Yup Good old Prestone for all makes...yellow container....3 gallons premix...you never get it all...only took a scant 2.5 gallons even after an inclined drain and passing anothet qt of distilled thru. Btw, good for 10yr/300k miles so the 2yr Masi service window is 100% BS. Yet another keep the service dept busy item.
I closely inspected the belts. They are now 6yrs old and still look mint. I have new ones ordered from Scuderia. Still looking for the belt tool. When I do air filter & pollen filter, seems a logical time to change them.
So BELTS ARE GOOD FOR AT LEAST 5 YRS....Someone, please prove me wrong with data someone.
How many folks have been stranded with a blown belt on their GTS?

 

Confidence inspiring thread.....................

 

Recommended Coolant for Maserati/Ferraris

There is a tremendous amount of confusing information on what coolant to use when you change/flush your car. I went up to Ferrari/Maserati of San Diego today to buy some for my upcoming coolant exchange. They use and recommend ShellZone Pre-diluted. I believe 2 plus gallons are needed. They sell it for close to $40 /gal. I went home and ordered 3 gals from Walmart for $9,99 a gal.

I hope this helps with the confusion.

 

There is a tremendous amount of confusing information on what coolant to use when you change/flush your car. I went up to Ferrari/Maserati of San Diego today to buy some for my upcoming coolant exchange. They use and recommend ShellZone Pre-diluted. I believe 2 plus gallons are needed. They sell it for close to $40 /gal. I went home and ordered 3 gals from Walmart for $9,99 a gal.

I hope this helps with the confusion.

Yeah I have called several dealers and everyone uses a different coolant. I finally figured the Prestone for ALL color ALL makes is the easiest way out.

 

Thanks so much for the replies and research efforts!!!!!!!!!!!!:smile2:

 

Prestone Part #AF2000 , Extended Life Antifreeze.

 

Thanks gentlemen! Can you check this website and pick the anti freeze in detail which one you use please because there is no "Long Life" listed only "extended life" and I don't see "All make All color" listed
Thanks
https://prestone.com/products?category=productAntifreeze

 

Here is the link: Prestone | Products

If you read the label carefully, it does say for all makes and works with any colors. If I recall, Prestone had a different front label for the same product some years ago. You can purchase it any auto store or Walmart.

 

Lots of opinions, but we agree with MaseratiDoodle. We also did all the research including having corporate chemists look at the major antifreeze products. We also came to the conclusion that Prestone Long-life (bright yellow bottle) was the safest and best choice today for all cars made after 1993. Prior to 1993 stick with conventional antifreeze. There is a great product called No-Rosion that we use extensively with conventional antifreeze to extend the life to five years. It will also work with long-life products. It is the real deal and you can check their website for more info.

 

I'm certainly not an expert regarding the use of phosphates, but apparently Prestone DOES have phosphates:

https://prestone.com/safety-tips-faqs

Does this matter? I don't know..... But just in case, I think I'll avoid it!

Hans.

Oh, PS: Click on the FAQ tab.

 

For better or worse, the conclusion I came to was that any of the 3 Euro spec Peak products are probably fine. That brand seems to be commonly found, like at Autozone. 2 have silicates, 1 doesn't. Not completely sure of the difference between the HOAT (Hybrid OAT) and the regular OAT. I chose the Blue HOAT. Probably because I was stirring in some blueberries into my morning oatmeal and liked how i looked. Just kidding. The blue HOAT coolant seems to be what is currently in my car (BMW fluid). That, of course, is if you can trust the color coding, which may be a big leap of faith. FWIW, the Peak website suggests non silicate for the Maser. I say throw a dart. Which ever one you hit, don't buy it, because it is now leaking.

Hans.

 

I'm really confused and would just like to know what brand and model number I can use that I can buy at a local Walmart, Napa or Auto zone here in Maui. I have no dealer here.
Thank you very very much for the answer !!

