hi i have had a new cambelt fitted and could not get any red stuff for the radiator nearest lexus dealer 50 miles away so have had ordinary blue anti-freeze fitted. will this be ok or will it damage anything.thanks.

[quote name='kevinsgs300' post='710416' date='Feb 22 2010, 07:41 PM']hi i have had a new cambelt fitted and could not get any red stuff for the radiator nearest lexus dealer 50 miles away so have had ordinary blue anti-freeze fitted. will this be ok or will it damage anything.thanks.[/quote]

Hello,

I would always go with the manufactures recommended antifreeze and I wouldn't deviate. To quote from my owners manual:

Use of improper coolants may damage your engine cooling system.
Only use "Toyota Super Long Life Coolant" or similar high quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine and non-borate coolant with long life hybrid organic acid technology.
"Toyota Super Long Life Coolant" is a mixture of 50% coolant and 50% deionized water.

I also found this in an Honest John artical:

For many years, since the demise of Methanol based antifreeze that was traditionally only added just before winter, blue/green or yellow Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) has been the mainstay of the coolant market. However Ford vehicles since 08/98 have been filled with coolant combining Monoethylene glycol with Organic Additive Technology (OAT) corrosion inhibitors.

There are important differences between standard MEG and MEG with OAT. It does not contain silicates, nitrates, nitrites, borates, phosphates or amines so that:
· Without silicates, silicate gel or "green goo" does not form.
· By eliminating phosphates, hard water scale is reduced.
· Without silicates, phosphates, nitrates, nitrites and borates, abrasive dissolved acids are greatly reduced thereby diminishing water pump seal failures.
· Without amines and nitrites, there is no potential formation of nitrosamines.
All of this results in a considerably longer life span, whilst providing improved protection of all cooling system metals, including aluminium. Benefits over conventional silicate based coolants are:
· Improved water pump life due to reduced water pump seal wear.
· Fewer abrasive dissolved solids.
· Reduced hard water scale.
· Virtually no deterioration of heat transfer capacity during service life.
· Excellent protection against high temperature and pitting corrosion.
· No silicate gel formation during storage or use.
· Effective long-term corrosion protection for aluminium, brass, cast iron, steel, solder and copper alloys.
· Long effective service life of up to 10 years or 150,000 miles.

I didn't think that coolant could be so technical! Anyway, I would change to the red stuff!

IMO, as long as you use ethylene glycol based antifreeze and change it at the recommended intervals you shouldn't hit any problems. Just remember that changing from one to another would require a complete flush, as the whole amount would only be as good as the shortest change antifreeze. i.e. if you had long life, and a little of the shorter life stuff still left in, you would still have to change out at the shorter interval.