550 coolant replacement

50-50 Zerex G-05. There is a procedure for changing the coolant, just no recommendation for a change interval in the maintenance schedule.

Do not use G-48, which is what Mercedes and BMW use, because it does not have nitrites for the wet cylinder liners. Their engines do not have wet liners.

 

I like an every 2 year replacement standard 50% mix with water. Extended life can go 5 years but I'm not a fan of that on Ferraris. There has been minimal reports of 550 liner cavitation with unknown cause. That's the reason for nitrates needed as part of the additive package. Cavitation is a known issue in diesel motors. Cummins 6.7liter diesels are all over the world in pick-up trucks and big work trucks. You might not get zerex g05 in Belgium. Any coolant that is acceptable for the diesel cummins motor should be fine for the 550. Do 550's need a diesel additive package? We don't know but it certainly will not hurt to have these additives except the coolant is more costly that generic stuff in your Fiat.

 

Can I add a question while we are on the coolant question.
I have read some good reports about Redline water wetter and its ability to reduce point of contact boiling. Has any one used this I addition to coolant?

 

Left field idea, expensive but it never needs replacing.
Evans Waterless Engine Coolants - FAQs - frequently asked questions

 

Water Wetter's main claim to fame is a surface tension reducer or surfactant.

It also seems to react with some coolants and produces a brown slime in the cooling system (AMHIK). Google "Water Wetter Brown Slime".

It doesn't seem to do this with all coolants, but I was running BMW's coolant in my 550 with a bottle or two of WW and it produced the brown slime.

I ran it in another car for years (a very high output turbo-six), with Prestone coolant, and had very good results with it.

 

My experiences mirror yours, John. A good product, but with some caveats...

 

Nitrites, guys, not nitrates. You process meat with nitrites (NO2-) and make explosives with nitrates (NO3-). React completely differently in solutions like coolant.

 

The G05 standard seems to be pretty universal, so someone will have it in one brand or another. Amazon UK has G05. Amazon DE has Gysantin, but only the G12, G30 and G48. Not sure what G12 and G30 are. Will have to look them up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=G05+coolant&rh=n%3A248877031%2Ck%3AG05+coolant

 

Terry, you mention that our engines need nitrites, but when I do a search for Glycoshell, the data sheet I find says it is nitrite free. I am no expert when it comes to antifreeze selection, so I'm curious if the recommended Glycoshell is now not considered the best option? Maybe I'm reading something incorrectly, or maybe what I found online is not correct.
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Ryan- No, you figured it out. Glycoshell is definitely not the best coolant for Ferraris, regardless of the fact it is the Ferrari recommended coolant. Ferrari is very loyal to Shell and some of their recommendations are compromised because of that. Especially since they do not recommend changing coolant at all in the maintenance schedules. We already have one owner on here that had a liner corrode through from cavitation because an earlier owner never changed the coolant.

It is likely G48 coolant would work fine in Ferraris if changed frequently enough, but why not put the stuff in there designed to prevent cavitation corrosion? Most of us far prefer another oil than the recommended Shell products, same thing with coolant. There are some strange Shell recommendations for F1 systems, too, when Tutela CS Speed was designed for F1 systems.

 

Sounds good to me Terry. No idea about the previous owner(s) of my car, but I change the antifreeze every spring along with all the oils and other yearly maintenance items. For a few bucks and 10 minutes time, can't hurt.

 

Ryan- She will never give you problems if you do that, and just about any anti-freeze would work. Zerex G05 is easy to find in Canada/US, though, and is relatively inexpensive to boot.

 

Just about every diesel coolant has an anti cavitation additive package. Gas engines don't use anti cavitation additives because they are not supposed to cavitate. But was see that under some conditions they can. So using an anti cavitation additive package is just protection like a condom.

I don't run cats on my racecar. I even use diesel oil in my gas racecar motor because it is cheaper and has more antiwear Zinc that pollutes gas cat converters.

The bottom line is understanding some materials science can get you a long way or you can just ask Taz.