Remote Thermostat kit.

[Tom]

Make sure you refill with the same coolant - older cars have blue mono-ethylene glycol anti-freeze which also contains a short-lived corrosion inhibitor apparently (~2years) - (Lucas seems to be the supplier of suitable concentrated coolant) while newer cars have brown/orange OAT (Organic Acid Technology) which uses a longer lived corrosion inhibitor.

You're meant to stick to whichever type you already have and although it is said that you shouldn't mix them, the main reason not to is just that adding the austrian wine type to OAT reduces the effectiveness of the corrosion inhibitor (the reverse isn't true).

If you're doing a complete flush and refill, you could now fill up with OAT, even on an older car.

For what it's worth, I ran on 50% pyrenean stream water, 50% generic-blue-coolant for about 18 months after Stelvio 2004

Cheers,
Robin

Thanks Robin. From memory the expansion tank contains the orange/brown liquid you mentioned. Will ensure is replaced with same. This is not something I can do (ie fit parts, drain, bleed, refill etc), so it'll either be a garage trip, or somone with a rubber arm I can ply with beer tokens(or just plain old beer)