Coolant Chaos

[SubLGT]

I never paid much attention to coolants until recently, and have been reading a lot about them (here and other sources) over the last 10 days. There seem to an inordinate number of coolant classifications and groupings:

universal coolants
American conventional coolant
Japanese conventional coolant
European conventional coolant
European hybrid coolant
Japanese hybrid coolant
American hybrid coolant
long life coolants
extended life coolants
super long life coolants
IAT coolants
OAT coolants
HOAT coolants
silicated OAT coolants
silicated HOAT coolants
P-OAT coolants
phosphated HOAT coolants
DexCool coolants
DexClone coolants
G-05 coolants
G10, G11, G12, G12+, G12++ coolants
green coolant
orange coolant
yellow coolant
red coolant
pink coolant
blue coolant
violet coolant


Have I listed them all?

 

[dparm]

Lots are synonyms for each other, but I agree it's a bit confusing.

 

[Shar]

Are you concerned about coolant for your Subie? My 08 came with the new "long life" blue colored coolant. I was advised by SOA not to change over to the blue coolant if your car is using the old "green" coolant. I'm hoping this new blue coolant will alleviate the head gasket issues.

 

[mongo161]

I just use the glycol coolant, Green, in my Toyota 4Runner. I've used this for years with no problems. I just have to use a Glycol based coolant, with no alcohol, every 2 or 3 years.

I usually add the Peak Premixed, White Bottle, Glycol based coolant for any top offs for the reservoir tank.

Don't let the colors and names fool you. Just get what you need, for your application, as outlined in the owners manual and you'll do fine.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Shar
Are you concerned about coolant for your Subie? My 08 came with the new "long life" blue colored coolant. I was advised by SOA not to change over to the blue coolant if your car is using the old "green" coolant. I'm hoping this new blue coolant will alleviate the head gasket issues.


That's the opposite of what I was told, though I can't seem to find the email. For my '97 (already on its second HG,) I used the Subie green coolant and coolant conditioner. The conditioner was the bandade fix for the HG issues, not the coolant itself. BTW, I don't think there have been any HG issues with Subies since the turn of the century.

 

[Shar]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Originally Posted By: Shar
Are you concerned about coolant for your Subie? My 08 came with the new "long life" blue colored coolant. I was advised by SOA not to change over to the blue coolant if your car is using the old "green" coolant. I'm hoping this new blue coolant will alleviate the head gasket issues.


That's the opposite of what I was told, though I can't seem to find the email. For my '97 (already on its second HG,) I used the Subie green coolant and coolant conditioner. The conditioner was the bandade fix for the HG issues, not the coolant itself. BTW, I don't think there have been any HG issues with Subies since the turn of the century.


There still seems to be an issue with head gaskets, it's just more infrequent. Check out http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1666964

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: Shar
Are you concerned about coolant for your Subie? My 08 came with the new "long life" blue colored coolant. I was advised by SOA not to change over to the blue coolant if your car is using the old "green" coolant. I'm hoping this new blue coolant will alleviate the head gasket issues.


Not concerned, just interested in learning more. I did see an email from SOA that was posted at NASIOC, advising not to use the blue super coolant in pre-2008 Subarus. But a Subaru service advisor also posted at NASIOC and Legacygtcom that it was OK to use the blue coolant in pre-2007 Subarus. Unfortunately, he provided no technical document to back up his assertion.

 

[mechanicx]

I would think in general the older coolant would be more compatible with headgasket coatings especially in older models and any copper/brass solder radiators.