would it be ok to top off my tacoma, which has the super long life pink coolant, with the "all makes all models" 50/50 yellow prestone? my owners manual says i can use any ethelyne glycol, low silicate coolant. The prestone is ethelyne glycol, however it doesnt say anything about silicates, nor does the website.
prestone yellow to top off toyota pink
- Thread starter SmotalChaos
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It's better not to mix. Since your car has the pink coolant, better to buy some from your dealer to top it off.
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Stick to Toyota coolant. Everyone I have ever spoken to about their coolant (red or pink) say that it is absolutely worth the extra couple dollars to run it in a Toyota.
If it's still under warranty, have them top it off.
thanks everyone. out of curiosity though, is this prestone yellow really compatable with everything, including the toyota pink, or are they advertising falsely?
Originally Posted By: SmotalChaos
thanks everyone. out of curiosity though, is this prestone yellow really compatable with everything, including the toyota pink, or are they advertising falsely?
The Prestone yellow stuff is an organic acid based coolant that contains no phosphates or silicates. This composition is almost identical to the DexCool type coolants. The Asian manufacturers (along with Ford and Chrysler) use a hybrid organic acid based formula, which means that they use either a small dose of silicates (Ford and DC) or phosphates (Asians) in addition to the organic acid. Their explanation for this hybrid approach is that it provides better cavitation protection compared to "straight" organic acid.
Now, does Prestone's universal fluid provide enough protection? I don't know. I've used it in two applications that did not call for long life coolants and I've never had any problems. However, considering that most cars are fairly old by the time that they need a coolant change, any cooling system failure while using this coolant could easily be caused by old age rather than the coolant. There, it is going to be difficult to trace any cooling system problems back to the coolant.
thanks everyone. out of curiosity though, is this prestone yellow really compatable with everything, including the toyota pink, or are they advertising falsely?
The Prestone yellow stuff is an organic acid based coolant that contains no phosphates or silicates. This composition is almost identical to the DexCool type coolants. The Asian manufacturers (along with Ford and Chrysler) use a hybrid organic acid based formula, which means that they use either a small dose of silicates (Ford and DC) or phosphates (Asians) in addition to the organic acid. Their explanation for this hybrid approach is that it provides better cavitation protection compared to "straight" organic acid.
Now, does Prestone's universal fluid provide enough protection? I don't know. I've used it in two applications that did not call for long life coolants and I've never had any problems. However, considering that most cars are fairly old by the time that they need a coolant change, any cooling system failure while using this coolant could easily be caused by old age rather than the coolant. There, it is going to be difficult to trace any cooling system problems back to the coolant.
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