 

Hi Hawaii, As you can see my initial post, I did all the research on this already. Just use the readily available Prestone All Makes/All Color that is readily available anywhere. It comes in a bright yellow bottle. I also called Prestone corporate office back then to confirm with engineers. They have tested on ALL cars including Ferrari, Lambo etc. So don't go around in circles trying to figure out what to use as there are many options but Prestone seems one of the easiest. You can DIY easily too...just mix 50/50 with distilled water. I removed under front cover long ago, the plastic drain bolt is just under on right (I think) 12-14 inches in from front hood, use open wrench (I think 10 mm?), drain and top up, let engine run 15-20 mins in max fan speed in heating mode with coolant cap open to bleed air, top up slowly...if need more details I can confirm with pics.

 

Actually, every "OAT" type coolant that I have looked at does not have phosphates, so BMW is not unusual there. (Oops. Edit: Meant to say "every non-Japanese OAT type coolant does not have phosphates.") What sets the BMW coolant apart from the others is the presence of silicates.

Silicates and phosphates are the anti-corrosion components of the old "green" color antifreeze that has been in use since grandma churned her own butter. Worked reasonably well as long as it was changed frequently, and more importantly - was mixed with pure water. Otherwise, the phosphates will interact with minerals in the water and precipitate out. That is basically was clogged radiators in the old days.

GM's DexCool was one of the first OAT coolants, replacing the silicates and phosphates with organic compounds that basically did the same thing, but lasted longer and was more tolerant of not so good quality water. However, DexCool (at least in it's original formulation - it might have changed) had a corrosion inhibitor called 2-EH (sounds like 2 Canadians talking, eh?) that under some circumstances could turn acidic and eat stuff, especially some gasket material. Used to have a late 90's Chevy Blazer 4.3. Dexcool caused some bad reaction that filled the entire cooling system with thick brown mud. Ended up spending thousand$ over a couple of years in repairs. Class action suit, we eventually got reimbursed.

But OAT coolants have improved. Now it seems to be the standard. However, apparently the anti-corrosion components are slow acting and may not completely address corrosion issues. They are sort of like letting a wound heal naturally. Silicates OTOH, are quick acting, covering everything with a very thin coating, like a bandaid. That's why BMW is somewhat unique in adding silicates (from the old "green" anti-freeze days) into the modern OAT formulation. Called HOAT for Hybrid OAT. Japanese manufacturers claim it will harm water pump seals and the thin anti-corrosion coating can cause overheating. Thus, to Japanese manufacturers, silicates are verboten. But oddly enough, some American and European manufacturers seem to find that a bit of silicate protection is OK.

One problem with OAT formulations is that the corrosion inhibitors do not work well with copper and brass. So older cars should probably stick to the original green stuff. I had a 308 Ferrari, which had nearly every metal on the planet in it's cooling system - aluminum, iron wet cylinder liners, copper radiator, brass coolant overflow tank, and a heavy dose of lead based solder holding some of it together. I used the green coolant with distilled water, changing it every 2 years. Could see no hint of corrosion or sludge anywhere.

For the Maser, I ended up buying Peak's BMW clone. HOAT formulation.

Hans.

 

FWIW, BMW anti-freeze/coolant is phosphate free. Phosphates cause aluminum oxidation, which over time blocks cylinder head coolant passages and can cause head gasket failure on BMW engines. Phosphates can also cause aluminum oxidation inside a thermostat housing which can eventually over the longer term make the thermostat not function properly. Said again, these things happen over long intervals. If you don't keep a car long, you may never see it. But if you plan on keeping a car "forever," or if you are going to buy an older car whose maintenance history you are unsure of, long-term effects may matter. It's the container saying what chemicals are in the mix that matters to me, not what color it is.
KTBD

 

A container under the hood of my car contains blue fluid. I thought it was used to flush the port-o-potty. But it must be BMW-type fluid, if you can trust the color coding. If....

Hans.

 

The Maserati Dealer near me uses Pentosin/Pentafrost Coolant and I've heard of a lot of people using the
Zerex G-05 Coolant.

 

To silicate, or not to silicate, that is the question

Ben trying to research this, and all I get is a headache.

