Antifreeze

[Atlantis]

After all the rain we had in Yorkshire on Saturday I've got loads of rain water so I'm going to drain and refill do I use antifreeze or not ??
Thanks Andrew

[Chris KC]

Night time temperatures are now dipping below freezing in this neck of the woods; either use antifreeze or drain the radiator when the car is not in use.

[David Stepney]

Antifreeze also has anti-corrosive properties, so I use it all year round. use ethylene glycol based antifreeze (blue) and not the modern red stuff. Blue antifreeze can be used up to a 50/50 mixture, depending on the level of protection. I use 60% water to 40% antifreeze. It can get cold here in the mountains.

[Parazine]

Depends on the soundness of your radiator, hoses and top and side water connections to the engine!

I use a weak (25 to 30%)solution of blue stuff in my RK as it's used during the winter. The chummy has an expensive replacement honey-combe radiator that leaks prodigiously with antifreeze so that is drained during the cold months and the car stored away.

I echo David's comments, the anti-corrosion properties are worth having and the red stuff (Organic Acid Technology or OAT) is designed for modern aluminium/plastic radiators and is reputed to have adverse effects on solder on copper/brass/solder constructed rads.

One problem with the earlier cars with an external filler, is that if coolant is lost from the cap (for example, during heavy braking), this should be wiped off the paintwork as ethylene glycol makes  reasonable paint stripper!

[Atlantis]

Thank you.

Is it worth putting Kseal in or is it not recommended??

[Chris KC]

Someone needs to point out that anti-freeze also makes your car run hotter in the summer... I merely use a corrosion inhibitor.

[Parazine]

Is it worth putting Kseal in or is it not recommended??

As an MGF owner, I put Kseal in the bin!

If you have a leak, the leak needs fixing, Kseal is merely a bodge and causes it's own problems. Not so much of a issue in simple Austin Seven cooling systems, apart from completely blocking an already furred up radiator, but can be disastrous in complex modern systems, full of "jiggle valves", narrow passages and so on.

[Atlantis]

Thank you no Kseal for me ...

[AustinWood]

I have been told that Kseal was designed for the K Series engines which hold very little water. Any leaks can be disasterous. Also that it needs a pressurised system to work.

[Reckless Rat]

I also have an MGF and the use of K-Seal is a death sentence for the K series engine's cooling system. It has been used in the past as a cheap solution to try and rectify coolant leaks due to head gasket failure which does nothing other than make the original problem worse and probably sounds the death knell for an engine that could have been repaired.

Probably OK in a Seven, but I wouldn't trust it.

Plain green antifreeze 50/50 is what I use. The antifreeze doesn't make the engine run hotter, all it does is raise the temperature at which the coolant boils. If that's the case then it's the cooling system that's at fault not the coolant.