Coolant / Antifreeze Brand and gibberish???

[everchang]

I've been reading a lot about coolant. Red, Green, Brand Name, Aftermarket, etc, etc. Been thinking....

Most people (probably 99.9%) with Toyotas (or any other Car Make) don't give a damn about the color of coolant OR most people don't work on their cars like the people here on this forum.

When they take their car to a Coolant Flush Place, whether it's a Mom and Pop Place or a Big Chain Store Place, do the mechanics actually put in Toyota Red OR the right Car Make Brand coolant into their car? Or do they put in what they have In-House, whether it's compatible or not? Do the mechanics really think of: "Okay, this car must have a coolant with no silicate, or no phosphate, or borate, (or whatever) so I have to put in this coolant or that coolant," etc. etc. I doubt this is going on in the mechanic's head.

The main question being: Are coolant really that different? Is mixing green and red really that bad? Since I'm sure the mechanics who's working on most people's car will probably NOT put in the expensive Toyota Red Coolant or have it in-house. If they are different and/or incompatible, wouldn't there be more lawsuits against small Car Repair Places for messed-up cars, etc. etc.??? (minus the DexCool lawsuit incident)

I would have to agree with others (my reasoning) that the color of coolant is just a marketing scheme. Some people disagree otherwise and argue - "Stick with the Car Make Brand. It's the best. Your car won't break down." etc. etc.

Comments?

[touringcamry]

Dexcool or Zerex G-05 will work fine if you cannot get a jug of Toyota Red or Toyota Pink.

Dexcool and G-05 are both HOAT and are low or no phosphate and silicate

Most shops will probably just use universal green coolant because they're not going to keep a dozen different coolants on hand. That is a logistical nightmare. They may procure it if you make a special request, but they'll most likely try to talk you out of it since its easier to use stuff they have on hand.

As long as you change it every 30000 miles or so, you'll be fine. Leave it in there believing that it's a lifetime fluid as the bottle states is not a good idea and will cause problems.

[Toysrme]

You should never mix the three (two) main types of coolants together. The newer ones are more long-lived & more aggressive than the older coolants. Which becomes a problem when the coolant types compete against each other & you're left with a corrosive mess.
The main problem is that they wear each other down way under the service rating & turn into a big yellow / golden gel.

None of the coolant types are expencive. Buy some, put alittlebit in a small bucket with no water (To accellerate it) with some aluminuim, ferrite (iron/steel), and brass, or copper in the bucket. Check the bucket out. it won't take long before you've got a real big mess on their hands. The only purposes of coolant is to lower the corrosiveness of water in the system, and lower it's freezing point abit. Provided you change it out before it's creating a problem - anything you use is fine.
Which leads us to:
Use whatever you feel like putting in there. Provided you flush it out good first, and change it before it breaks down. Flushing ever 2-3 years is what you should do. Toyota original (red) long life coolant was marketed for 5 years, 50,000 miles. Nope, that didn't turn out. The new stuff is marketed at 10 years - around 100-120,000 miles (I forget offhand).


I'm recommending to people to flush the new pink coolant out after 5 years, and flush the red coolant no more than 3 years. (Normal schedule is every other year). Please remember that the rest of the cooling system is not super long life either... The thermostat & any installed pressure caps still need to be changed per the recommended schedule.

[toyomoho]

Check out this link.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_...e/1272436.html

[everchang]

Thanks for your reply.

I agree, mixing certain types of coolant is bad. Best to change your coolant every two years, regardless of brand.

Then I though, what about the 99.9% of the population who have a Toyota (or whatever) and brought their car to Wally World's Flushing Service or Rickadee Joe's Flushing, etc. Their car originally had Toyota Red. Are those mechanics going to pay attention and add in a compatible coolant? Likely, they'll add a cheap house green brand and be done with it. How are the owner to know? Do they care? You would think that if mixing coolants was really that bad, there would have been TONS of lawsuits against service shops and coolant manufacturers.

Just something to think about. I drank the marketing Kool-Aid too and bought the Toyota Red to be safe. Then you just wonder.......

I care about my cars. My family members, like the rest of the population, don't give a damn. I guess that answered my concern.

[RningOnFumes]

When I have my car worked on and I know the coolant will be affected, I bring in a fresh bottle of toyota red and a gallon of distilled h20.