Universal Coolant

[Creekside]

TRP ELC is just relabeled Chevron ELC coolant. Factory fill for all Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. Its a great choice for all engines.

Yup, I got started buying it when I was selling parts at a Peterbilt dealership. Decided to purchase a drum of 50/50 as it’s way more convenient when something needs topped off to have one coolant already diluted. We are on a well with extremely hard water so I had to keep gallons of distilled water around to make coolant.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Another question I had, How long do coolant bottles last once open?

Pretty much forever as long as nothing contaminates them. I’ve never threw out coolant because of age.

 

[Sayjac]

I went down a rabbit hole reading about 2eha and it really doesn't sound like the stuff you want in your coolant if you have a choice....

Fwiw, I've got no problem with 2eha used in AF where the OEM AF uses it as inhibitor, eg, GM Dexcool, whatever Euro G- spec uses it. I'd use Dex in a modern GM vehicle as spec'd, with confidence. It is interesting though that Ford appears to have moved away from their orange Dex to the newer 'yellow' which is supposedly similar to Prestone. That being the case I 'speculate' that by comparison the latter 'may' have a lower concentration of said inhibitor. That said, FoMoCo has changed coolant specs so often, it's difficult to use them as example beyond their own vehicles.

Otoh, Asian vehicles with P(H)oat as OEM and Mopar OAT don't use 2eha in their formulas. So if I was looking for a 'universal' and being the owner of one of the aforementioned vehicles, as explained in my initial post this thread, 10X currently checks all the boxes 'for me'.

 

[Drew7a]

Pretty much forever as long as nothing contaminates them. I’ve never threw out coolant because of age.

There must be some sort of Degradation, My "older" opened bottles of antifreeze expand/swell up similar to what happens to plastic gas cans. When you open the older antifreeze bottles they have some pressure built up. Not sure but would that not point to some sort of degradation?

 

[AutoMechanic]

There must be some sort of Degradation, My "older" opened bottles of antifreeze expand/swell up similar to what happens to plastic gas cans. When you open the older antifreeze bottles they have some pressure built up. Not sure but would that not point to some sort of degradation?

I’ve never had that happen with the coolant. That could be a possibility I suppose but that is weird.

 

[Chris142]

OP - what vehicles do you have? You mentioned toxicity. They are not toxic in the containers. Hopefully you don't have any little kids that might think its KoolAid and drink it.

The manufacturers of coolants have been adding a bitterant to it for the last 20-25 years. It makes it taste terrible and is to keep it from being swallowed by any person or anything. It's no longer sweet tasting.

 

[Drew7a]

The manufacturers of coolants have been adding a bitterant to it for the last 20-25 years. It makes it taste terrible and is to keep it from being swallowed by any person or anything. It's no longer sweet tasting.

Agreed, What I was getting at originally was bad for the ground water and environmental if dumped. So I just wanted to minimize waste if I could standardized.

 

[kschachn]

Agreed, What I was getting at originally was bad for the ground water and environmental if dumped. So I just wanted to minimize waste if I could standardized.

Where are you dumping it? The proper disposal methods are either recycling or disposal into a municipal sewer system that permits glycol disposal (which is many systems). It should never be dumped on the ground or into a private septic system.

 

[Drew7a]

Where are you dumping it? The proper disposal methods are either recycling or disposal into a municipal sewer system that permits glycol disposal (which is many systems). It should never be dumped on the ground or into a private septic system.

This was discussed in a previous thread, I posted. that municipal systems is where the consensus states, but I looked up out State law says it is illegal to dump in municipal systems.

 

[mfewtrail]

There must be some sort of Degradation, My "older" opened bottles of antifreeze expand/swell up similar to what happens to plastic gas cans. When you open the older antifreeze bottles they have some pressure built up. Not sure but would that not point to some sort of degradation?

If you want a real answer, buy a bottle or two for a long term test and ship the entire unopened contents to a lab for virgin sample testing after x amount of years have passed. I would guess that it's fine unopened far longer than manufacturers claim.

 

[kschachn]

This was discussed in a previous thread, I posted. that municipal systems is where the consensus states, but I looked up out State law says it is illegal to dump in municipal systems.

Yes it’s not allowed everywhere. The City of Milwaukee used to nearly encourage it because of the benefits to their processing bacteria, but a few years ago they shifted to encouraging recycling instead. But if you call them and ask they do still permit it.

 

[Breanna]

Question: 2008 Honda Fit, if I empty the coolant, refill with straight distilled water, go for a 30 minute drive, drain that, and then refill with 50/50 distilled water, and either Peak or Prestone All Vehicle coolant, is that okay?

 

[AutoMechanic]

Question: 2008 Honda Fit, if I empty the coolant, refill with straight distilled water, go for a 30 minute drive, drain that, and then refill with 50/50 distilled water, and either Peak or Prestone All Vehicle coolant, is that okay?

You could but I recommend going with what is recommended for your vehicle which I think is the Blue stuff. I have found universal coolants not to be as good as the ones made for certain makes and models as the universal ones don’t have all the ingredients that the ones formulated for the brand would.

 

[Breanna]

Thank you!