General What type of coolant for Seicento

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General What type of coolant for Seicento

CasLad

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I know that there are other threads on this subject but none seem to answer the question such that I know what exactly to buy.
I bought a second-hand Seicento (2002 model) 18 months ago and because of the colour of the coolant and the fact that I don't know when it was last changed, I plan to replace the coolant. I am not that familiar with cars.
The manual says to use Paraflu, but when I have searched the internet for what "paraflu" is, I find a lot of products (for example "Triple QX"). So, what coolant should I use? What is "paraflu"? Is "Triple QX" the right stuff? Is paraflu a trade name or the name for a certain mixture?
Thanks,
Andrew
 
Paraflu is a brand name. What brand you use is less important than the type you use - blue or pink. These cannot be mixed, so if you don't know which is in your engine now (ie it's been in there so long it's basically brown) then you need to flush it out before refilling. Whether you choose pink or blue is really personal choice, I use pink but know others who use blue and it makes no real difference in these engines.
 
I've ran Euro Car Parts Triple QX Blue anti-freeze in two cars after replacing their head gaskets (was done properly with a skim and all new gaskets), both failed again within 12 months, the cause was corrosion to the gasket around the water ways, so clearly the coolant's anti-corrosion properties were very poor..

Second time around I used Triple QX Red/Pink coolant and haven't had any issues, racking up +50k miles without any other-heating or head gasket failures.

So for me, it's a vote for Red/Pink coolant.
 
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I have never seen the point in the blue it only lasts 2 years then needs changing.
The pink lasts 5 years and is only slightly more expensive.
 
I changed my Cinq to the modern pink coolant soon after I got it.

"Paraflu" is the old blue coolant, "Paraflu UP" is the modern pink coolant.
 
In alot of cars it does matter which you use but these old fires don't seem to mind either way. My Suzuki for example, read on the owner club for them quite alot of people have put red/pink in them and its caused problems and you have to use ethylene glycol based stuff (i.e. blue).
Just FYI Suzuki do an ethylene glycol coolant thats longlife, 5 years like your average OAT coolant. Its a kinda dark bluey green colour. From what I have read the anti-freeze properties in the ethylene glycol is very stable and lasts a hugely long time but the anti-corrosive properties fade over time so clearly Suzuki have put some more or different additives in it to make it last longer.

As already said though, if you go from one to the other you need to be sure the system is properly flushed out... mix them and you get crystals forming and weird jelly substance as they react with each other. I always just stuck to blue as it doesn't bother me changing the fluids every two years, thats only every 4th oil change for me as i do all the my cars bi-annually no matter how many miles they have done.
 
It's not possible to tell what type of coolant it is just by colour.

You have to read the label on the coolant container.

Coolant can be blue , pink, green , yellow , orange, purple.

One manufacturers blue could be another's pink etc

Read the label to find out how long it can be used for before needs changing.

Read the label to find out type if ethylene glycol or methanol or OAT or other.

Back on topic - triple qx pink coolant a good choice for OPs car.
 
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yes correct, there is no rules on what colours coolant should be, they can be any colour - hence my dark bluey green coolant, and when they were new the Ignis came with luminous green coolant (seems common for ethylene glycol stuff to be bright green in 'murica' and OAT yellow, so completely different to here in the UK).

Do always read the label as Jack says.
 
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