Asian coolant; domestic car.

[tommygunn]

Here's a though.

Since a lot of the Asian coolants seem to be strictly kosher on the 2-EHA front, what keeps a person from using this in a domestic car as an alternative to G-05?

I don't wanna get into the Dexcool debate, lets bury that for now, but purely from a standpoint of compatibility, whats the differences between say Zerex Asian (HOAT, no 2-EHA, no silicates) and an actual G-05 (often containing some silicates)?

Mostly this surfaces because I can quite easily get my hands on Zerex Asian and other Asian long-life coolants for cheap (or free). Obviously anyone will say to spend the extra buck and given compatibility issues, its probably smart to say that.

But what do people think of this anyhow?

 

[FusilliJerry82]

Zerex Asian would work very well in any aluminum engine.

 

[Brons2]

The Kia OEM fluid is $20 a gallon full strength at my dealer, it's an HOAT containing phosphorus and made by idemitsu, according to the label. Mix with distilled water only.

 

[artificialist]

G05 and DexCool have no phosphates, and most Asian coolants do have phosphates, so it will not be optimal.

 

[Tones]

Disagree. I think the P-HOAT is the best chemistry going. The phosphates provide the short term passivation if new metal is exposed. Silicates do this too, but I have seen the silicates fall out of suspension and gum up the system. Never seen this with phosphates. The down side of course is you do have to use soft/distilled water, which is why they try to idiot-proof it with the 50/50 mix. I don't see why you couldn't use this with any vehicle.

 

[tommygunn]

And I agree with Tones' input. The study I've done on all these coolants seems to come to that difficult conclusion. They're essentially G-05 (not 2-EHA based), without silicates (so no dropouts, less wear on pump seals, etc), but contain phosphates instead (which so far I've come to the conclusion are great additives, but aren't used because of the idiot factor of hard water use which causes deposits).

The only thing is are Asian coolants intended primarily for aluminum engine protection, the lack of conventional silicates limiting protection potential?

I was under the belief that silicates in some coolants (mostly G-05 based coolants) was to provide protection in wet-sleeve, cavitation concern applications only but I could easily be wrong.