Coolant corrosion inhibitor additive?

[Wiggler]

Wondering if anyone has used any product that seems to hold up to it's advertising claims... I put in an additive in my Subie after finishing the headgaskets, but didn't know if there's any product out there that works on the older 2nd gen Q. Please share any wisdom. Some of them also say that they lower the temperature of coolant going from the radiator back into the block... any logic behind that?

[AZhitman]

Antifreeze is, in and of itself, a corrosion inhibitor.

Most folks here (myself included) don't recommend ANY "additives" in a cooling system. For your car, the ideal mix would be:

70% distilled water
30% antifreeze (not that pre-diluted stuff)
1 bottle of Redline Water Wetter (or comparable product)

There's really no reason to use anything else.

[BCC93QT]

*knock on wood. Never had any issues with my rad. Still OEM after 300k+ miles. Surpisingly there isn't many road wear on the bottom which I would think would have been more of an issue. I have a spare tucked from my parts car. The best thing you can do for your radiator is to spray it out with some compressed air every year. Get all the crud out of it. Other than that the 70-30 blend above is what I have always followed with most of my on road vehicles. I think the key to the coolant system is to open it as least as possible. Other than the occasional flush. Don't be afraid to change the cap once in a while even if it still holds a good seal.

[elwesso]

Antifreeze is, in and of itself, a corrosion inhibitor.

Most folks here (myself included) don't recommend ANY "additives" in a cooling system. For your car, the ideal mix would be:

70% distilled water
30% antifreeze (not that pre-diluted stuff)
1 bottle of Redline Water Wetter (or comparable product)

There's really no reason to use anything else.

In most climates the 70/30 will work. A mix of 40% antifreeze and 60% water provides freeze-up protection down to -10F and boil over protection up to 259°F. I was running somewhere in between 60/40 and 70/30, and I actually had my radiator freeze on me one time when it was close to -10°F.

Check out this article, pretty interesting how this works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

70/30 will give you better boil-over protection in the summer months, but for many, that's too much water. Just good to know.

Water wetter basically increases the heat transfer characteristics. The reason you want to run as much water as possible is because water is overall a good heat transfer fluid, where anti-freeze really isn't. The most universal recommendation would probably be 50/50 Antifreeze/water, and the water wetter.

Anyway, regarding the corrosion inhibitors, it's not really necessary on the Nissan engines. What I do is I drain and refill my coolant once a year (takes a smidge over a gallon), and that keeps things fresh.

[Wiggler]

Hey dudes... thanks for the info... I don't know how prone to head gasket or radiator failure the Y33 was... but I think I'll try it buy a little peace of mind.


It's only a couple of bucks, seeing as the older Q's used regular green coolant same as the subarus, I think it's worth a try.... it's only a small 125 ml bottle...
Some other people have had luck using it on non-Subaru vehicles. Just out of curiosity, does the VH41DE have VERY narrow passages that coolant has to snake through in it's circuit?? What diameter are the heater core pipes?

[elwesso]

There's really very few issues with the cooling system on the Nissan V8's. All you really need to do is change the green coolant every so often and it's fine. As long as you don't overheat it, the HG's will most likely be OK the life of the car. It's not like those Subaru's that are basically guaranteed to blow the HG eventually.

[elwesso]

There's really very few issues with the cooling system on the Nissan V8's. All you really need to do is change the green coolant every so often and it's fine. As long as you don't overheat it, the HG's will most likely be OK the life of the car. It's not like those Subaru's that are basically guaranteed to blow the HG eventually.