Seems some/many recommend staying away from silicates, others not so much. It is verboten in Japanese cars, something about overheating and water pump issues. But at the same time, a lot of you are using BMW coolant, which is high silicate.

Peak's website shows 3 "European" coolants. One of them is apparently a BMW look-alike. It is interesting that they show it for usage in only older cars (1990's vintage and older), but all years of BMW. Crazy.

Read somewhere that adding non-silicate OAT coolant to silicate coolant can possibly precipitate out the silicates causing all sorts of issues.

I'm kind of thinking of using a low silicate formula.

Or I could use DexCool and totally gum up my motor with brown mud like it did to my old Chevy Blazer...........

Hans.

Oh, PS: If you enter 2011 Maserati on Peak's website, they recommend their generic antifreeze, which is non-silicate OAT. Not any of the Euro specific stuff. Go figure.

 

My dealer told me they use Pentofrost NF. It's blue with silicates, like Glycoshell. Apparently, if you mix 50/50 with distilled water, the silicates won't be a problem. I prefer to use no Silicates. But again plenty of options. FD has green color coolant, which seems nice too.

 

I have done more research. The manual recommends 2 coolants, both no longer available. GlycoShell LongLife coolant (OAT) does not contain silicates, borates, nitrites, phosphates, or amines. The Shell Glycoshell does not contain any Nitrites, Amines or Phosphates (N.A.P. free) and is thus environmentally friendly. But it has low silicates. I have spec sheets but won't upload.

https://aldousvoice.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/glycoshell.pdf

https://www.pli-petronas.com/uk/products/automotive-functional-fluids/petronas-paraflu/paraflu-11

1103.00.02_auto_ENG - Pakelo Motor Oil

So all the dealers use different replacement coolants (yes, available for purchase) ranging from Paraflu (Petronas Italy), Pakelo (Italy) to Mopar (USA), Peak (universal, all makes) etc. The Peak (all makes) is equivalent to Prestone (all makes) which does not contain silicates, borates, nitrites, phosphates, or amines. It seems the BMW (blue) and Mercedes coolants are equivalent to the Glycoshell.

Generally, Maserati uses blue coolant (factory Glycoshell) but Ferrari uses red, although the newer models like Ghibli uses red too. But again the colors can be confusing. It appears the colors are all over the map. I think all the above coolants (no phosphates) are fine at 50:50 ratio with distilled water. It all depends on personal preference. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

 

Generally, Maserati uses blue coolant (factory Glycoshell) but Ferrari uses red...

See, I told you all that RED makes it faster!

 

thanks Jason

 

We offer the factory recommended coolant in our service kits :

Maserati Maserati GranTurismo (Automatica) Service Kit

Or you can purchase any of the items in the service kit from us directly as well... Cabin Filters, Oil, Coolant, Air Filters, etc....

Please feel free to reach out to us directly and we'll be happy to help!

 

Yes, none of these manufactures actually make antifreeze...They just put their name on it and charge 3 times as much...Jason

 

can I use Mercedes blue anti freeze its for aluminum parts

 

You guys are all crazy! Everyone knows RED makes it faster>

 

+1 with Maser077...They make all these colors of the stuff today to confuse people...The BMW stuff is blue if you want the same color...We actually use a recycled product that has all the additive packages restored and been PH checked...Looks like apple juice...Works like a champ...They make a dye kit and I can make it any color I want if needed...Jason

 

Dye color does not matter, I mention the color so you can perhaps better identify what I'm referring to. And it's actually more greenish now that I think about it.

Prestone regular is a silicate free OAT antifreeze. It's the same chemical composition as the glycoshell: 95% glycol with inhibitor. It meets D3306 and D4985. It uses phosphates to replace the silicates. It's aluminium compatible.

I've heard of some folks using the bmw stuff though.

 

I'm not sure if the yellow color is compatible. I think it must be blue?? A bit confusing. I prefer to buy from dealer if available. It must be no silicates for Aluminium radiator.