Conventional green coolant question

[aquariuscsm]

Is there any difference between name brand and store brand conventional green coolant/antifreeze,or is it all basically the same,just packaged under different names? For example,is Autozone's house brand green equal to Zerex or Prestone?

 

[Drew99GT]

If it says it's universal extended life, like Prestone, it's very close to Dexcool and not a traditional old school green coolant.

Zerex looks like the best of the traditional green coolants as it's a traditional formula (non Dexclone or hybrid organic chemistry) but it's also low silicate formula.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Is there any difference between name brand and store brand conventional green coolant/antifreeze,or is it all basically the same,just packaged under different names? For example,is Autozone's house brand green equal to Zerex or Prestone?
Seems like Peak/Old World Industries makes quite a few of them, such as Full Force, Durex, and (AFAIK) AZ's house brand. Personally, they all seem pretty similar. Prestone AMAM is a Dexclone, not an old school green low-silicate formula.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Looks like out of the greens,just go for the cheapest?

 

[eljefino]

No! Peak still uses phosphates in some blends, IIRC.

I used to use "recochem" packaged normal green but ran out and can't find more. (Haven't really looked.)

Saturn says "no phosphates" but in desperation I used peak. 48 hours later, my water pump was leaking.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I did a drain/refill recently with Autozone conventional green and a bottle of Redline Water Wetter.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Looks like out of the greens,just go for the cheapest?


What specific vehicle would you use the green in? Your 300?

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Looks like out of the greens,just go for the cheapest?


What specific vehicle would you use the green in? Your 300?


^^Yep

 

[Drew99GT]

Did you use that stuff?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accesso...ier=540722_0_0_

Or this?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accesso...tifier=367_0_0_

It's sometimes hard to tell the chemistry by color because a few manufacturers use green colored coolant that is actually a silicate/phosphate free Dexcool style chemistry.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Did you use that stuff?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accesso...ier=540722_0_0_

Or this?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accesso...tifier=367_0_0_

It's sometimes hard to tell the chemistry by color because a few manufacturers use green colored coolant that is actually a silicate/phosphate free Dexcool style chemistry.


It was neither,I used the white jug Autozone branded green:

http://m.autozone.com/autozone-mobile/en...-25ha?id=540722

 

[440Magnum]

AZ brand appears to be Peak (Old World Industries) conventional. Now that Prestone doesn't make a conventiona', OWI has pretty much cornered the market. Ashland (Valvoline) also makes one, but it doesn't seem to be as widely stocked.

 

[kschachn]

Are you waiting for someone to ask why you are going for the cheapest green coolant in a Nissan that you are obviously using some of the most expensive lubricants on?

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Is there any difference between name brand and store brand conventional green coolant/antifreeze,or is it all basically the same,just packaged under different names? For example,is Autozone's house brand green equal to Zerex or Prestone?

_________________________
1996 Nissan 300ZX 5-speed,Arctic Pearl(#175 of 300)
Syntec 10W40/Fram Ultra
Amsoil MTG(transmission)
Amsoil 80W90 GL5(rear diff)
Mobil 1 ATF
Redline Water Wetter

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Are you waiting for someone to ask why you are going for the cheapest green coolant in a Nissan that you are obviously using some of the most expensive lubricants on?


Reason I ask,I know absolutely nada about antifreeze/coolant. My car came factory filled with old-school conventional green. I`ve had every parts store tell me that all the conventional green (no matter the brand,be it name brand or house brand) is all manufactured by the same company,and that there`s no difference between brands. Here`s what I used (sorry for the false link earlier):

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accesso...ier=540722_0_0_

 

[kschachn]

How do you know that? What color is factory Nissan coolant? If it is green, is it "old-school conventional" green?

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
My car came factory filled with old-school conventional green.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
How do you know that? What color is factory Nissan coolant? If it is green, is it "old-school conventional" green?


All 1990-1996 Nissan Z32`s came with and spec via fsm green conventional coolant.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
What color is factory Nissan coolant?


I changed out the original factory fill at a bit over 30,000 miles. It was conventional green.

 

[Garak]

There is also a Nissan/Infiniti special green coolant, with a longer life than conventional, classic green. That has since been replaced by the blue, and those two can be mixed, at least according to them. The Nissan green is still readily available up here, since the green concentrate was common, whereas the blue is normally a premix, and premix isn't a great idea up here, aside from topping up.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I`ve had every parts store tell me that all the conventional green (no matter the brand,be it name brand or house brand) is all manufactured by the same company,and that there`s no difference between brands.

By the way, that is plausible, at least these days. Finding conventional green isn't particularly easy, so it's quite conceivable that it's down to only one or two manufacturers. Heck, the only conventional green I can think of that's fairly easy to find is Texaco up here and Zerex Original Green, if one can find that. I'm not sure about the Celsius stuff, which is something we see up here at a lot of shops.

Esso used to sell conventional green. Petro-Canada has switched to something they call universal. I don't know what Shell is doing here.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Is there any difference between name brand and store brand conventional green coolant/antifreeze,or is it all basically the same,just packaged under different names? For example,is Autozone's house brand green equal to Zerex or Prestone?


They are very similar to the old green coolants.

A better choice in replacing green is G-05/G-48 HOAT, which does what the current greens do but lasts longer.

 

[doitmyself]

Except, as you know, today's conventional green coolants are low silicate. The Zerex green and G-05 have similar silicate PPM. And, Zerek claims their product is good for 5 years and/or 100,000 miles (optimistic, IMO, but who knows).