thorneycroft 1800 BMC engine antifreeze

[christophert]

Hi all, does anyone know what anti freeze to use in this engine? Not sure if it's the pink or blue?

[David Mack]

What's in it at the moment?

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, christophert said:

Hi all, does anyone know what anti freeze to use in this engine? Not sure if it's the pink or blue?

As long as you flush it, I think either will do the job. pink may well have a longer service life.

[magnetman]

Pink for girls and blue for boys seems traditional. 

 

 

[christophert]

Cheers, as I wasn't sure when I bought the boat I put in a neutral antifreeze which can be mixed with both. 

[Tracy D'arth]

its a 80 year old design, anything will suit. Best not to mix with other types.

[magnetman]

My BMC 1.5Ds have blue antifreeze. 

[Tracy D'arth]

Mine are pink of course!

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

For what it’s worth, I’ve just started using this;

 

I use a Farm/Agricultural shop now for oils and anti freeze, it’s a much better deal. 
 

 

[christophert]

Cheers, as I wasn't sure when I bought the boat I put in a neutral antifreeze which can be mixed with both. I've been using it ever since, but having trouble finding it, so I've bought blue

As a rule, blue coolant is for cast iron engines, while red is for aluminium engines. A good rule of thumb is that if your car is from before 2000, you should choose blue coolant. If your car is from after 2000, choose red coolant.6 Jan 2022

 

https://www.autobutler.co.uk › blog

 

 

This is what the guy in Halfords said too

[Tracy D'arth]

Its all guess work, cast iron engine but with aluminium heat exchanger/expansion tank/exhaust manifold. Copper exchanger core and gearbox heat exchanger.

I cannot see that antifreeze that will not attack aluminium will do any damage to cast iron and steel.

The corrosion inhibitor life of pink or red is much longer AFAIK.

[StephenA]

We use Prestone (which is a sort of fluorescent yellow/green)  in our 1.5. Premixed covers down to -37C and you can "Add to any existing coolant/antifreeze - safely mixes with any colour or specification of coolant/antifreeze" It also claims "Corrosion protection for 300,000 miles/10 years guarantee"

[christophert]

Thank you, I'll take a look at that

[philjw]

Concentrated Prestone is available at Costco if you have access.

[StephenA]

7 minutes ago, philjw said:

Concentrated Prestone is available at Costco if you have access.

We've picked it up in the past at the shell garage in Market Drayton.

Premix is available from Toolstation or Screwfix.

Premix and concentrate available from Euro Car Parts (who do delivery).

[christophert]

👍🏻 Cheers