Coolant in a 2.8

[Santiago]

Hi,

I just changed the coolant/water mixture in my Defender. The engine is an International 2.8 TGV and the radiator from a 300 Tdi.

According to the Defender manual the capacity of the cooling system is 11.2 litres for the 300Tdi engine.

I filled it with only 10 litres (aproximately 50/50 coolant and distilled water) of liquid.

My questsion is:

a) does the 2.8 have less coolant capacitiy than the 300Tdi ? (it doens' t sound right)

or

B) did not all of the coolant exit the system when I drained it and therefore I had to add less coolant afterwards?

c) I tried to make a 50/50 mixture of Texaco anticoolant and water to get the maximum protection against freezing temperatures (maybe too much but you never know where you end up) but it probably ended up being 55 coolant /45 water, is there any problem with this?

d) finally, the plug located over my thermostat is a plastic one (black colour). Do you agree it is worth changing it for a brass plug like I some people say is worth doing with the 300Tdi plug? I´ve heard the metal plug is stronger and does not break like the plastic one. Is it the same plug/thread for the 300Tdi and for the 2.8?

Thanks

Cheers,

Santiago

[JimAttrill]

Firstly, get rid of the plastic plug and fit anything made of metal, even the cast iron variety. Brass is the best.

You must have at least 40% antifreeze. Preferably measure it with a Sykes/Pickavant measurer.

The total coolant is the same for the 300Tdi/2.8 at 11 litres. So 5 litres of concentrated antifreeze is ok. But lots of antifreeze is not 100% to start with. Read the bottle carefully and avoid Castrol which is weak.

[Santiago]

Thanks Jim,

Do you know if the brass plug is the same size/thread as for the 300 tdi?

I am planning on buying some stuff in Expedition exchange in the US soon and I wonder whether this plug will fit my 2.8: Expeditionware Brass Plug (EW32) $20

The coolant I used was pure, GOOD quality Texaco stuff so the 5.5 litres I added should be OK.

Many people down here use 15% coolant in their vehicles and say you are crazy using 40 to 50%..........probably they are trying to save money but it may end up being expensive in the long run.

Cheers

Santiago

[JimAttrill]

Well, here all plumbers sell 'stop ends' which are the correct thread and made of brass. I think the thread over here is 1/4" BSP which could cause you a problem in the new world.

I would reckon 40% is good enough (from my Rolls-Royce Merlin/Griffon background); the main reason we use 'antifreeze' here in Africa is because of the anti-corrosion additives as it never freezes. I think 50% as recommended by LR is too much. Maybe 15% will give enough anti-corrosion additive?

[silvio]

I think that antifreeze is also anti-boil, in the sense that it increases the boiling point of water: so having a good, rich mixture is helpful even in hot climates.

And of course there's the anticorrosion protection, necessary in engines with aluminium parts. So the ideal percentage antifreeze/water should range from 33% to 50%, IMHO.