But the color alone won’t tell you anything about the chemistry of the mixture, or how much of one has been mixed with another. There may be some color change when coolant that contains green dye is mixed with coolant that contains yellow, orange or another color dye. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to detect coolant cross-contamination by looking at the color of the coolant. The additives used in the older green formula coolants have a totally different chemistry than that used in today’s OAT and HOAT formula coolants. Topping off a late-model cooling system that contains an OAT or HOAT type of coolant with ordinary green coolant can reduce the overall life of the coolant in the system to that of the green coolant (which is typically two to three years or 30,000 miles). Taking it off the shelf also reduces the risk of cross-contaminating coolants. Green coolant is also getting harder to find because the vehicle population that uses it is shrinking every year. That approach, they say, reduces their inventory requirements (one SKU versus several) and it eliminates customer confusion about which product to buy. But most have discontinued the GM-, Ford- and Chrysler-specific coolants and replaced them with a single product. Some stores still carry the green formula coolant for older cars, or for customers who are looking for the least expensive coolant they can find. The only coolant you’ll usually find on the shelf is a universal product. If you’ve visited the automotive department in your local Wal-Mart or almost any retail auto parts store recently, it’s obvious which way the retail market has gone on this issue. What’s more, their universal coolants will protect just as long as the OEM coolants, which is five years or 150,000 miles in most late-model vehicles. They say their coolants can safely protect both cast-iron and aluminum engines and radiators, regardless of what kind of vehicle they are in. The Better Business Bureau challenged one coolant supplier on this claim, insisting there can be no such thing because the vehicle manufacturers all have different and sometimes conflicting coolant specifications.Įven so, those who make universal coolants argue their additive packages have been thoroughly tested and meet all applicable ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) specifications. Coolant suppliers who have tried to meet the conflicting OEM coolant requirements now market three basics types of coolant: the traditional green formula, plus an orange formula that meets GM’s Dex-Cool 6277 specification, and a yellow hybrid (HOAT) formula for Ford, Chrysler and all the rest.Ĭoolant suppliers who say this is so much nonsense have developed their own proprietary OAT-based products, which they say can be safely used in all makes and all models. The aftermarket has always had a knack for simplifying things the OEMs have complicated, and coolants are no exception. Everybody decided to dye their coolants a different color, which only added to the confusion because there was no standardization which meant the colors were essentially meaningless as far as what was actually in the formula. The Japanese and Europeans both developed their own OAT formulas, with the Japanese adding phosphates while the Europeans took out phosphates. Ford and Chrysler opted for a hybrid version (HOAT) formula that added silicates to increase aluminum protection. GM specified its orange-colored Dex-Cool coolant, which used a totally different kind of additive package based on organic acid technology (OAT). So in that respect, green coolant was essentially a universal all makes, all models type of coolant for its day. But as far as the aftermarket was concerned, the same stuff worked just fine no matter what you poured it into. The Japanese and European automakers had their own versions of this formula. When a customer brings you a vehicle that needs a coolant change, what kind of coolant should you use? The type of coolant specified by the vehicle manufacturer? A universal or “all makes, all models” type of coolant? Or should you run the old coolant through a recycling machine and put it back in the system? All are valid options for servicing today’s vehicles, but the options are not without controversy.īefore Dex-Cool was introduced back in 1995, almost every domestically produced vehicle used a traditional “green” formula inorganic acid technology (IAT) coolant.
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