegreaser in the flush cycle too
Ooooooh. Please explain? I'm about to do a full coolant flush and am interested in what this is/does! :y
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oh bugger!
wish id have known about this before i done it!! break!!
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excellent time to get some biodegreaser in the flush cycle too
I'm puzzled as to why you would want to do this. :-/
If an oil cooler failure contaminates the cooling system with oil then it is necessary to flush the system with degreaser but it shouldn't be necessary otherwise.
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excellent time to get some biodegreaser in the flush cycle too
I'm puzzled.
If an oil cooler failure contaminates the cooling system with oil then it is necessary to flush the system with degreaser but it shouldn't be necessary otherwise.
My thoughts too! This is why I'm wondering if there are any other benefits. Surely a system which doesn't have contaminants in, doesn't need cleaning?
I'll await ILoveMyElite's response :y
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evening chaps. well, doing a full flush is the prime time to work in some forte biodegreaser. it certainly wont do any harm, and just because your engine hasnt suffered an oil cooler failure doesnt mean you shouldnt do it. don't forget that degreaser not only clears contaminants but will also clear cak off of the surface of internal engine components, remove blockages from radiators to restore cooling efficiency, remove blockages from heater matrix to restore heating efficiency etc.
its just a 'while youre down there' exercise really. doesnt do any harm, doesnt cost a lot for a bottle of the stuff, and youre flushing the system anyway. agreed, as part of regular service interval it might be 'overkill' if used too often, but might be a worthwhile consideration if you dont necessarily know the history of the car, or its of a high mileage/age
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evening chaps. well, doing a full flush is the prime time to work in some forte biodegreaser. it certainly wont do any harm, and just because your engine hasnt suffered an oil cooler failure doesnt mean you shouldnt do it. don't forget that degreaser not only clears contaminants but will also clear cak off of the surface of internal engine components, remove blockages from radiators to restore cooling efficiency, remove blockages from heater matrix to restore heating efficiency etc.
its just a 'while youre down there' exercise really. doesnt do any harm, doesnt cost a lot for a bottle of the stuff, and youre flushing the system anyway. agreed, as part of regular service interval it might be 'overkill' if used too often, but might be a worthwhile consideration if you dont necessarily know the history of the car, or its of a high mileage/age
Good point, well put. If it is inexpensive, and not hard work (pouring a bottle of fluid in with water isn't hard) then it's surely worthwhile, even if not 'necessary' as such.
I'll have a look in my local motor-factors and see if they have any. :y
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you'll just need to let it circulate around the system with the engine up to temperature a few times during the flush, perhaps even driving the car for a day between each dump of coolant, just to ensure the stuff works around the system. depends on level of muck in the system. a pleasant side effect is that it makes your heating system temporarily smell of oranges hehehe! about a tenner for a bottle i think.
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Well that was certainly a difinitive reply you have convinced me to use the biodegreaser when i next flush.
:y