Restoring coolant reservoir?

[Dirtman]

Obligatory disclaimer: you can’t mix this stuff.
So my takeaway from the plethora of types out there, the 3 main American ones (used by many foreign males too) are:

Green (Inorganic Acid): Best for corrosion resistance for 2 years. After that it breaks down and becomes conductive making it corrosive

Orange (Organic Acid): Just fine, lasts longer, isn’t conductive, has sludg problems… i.e. DexKill

Yellow (Hybrid Organic): Nearly as good for corrosion as green, isn’t conductive like orange, and no sludge problems.

There’s others but I haven’t found dumbed down explanations of them. As far as I know, but can’t quite confirm, yellow is the best there is, has no down sides (maybe more $ than green), and every vehicle should be transitioned to it, especially if you have OAT DexKill. Green is fine, but I’m not going to remember to change it every two years.

Yes you should never mix coolant, BUT if starting from scratch you can run anything you want from a fresh start as you are not mixing. So using a HOAT coolant (zerex g05/Motorcraft gold) aka yellow is you best bet. You pay more up front but ge a much longer lifespan.

I agree though never put a stupid dexcool type in ANY vehicle you care about. Fine for GM vehicles...

Also the color doesn't mean everything anymore. Aftermarket companies like prestone sell "green" coolant in all types. The bottle will say what it actually is though. I put zerex g05 or Motorcraft gold in everything because they last, except in my mustang because I'm gonna change the coolant so often there is no reason for paying extra for long life gold, and my moms 2020 edge which has a strange new red coolant I can't even identify...

 

[Roert42]

and my moms 2020 edge which has a strange new red coolant I can't even identify...

I know Motor craft has used a pink coolant that I believe is very similar to Dexcool.

I also believe that it is ok Motorcraft gold with Green, if needed, aka it's not going to sludge up like mixing green with dexcool.

 

[RobbieD]

This past year I caught up on the coolant systems maintenance in my three "runners", so I happened to gave some thought on whether I should change the type of antifreeze I use.

All of my trucks are getting old ('84 through '94) so I decided I'd stick with the green and do a flush and refill every two years. I figure I can separate them into two groups, do the changes once a year and just alternate the two groups.

Since my trucks are getting old, they need a lot more love than I've given them in the past. I also like the thought of really going over the entire coolant system, as part of the biannual coolant change.

Besides, I've always liked the pretty green color.

 

[Dirtman]

I also believe that it is ok Motorcraft gold with Green, if needed, aka it's not going to sludge up like mixing green with dexcool.

Gold is kinda sorta OK to mix with certain other coolants but still smarter to just keep filling with what you have, or replace it all...

 

[RonD]

If its older than 20 years then just run Green silicate based, 2 year life, least expensive

Because............................you WILL have a cooling system or engine problem in that 2 years so will have to drain coolant in any case, maybe you can save "most" of it maybe you can't, doesn't matter really

You can't mix Silicate based and Organic based coolant

But HOAT is just that same mix, so CAN BE added to or mixed with either of above
But as said the most expensive, and it would be a crying shame to have all that money just dump out on to the ground when a hose breaks, lol

Ask yourself will my vehicle go 5 years, or 10 years, WITHOUT having to drain the coolant.................be honest

 

[Dirtman]

Aka don't drive with Ron, he doesn't trust his vehicles.

But seriously that's why I refuse to spend money putting anything expensive in my mustang. I have it apart so much why waste good coolant. But if you are lazy and gonna neglect your vehicle I stand by using quality expensive stuff, it'll put up with the neglect better.

 

[Chapap]

But HOAT is just that same mix, so CAN BE added to or mixed with either of above

I don’t know about that. From what I’ve read, it’s NOT simply a mix of the two and it isn’t compatible with either.

 

[Dirtman]

I don’t know about that. From what I’ve read, it’s NOT simply a mix of the two and it isn’t compatible with either.

THOUGH SHALL QUESTION THE WORD OF RON!!!!

