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[less]

Hi all
I have a slow coolant leak somewhere which is a minor irritant. I have changed HBV and header tank cap but has made little difference. Never any visible signs of leakage so I will probably put up with it, and top up as necessary.

I can't always get to my nearest stealers when open as they tend to work same hours as me. Question is are all 'red' antifreezes compatible? I have seen red, blue and purple on eurocraparts for instance - would their red mix with mine without issue?

[tigers_gonads]

Any smell of antifreeze / water when the engines hot ?
I could be coming from the oil cooler plate and evaporating off ?
Any damp / wet patches in the footwells ?

[less]

Not noticed any coolant smell and no damp patches found.

[terry paget]

No, all antifreezes are not compatible. I heard a tale of precipitation and clogging of an engine by mixing the old ethylene glycol antifreeze with the more modern organic acid stuff. Best to use the same again to top it up.

Check for drips and coloration at the bottom front of the engine. It it's water pump leaking that is where it will appear.

[tigers_gonads]

Any pink residue on the bottom of the radiator or the radiator drain plug ?

[05omegav6]

Genuine can be bought readily on ebay for sensible money

If you can't see or smell it then it's most likely radiator related... Either one of the sensors or the drain plug Have also changed a couple with cracked radiators...

Basically, start at the drain plug looking for residue, if any visible, follow the trail and fix/replace the leaky item...

[frostbite]

Could be leaking under the header tank

[minifreek]

If your worried about mixing antifreezes, drain the system, flush through with clean water, drain and replace with OAT compatible antifreeze. As long as its OAT compatible, it won't matter what colour you put in to top-up...

[dbug]

Omega doesn't require OAT antifreeze - specified for more modern engines.  Just stick with the red GM antifreeze as specified.

It is NOT recommended to mix older antifreezes with OAT, particularly the old glycol based products as a gel will be produced!

[omega2018]

Omega doesn't require OAT antifreeze - specified for more modern engines.  Just stick with the red GM antifreeze as specified.

i though the GM red was OAT.  isn't it?

[dbug]

Omega doesn't require OAT antifreeze - specified for more modern engines.  Just stick with the red GM antifreeze as specified.

i though the GM red was OAT.  isn't it?

No its not

[omega2018]

i think you might be wrong 

[omega2018]

from the astra owners manual 2012 (and others)

"Coolant and antifreeze
Use only organic acid type-long life
coolant (LLC) antifreeze approved for
the vehicle."

isn't that GM red or are they recommending some new GM colour, or a non GM coolant?

[dbug]

from the astra owners manual 2012 (and others)

"Coolant and antifreeze
Use only organic acid type-long life
coolant (LLC) antifreeze approved for
the vehicle."

isn't that GM red or are they recommending some new GM colour, or a non GM coolant?

OAT antifreeze is NOT gm red.  OAT is for engines more modern than the Omega V6.  Yep its recommended for the more modern 2012 Astra, not for a 2003 or earlier Omega V6.

Try googling it re mixing oat with other antifreezes  - it will answer your query and confirm my posts

[dbug]

OAT is recommended by Jaguar for my XJ, and in the handbook it states OAT should not be mixed with non-OAT antifreezes.

GM, and other car manufacturers, don't make antifreezes, just supply "a n others" antifreeze to a specification with their own label applied.

OAT is coloured orange by the way, not red