(Perrone Ford stated that he uses environmentally
friendly coolant in his Range Rover now.)
As it was explained to me, an environmentally-
friendly coolant like Sierra does not have the same
degree of corrosion-inhibiting qualities as the
nasty stuff like Prestone, etc. The three diesels in
our trawler had Sierra as their coolant when we
bought the boat in California. When we got it
to Bellingham, WA, I had a very reputable engine
shop go over all three engines for a complete service.
One of the first things they said was, the Sierra's got
to go. The reason given was that it has pretty much
no corrosion combatant properties. The diesel
shop recommended changing to a coolant marketed
under the Caterpillar name (Cat doesn't make it, of course),
which is formulated specially for marine engines, with an
even higher corrosion inhibiting factor that "normal "
coolant. We had them make the switch, but in the discussion,
they described what they'd come across in marine engines that
had used Sierra or Sierra-type coolant for a period of time, and
they said the end result wasn't pretty and was pretty expensive to
fix, and in some extreme cases, ruined the engine.
Given the aluminum nature of the Rover V-8, I would be leery
of using a coolant type that does not provide a high degree of
corrosion protection. There may be anti-freezes on the market
that are both environmentally friendly and do a good job of
corrosion protection. But I was certainly given the impression
by people I figure should know that the two are mutually exclusive.
I'm not implying that the Rover V-8 should be fed a coolant that's
been formulated for the marine environment, which admittedly is
tougher in terms of corrosion than the automotive environment.
But everything I've been told (so far) seems to suggest that while
the environmentally friendly coolants are certainly better for the
environment, they are not better for an engine.
Perhaps someone here with more knowledge of coolant
properties can reinforce or refute my understanding.
___________________________
C. Marin Faure
(original owner)
1973 Land Rover Series III-88
1991 Range Rover Vogue SE
Seattle
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