Search the Community

I've just replaced the antifreeze in my wagon... well not really me, had my friendly garage do it thank heaven. They had to flush it five times before it ran clear, apparently the first time it didn't so much run as glooped out. I knew it was bad as it looked like red mud in the reservoir (it's still stained reddish brown). Anyway the reason I'm posting this is that I bought the HOAT antifreeze from a company called AGM - Polygard MIS16523 Green H-Oat Antifreeze. at £13.19 per five litres. It seems to have comply with all the specs and It's made in the UK (Rule Britannia ) I must state I have no association with the distributor or the manufacturer (in fact I had never heard of them before searching the internet for HOAT antifreeze. I bought 2 x 5L and delivery was free! This is just for info - no endorsement yet but unless the temp drops below -39 or the radiator corrodes thru there's very little to validate it against. But it's the cheapest I could find that had all the specs and as I mentioned its UK made. (Oh and Graham, my friendly mechanic said, it looks like antifreeze, smells like antifreeze therefore it must be antifreeze.) On the short runs I've made since everything appears tickety-boo, heater's good, warms up in a couple of miles, keeps a constant temperature just below half way on the gauge (don't know how many degrees this corresponds to - intend to try and calibrate it when the weather gets better.) Specification Information: Exceeds the requirements of: ASTM D3306, ASTM D 4985, AFNOR 15-601, VAG TL774-C, TMC RP329, MYU 5038, MAN 324NF, CaterpillarSEBU6250-12, Detroit Diesel 7SE 298, Mercedes Benz DBL 7700.20(325), Saab 690 1599, Scania TB1451, Cummins 14603, MTU: MTL 5048, BMW N 600 69.0, Volvo Car 1286083 Issue 002.

Ladies and Gents, I have a 2003 2.5 CRD with about 141k miles on the clock and I too have been losing coolant. Last year I realised that my thermostat was stuck open and the engine was taking ages to warm up. I then fitted an extra (working) thermostat to the top hose, and life was good... A month ago I was driving on a motorway and suddenly the temperature gauge went off the scale. I pulled in at a garage and found that the coolant level was very low. I topped it up and managed to limp home. I then removed the top hose thermostat and replaced it with a new one. I tested the old one and it did seem to stick. I hoped that the new thermostat would do the trick but I found that I am now having to add about a litre of coolant after every trip :-( After a long run I found that there were signs that the coolant had leaked in the area under the rear right side of the engine. There was also a pretty even film of coolant on the back of the car. I think that the leak is external and that it gets sucked up onto the back of the car when I'm moving fast. The engine is running smoothly and there is no sign of water in the oil. The exhaust is not smokey either. Do you have any clue as to what is leaking - is it a hose? Has anyone had this problem before? As always, very grateful for any advice that you have. Cheers, Argee