best engine coolant for my VN? red or green

[joeyd]

hi guys broke down recently and my coolant is serverly diluted (10% collant, 90% water sort of thing), is this bad? i just wanted to check because im going to change it up, which is better red or green and any suggestions for a particular brand?

thanks
joeyd

[Jarmizz]

I can recommend that you check with your local automotive outlet store and see what they have on their computer system. Some new stuff is long lasting but is quite expensive however maybe the cheaper stuff will be fine for your older model car?

I have also run my coolant at 50/50 and I have never had a problem but this mixture would depend on your local climate?

[wraith]

I have used the Tectaloy premixed stuff and my car runs well on it. Supposed to use the concentrate stuff according to people but I have yet to had one problem with it and have been using it for months.

[Brett_jjj]

The thing to remember with using the cheaper coolants is that they arent going to cause problems short term,its over time that good quality coolants stand out.Good quality coolant will stop corrosion and electrolysis. Electrolysis is when the aluminium from the radiator (or from any alloy cooling system parts for that matter) is eaten away by the coolant and deposited onto the engine block by way of the electrolysis process (happens mostly when plain water or diluted or old coolant is used over time)Welch plugs are also one of the first things to go usually....Cheaper quality coolants are probably closer to the dearer coolants when it comes to their anti freeze-anti boil properties, if they are mixed at the correct ratios.Its mainly the corrosion side of things though where they fall behind..A lot of people dont mix coolant to the correct ratio to top up the radiator.A lot of people just add a bit of water thinking that bit of water wont make much difference.But it does.To keep the coolant at the correct ratio,always top up with the proper mix of coolant and water.I carry a 5 litre old coolant bottle with the coolant in it mixed ready to go when I need to top it up,which is hardly ever anyway.

[JGlinatsis]

green thats is I use haha

[wortus]

V6's need to use green coolant. The coolant I have been using for years is the Nulon Long Life concentrate and it must be mixed 50/50 or as close to it as you can get. The 50/50 as well as being required for anti corrosion reasons is needed because the coolant will boil around the valves if the concentration is too low.
You should fully flush your cooling system incl. the heater core with clean water, drain out at least 5 litres and add 5 litres of concentrate then top it up with clean water as a Buick engine has a cooling system capacity of 10 litres.
The Nulon Long life coolant is the same type used in export cars and is superior to the genuine stuff and in my view the other brands available as evidenced by it's service life. You also don't need to use the pellets from Holden with this coolant unless you notice small leaks.

[donboy2000]

What are the pellets?

[zskinner]

What are the pellets?

i believe you can buy them from holden and they are supposed to protect your water pump? maybe someone can better explain and correct me if im wrong?

[wortus]

i believe you can buy them from holden and they are supposed to protect your water pump? maybe someone can better explain and correct me if im wrong?

As I understand it they protect the water pump by countering some adverse effects of the genuine type of coolant and also help seal up very small leaks in gaskets. If your overflow bottle has some brownish crud in it then that's from the pellets I think. The Nulon Long Life coolant is a differnt composition and does not need the pellets unless small leaks develop this is all from the Nulon web site.

[calais24/7]

V6's need to use green coolant. The coolant I have been using for years is the Nulon Long Life concentrate and it must be mixed 50/50 or as close to it as you can get. The 50/50 as well as being required for anti corrosion reasons is needed because the coolant will boil around the valves if the concentration is too low.
You should fully flush your cooling system incl. the heater core with clean water, drain out at least 5 litres and add 5 litres of concentrate then top it up with clean water as a Buick engine has a cooling system capacity of 10 litres.
The Nulon Long life coolant is the same type used in export cars and is superior to the genuine stuff and in my view the other brands available as evidenced by it's service life. You also don't need to use the pellets from Holden with this coolant unless you notice small leaks.

Do all v6's need the green coolant or is it just commodores that you know of?

[donboy2000]

I have never heard of them . Well there you go that explains the brown residue on the overflow of a VN I once owned ty

[DavoVP]

Im just useing the $10 for 5l green stuff from super cheap ( premix ) seems ok. Hasent hurt it so far.

[wortus]

Electrolysis is not that fast a process. If you don't want the motor to corrode or potentially overheat you need to use the correct coolant at the correct concentration. Your still going to spend $20on the cheap pre mixed stuff when you can go and buy 5 litres of the correct Nulon concentrate from Super Cheap for a little over $30.00
If you have ithe car long enough to corrode the welch plugs and or water puimp it's going to cost a lot more then $10 to fix it.
Anyway I'm not just the only one giving this advice in the end it's your car and you can put whatever you want to in it.

[sik_dose]

Im just useing the $10 for 5l green stuff from super cheap ( premix ) seems ok. Hasent hurt it so far.

same here, Ive had no issues with it either.