How can one coolant or anti freeze work in all vehicles?

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Mtnbiker

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Nov 11, 2020
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I went to a Valvoline quick change place a few months ago and I noticed they use one coolant for all vehicles. I’m also pretty sure when I was at the auto parts stores that they have a model of coolant that supposedly works in all vehicles.
I daily drive and use my car on road courses, so I’m wondering should I change my coolant more often? Or because I also road course my car should I just run distilled water and a couple bottles of water wetter when I know the temperatures aren’t gonna get close to freezing?
Is there a best antifreeze or coolant for a 2022 MACH 1 Mustang?
It seems to me that Ford just uses the traditional old glycol antifreeze.
I would think that different manufacturers use different materials in their radiators and cooling systems, so it would be important What is used?
Thank you.
 
It may "work" in all makes and models, but then again, so does Brawndo (after all, it's got electrolytes). I certainly don't feel comfortable using it long term, or in a flush, etc.

The datasheet for the VL "all-makes" coolant references Ford's ESE-M97B44-A spec which is the "old green" Motorcraft coolant that ran from 2002-2010. Stick with Motorcraft OE, or I have read that the Motorcraft is really the same as Prestone Max (with Cor-Guard).
 
To be specific, this isn't an issue of any particular coolant being compatible with the engine itself; most all coolants would work decently in most all engines.

The issue is any one coolant being compatible with being mixed into an engine with a different existing coolant present. (Drain and fill; not a full purge). That is where the compatibility issues really come out.

If you took any engine, and fully drained it completely, and then flushed with distilled water and drained fully again, and then chose coolant "X", the engine would likely be fine no matter what coolant "X" was. But most folks don't bother to fully drain the engine block, the heater core, the radiator, and truly flush out the old before introducing a new product. That's where the problem starts.
 
This is one of the coolants that PEAK says is a replacement:
PEAK ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY ANTIFREEZE + COOLANT for NORTH AMERICAN VEHICLES YELLOW is free of silicate, borate, nitrite, and amines, and is fully compatible with other extended life coolants. It meets the performance requirements of Ford WSS-M97B57-A1, ASTM D3306 and D4985. When installed as part of a complete flush and coolant fill, PEAK guarantees this coolant will provide service life protection of up to 400,000 miles or 15 years*.

PEAK ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY™ ANTIFREEZE + COOLANT 50/50 PREDILUTED FOR NORTH AMERICAN VEHICLES - YELLOW​

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Part #NAYB53
Specifically designed for use in all North American vehicles requiring a YELLOW phosphate-enhanced organic acid technology (POAT) extended life antifreeze/coolant.
Ford & Lincoln: 2018 and newer, includes hybrid and electric vehicles.

$19 on Amazon and last Thousand miles or 15 years versus 30,000 miles of the Ford OEM coolant!
Also:

PEAK® ALL VEHICLES CONCENTRATE ANTIFREEZE + COOLANT​

OR: https://www.valvolineglobal.com/en/valvoline-multi-vehicle-antifreeze-coolant/
$26.72 at wallyworld.
OR: https://www.prestone.com/product/prestone-max-american-vehicles-orange-antifreeze-coolant/
OR: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Prestone...Oc&expiryTime=1741497895733&c=mWebSmartBanner

THERE SEEMS TO BE OTHERS ALSO.
SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF CHOICES!
Now to figure out what is best and cost.
 
Good old Prestone available in gallon jugs at WalMart says to use it in any vehicle with any coolant for flush, drain and refill, or top off. Mix with any color/type coolant. 10 years or 300K miles. Clearly stated on the jug. I was skeptical but started using it a few years ago. No problems so far. The more I thought about it, they would be setting themselves up for huge liability if it did cause any problems.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Prestone...olant/16879960?classType=VARIANT&athbdg=L1103
 
Which cools better?
Or are they all the same?
Or for summer would distilled water and a couple bottles of water wetter work far better for road courses?
Something else?
 
Mtnbiker said:
Which cools better?
Or are they all the same?
Or for summer would distilled water and a couple bottles of water wetter work far better for road courses?
Something else?
Click to expand...
Water (& Water Wetter) cools better than 50/50, & (IIRC) many tracks won’t let you run antifreeze(?) Could always drain and put MC Yellow (which IS Prestone AMAM) back in for winter, for freeze protection.
 
I never trust “universal” coolant. That’s why I always get my coolant from the dealership. Then you know for sure that it’s 100% compatible with what is already in there (especially if you’re just doing a drain and refilling of the rad)
 
To be safe I run only Asian spec coolant in my Asian cars. I use universal in my older F-150 and tractor.
 
So generically, most coolant is just some version of glycol - so it doesn't freeze. That part is easy and likely doesn't matter.

However the issue is in the corrosion inhibitors - there all different. Also, different specs use different levels of silicates and phosphates. A lot of this has to do with how it reacts with water in a particular region, and what minerals are in it. If you use pure distilled water this isn't really an issue.

The old green coolant - I forget the formulation - worked well but didn't last long. So they came out with an "OAT". I believe all the "mix with everything" coolants are all OATs. Its OK, but as mentioned they mostly contain 2EHA as their primary anti corrosive. Its good for metal, not so good for plastic and silicon.

So other manufacturers have come out with POAT - or a phosphated OAT - different formulation, and PHOAT - phosphated hybrid OAT - similar but more complex.

I spent a long time researching this. The problem is the theory is great - but no one ever tells you what is actually in their spec. For example, you can Mix Nissan Green and Nissan Blue. You can mix them, but if you do you get the life of the green - which is shorter. Nothing anywhere tells me the difference. Even the aftermarket formulations will claim to meet both specs, and then tell you there good for even longer than the OEM blue????

I simply use OEM. I'll never use anything with 2EHA. For the small amount it costs it seems like the easy solution.
 
For simplicity sake, I switched all my semi trucks to one coolant.
I drained them, refilled and drained 4 times with distilled water, and then switched them all to the same coolant, regardless of which engine they have.
 
The Japanese have settled on silicate free but phosphated coolant, while the Europeans and GM have been using xOAT for a while. I’m not a fan of 2-EHA with engines using silicone(RTV or formed gaskets) but I’m running Prestone in a Toyota for almost 5 years with no ill effects.
 
TimeFlies said:
For simplicity sake, I switched all my semi trucks to one coolant.
I drained them, refilled and drained 4 times with distilled water, and then switched them all to the same coolant, regardless of which engine they have.
Click to expand...
Almost everyone runs Delo ELC here. The couple shops that don't use that Magnum recycled stuff from Emerald/NRC/US Economy l/Republic/whatever name they are now.

Only concern I've seen with Delo ELC (it's NOAT) is on stuff with CAB welded heat exchangers.

Nitrate or not... dunno. CAT wants it, other engines, dunno. Can say it's not caused issues in the thousands of engines our customers have, of all brands, sizes and ages.

All sorts of info... (haha)

https://products.republicservices.c...antifreeze/magnum-hd-extended-life-60-40.html
 
Last edited:
Sumboodie said:
Only concern I've seen with Delo ELC (it's NOAT) is on stuff with CAB welded heat exchangers.
Click to expand...
that’s why pHOAT is now Ford’s preferred coolant. Ford started using CAB heater cores on the Transit, and those had issues with their previous coolant, which was Dex-Cool OAT.

Prestone and Peak are pushing pHOAT(Prestone Command Cor-Guard and Final Charge Pro-Series) in the OTR market as well. Both are Cummins approved.
 
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