 

[Blmpkn]

Ron is SO all knowing, by default he is also all powerful.

He's too modest to show anyone, but you can bet your boots he puts his Ramen block in cold water.. tells it to cook.. and it does. Seasons itself too.

 

[RonD]

Read a bit more about HOAT, Hybrid organic acid technology

It is not a straight 50/50 mix, green and red, to get Yellow, lol
but it has silicates in an organic acid(OAT) base which "was" a no-no, but because of this it won't react badly if added to either silicate base or organic acid base

Do you want to mix different coolants, no, why would you want to?
You buy what you want and run it
But if you HAVE TO add some coolant to your system and are not sure what you have running in there now then HOAT would be the one to add

 

[Dirtman]

Chuck Norris asks @RonD what's wrong with his truck...

 

[cschannuth]

I guess I need a butt kicking because my ‘94 F-250 still has the original coolant in it. The overflow tank is a little cloudy. The truck only has 95k miles on it but it sounds like time is the factor, not mileage. What is the proper procedure for a full flush and fill?

 

[Chapap]

Flushing a bad system is different than a simple change. A simple change would involve ONLY distilled water and coolant. I wouldn’t want to introduce tap water. Just pop off the radiator hoses and that’ll drain the radiator well and the engine decently. That leaves everything in the heater core though, but I’d guess that’s fine. Fill up with coolant and on the way. If you want to go the extra mile, you can fill with only distilled water, let it cycle at temp really good, then drain again and fill with coolant.

For a proper flush of a dirty system, you have to remove the thermostat. Get a garden hose after every coolant port there is and flush rigorously. Removing the water pump would be good too, but probably won’t gain too much of a better flush. Then dump a few gallons of distilled to flush the tap water out of the radiator and engine. Not sure how to flush the tap out of the heater core. Maybe fill the system with distilled and run at temp to get some of it out.

If you leave distilled water in a glass, it’ll absorb stuff from the air and essentially become tap water. Not sure how long that takes, but I’d bet that after a while, the distilled water in the cooling system loses its advantage over tap. That may be the case with your 27 year old system. Might as well do the full garden hose flush.

edit: that’s a puuuurty truck you got. You’ve taken good care of her.

another edit: if you have a heater core bypass, you’ll have open that to get the heater core flushed. That’s supposed to be somewhat of a common issue. Fluid sits there all summer and gets cruddy, then when it’s finally open a big crud ball pops out and clogs something.

 

[Dirtman]

Tap water contains salts (sodium, calcium, and magnesium being the main 3) as well as chlorine, fluoride, chloramines, lead, random minerals and other garbage. Distilled water cannot absorb that stuff from the air cause well that would mean we are somehow breathing magnesium and chlorine? Coolant is also made to be mixed with a neutral PH 7.0 which is what distilled water always is. Tap water can be any manner of PH (usually higher than 7.0). The PH of distilled water will drop over time and become slightly acidic as it absorbs co2 which may be what you were referring too but coolant is designed for that.

Use the garden hose for the flush and then put it away and use distilled water to fill the system. Also you should NEVER drink antifreeze.

 

[Chapap]

Tap water contains salts (sodium, calcium, and magnesium being the main 3) as well as chlorine, fluoride, chloramines, lead, random minerals and other garbage. Distilled water cannot absorb that stuff from the air cause well that would mean we are somehow breathing magnesium and chlorine? Coolant is also made to be mixed with a neutral PH 7.0 which is what distilled water always is. Tap water can be any manner of PH (usually higher than 7.0). The PH of distilled water will drop over time and become slightly acidic as it absorbs co2 which may be what you were referring too but coolant is designed for that.

this could just be an actual issue in chemistry class. If you reeeeaaaalllyyyy need distilled or deionized water, it has to be in a sealed container.

you also shouldn’t drink distilled water. it leeches minerals from your stomach lining and you’ll be susceptible to ulcers and such until it heals.