Coolant Recommendations-08 Nissan Altima & 07 Dodge Dakota

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Jan 5, 2021
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Hi Everyone,

I'm one of the "long time lurkers, first time posters". You don't know me, but I've read literally hundreds of threads and countless posts from dozens of you. I have learned alot from you guys and appreciate everyone's imput and willingness to help here on the boards. I am finding the selection of coolant fluid for my vehicles complex and don't have time to figure it out, so I am seeking your recommendations regarding radiator coolant for two of my vehicles.

1-Bought an 08 Altima 2.5 S two years ago. Low miles (55K), generally good shape, but hadn't been maintained. Replaced front and back brakes (close to being metal-to-metal), air filter, timing belt (it was beginning to crack), PCV valve (leaking pretty bad), spark plugs (figured they had been in there for 13 years, didn't want to risk them being stuck in there, old ones looked good according to mechanic that changed them), cabin filter (probably never been changed), oil & filter change (was a quart low when I bought it, probably due to PCV). Changed oil brands and used some Rislone after engine was using alot of oil. The engine using oil problem seems to have subsided. Just changed the gaskets on the oil cooler (small leak, apparently a notorious problem on these Altimas). Came to the conclusion that after the lack of maintenance on this vehicle that the radiator coolant has probably never been changed. Mechanic had to refill the radiator a good amount when he changed the oil cooler gaskets. Used the AZ universal brand coolant. I had to add some older Prestone to that after I got it home. After reading some of the posts here, it appears that coolant fluid selection has become alot more complex than I previously thought. I have read that it isn't wise to mix coolant brands and/or types in some of these vehicles. I don't mind spending the money on what it really needs, but I don't really know what to buy for radiator coolant. I am leaning towards a distilled water flush (several times if needed) and then filling with 100% coolant in the end, but I am also open to a 50/50 flush and fill a few times if need be. The radiator does not appear to be dirty inside, but I would like to start with a clean slate on the fluid. My questions are this on the 08 Altima:

1-What brand/kind of coolant would you recommend? Again, I would prefer out of habit to use 100% strength, but would seriously consider a 50/50. I don't mind spending some money to get the right/best fluid if I have to.
2-What kind of flush would you use? Distilled water? 50/50 flush? Prestone type of flush? Again, I'm kind of extreme when I flush. I'm known to do it 3-4-5-6 times if I need to. I want my radiator clean.

07 Dodge Dakota-Just installed a new Jasper rebuilt engine in it 2500 miles ago (has a total of 118K on it). Mechanic filled it with the "house brand" universal coolant (I think Autozone). Will that suffice or should I refill with a more ideal brand?

Thanks so much in advance for your help!
 
Welcome to BITOG :)

For the Altima, use Pentofrost A3, Zerex Asian Blue, or Peak OET Asian Blue. Recochem makes a concentrate coolant of this type, but it is harder to find since Pep Boys stopped carrying it :(

Peak OET is available as a concentrate. Available at Autozone and Napa

For the Dakota, Zerex G-05, Peak OET American Gold or Peak Global Lifetime or 10x.
 
Thanks for the reply, slacktide_bitog. Had a question-

At Autozone, the Peak OET Asian Blue label said it was for "Nissan 2009 and up". The Green label said it was for "1990-2008". Is there any reason you recommended the Blue (2009 and up) instead of the Green (1990-2008)? In other words, what is the difference between the two?

Thanks again!
 
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Thanks for the reply, slacktide_bitog. Had a question-

At Autozone, the Peak OET Asian Blue label said it was for "Nissan 2009 and up". The Green label said it was for "1990-2008". Is there any reason you recommended the Blue (2009 and up) instead of the Green (1990-2008)? In other words, what is the difference between the two?

Thanks again!

oops :oops:

Anyway, I think the difference is that blue is long-life but can be used in older cars calling for green. If you mix blue and green, the interval is the shorter one for green.
 
Thanks for the reply. If you were to choose on the Dakota between the Zerex and the Peak, which one would you choose? Thanks again for the replies.
 
....... Had a question-

At Autozone, the Peak OET Asian Blue label said it was for "Nissan 2009 and up". The Green label said it was for "1990-2008". Is there any reason you recommended the Blue (2009 and up) instead of the Green (1990-2008)? In other words, what is the difference between the two?''''
In the Peak OET the difference is the tint, nothing more. Nissan used a shorter service interval PHoat AF before switching to longer service interval blue tint pre mix in 09. The aftermarkets like Peak just used the longer service interval premix AF for the OE green applications. If you go to Asian OE AFs they all say backward compatible to the older shorter interval Asian AFs.

Other than not matching the tint, the blue tint Peak OET would work the same as the green tint.

Nothing to add to slacktide's recommendations (Asian Phoat,G-05) except to say if you wanted to go same AF for both vehicles, Peak 10X concentrate would be my first choice.
 
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