Coolant Question

[MtnCruiserFZJ80]

Hey guys:

I know this topic has been beaten to death and back. But, I've got a question in regards to coolant color.

My 94 FZJ80 had a new after market radiator from the PO put in around 200k. It has 235k on the clock now. Anyways, it came with green coolant.

I'm doing the PHH and thermostat now, and was wondering if while I'm in there I should switch over to Toy red? Or, should I be fine with green? I'm a senior studying engineering in a small mountain town, so the price (more beer money) and availability is nice.

Thanks for the tips! Cheers!

 

[silverhorse]

there are 100 different antifreeze colors/flavors now days. used to be red or green... from what I have always been told, run either. either is fine just dont mix the two.... i'm currently running green.

 

[MtnCruiserFZJ80]

Thanks dude, that seems to be the general consensus. Just want to baby my baby.

 

[BILT4ME]

Red is discontinued from Toyota. Use green.

 

[ReformedJeeper]

If you have green I'd stick with it. My 4runner has green (PO must have switched it out at some point) and my land cruisers have red. Now I just use the Prestone Universal so I don't have to think about it anymore and it seems to work fine:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GKTYNI/?tag=ihco-20

Don't let ih8mud make you paranoid. coolant is coolant, we aren't running a high performance racing engine (I'm convinced the damn things low power/displacement is what keeps the engine running well for so long). There are many dudes keeping this thing alive in the 3rd world with a hammer and a basic set of sockets. Just make sure it doesn't overheat by putting in a real temperature gauge or modifying the stock one and you'll be fine.

Good choice in selecting Engineering we don't need any more business administration majors.

 

[dogfishlake]

Green is good if you have it now, just stick with it without worry. I have green in two of my 80's and red in one of them. I do NOT believe mixing is o.k. Many people here that have had failed head gaskets have found sludge in the cooling system from mixing causing overheating. Once I saw that @cruiserdan was ok with green, I knew it was good.

 

[mct75]

Red is fine, green is fine, but never pink or orange.

 

[Hornd]

Don't Mix
Consensus is to run either Toyota Pink or Prestone Green.
Green is widely available.
You can test your current coolant with a Multimeter Testing Coolant with Multi-Meter
Installing the Koso Temp Gauge ($45) ensures you know temperature.

 

[mct75]

I thought pink was a HOAT?

 

[MtnCruiserFZJ80]

Don't let ih8mud make you paranoid.

Isn't that the truth?

Thanks for all the help, I'll just stick with the green after I flush it.

 

[gwolf3]

When you guys are saying "prestone green" is fine - are you referring to the prestone universal OAT coolant (which can be found basically everywhere)? i'm confused because this comes in yellow container and itself looks more like neon yellow color than green.

Would it be preferable to use a HOAT coolant as found at oreileys such as Zerex Red (P-HOAT)? By preferable, I mean, would the better corrosion resistance properties of an IAT/HOAT coolant be important due to the iron block of 1FZ engine?

What Is The Difference Between HOAT Coolant and OAT Coolant? - MotorCare Guys

There is no denying the fact that engine coolant, also commonly referred to as antifreeze, is important for your car’s maintenance. When researching this online you will come across many different types, brands, and colors. There’s likely a color variation for every color in the rainbow when it...

motorcareguys.com

I've searched this thread and scoured for more detail here. is there a link to the thread where @cruiserdan discussed this? the FAQ sections on this are now pretty old and outdated. Feedback appreciated and sorry for beating a dead horse.

 

[baldilocks]

This is what I’m running. Pretty much can’t go wrong with this stuff and Napa runs sales regularly.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NAF1EXT

 

[FMC80]

When you guys are saying "prestone green" is fine - are you referring to the prestone universal OAT coolant (which can be found basically everywhere)? i'm confused because this comes in yellow container and itself looks more like neon yellow color than green.

Would it be preferable to use a HOAT coolant as found at oreileys such as Zerex Red (P-HOAT)? By preferable, I mean, would the better corrosion resistance properties of an IAT/HOAT coolant be important due to the iron block of 1FZ engine?

What Is The Difference Between HOAT Coolant and OAT Coolant? - MotorCare Guys

There is no denying the fact that engine coolant, also commonly referred to as antifreeze, is important for your car’s maintenance. When researching this online you will come across many different types, brands, and colors. There’s likely a color variation for every color in the rainbow when it...

motorcareguys.com

I've searched this thread and scoured for more detail here. is there a link to the thread where @cruiserdan discussed this? the FAQ sections on this are now pretty old and outdated. Feedback appreciated and sorry for beating a dead horse.

I’m with you dude. Everyone says just use the green stuff, it’s available everywhere. Great, let me go to the store and grab some green stuff….errr, I get to the store and there’s green, yellow, red, orange, blue, pink, and so on. Further, each bottle of fluid is “specified for GM/FORD/ASIAN/LEXUS/TOYOTA/TESLAS/etc

I’m sure I won’t go to hell for using rad fluid of any variety regardless of color or application but I want to be sure I’m not giving satan reacharounds for eternity, so TOYOTA RED it is.

 

[mjosoba]

Anyone use Zerex G05? I broke a rad in a Cummins and had to replace it. Have a bunch of left over concentrate and it SAYS it’s specced out for that for the 1996, but not 1997? Confusing.

 

[inkpot]

Isn't that the truth?

Thanks for all the help, I'll just stick with the green after I flush it.

Green will be MUCH easier to find in smaller communities with no dealer. I used to live in Wyoming.

 

[gwolf3]

Green will be MUCH easier to find in smaller communities with no dealer. I used to live in Wyoming.

Sorry inkpot I'm going to pick on you for a second because this is a good example of where the overall discussion around this topic, beyond just on this thread, lacks critical contextual information.

What does "green stuff" mean?

With coolant these days the dye color doesn't mean much.

Are we talking old school IAT green?

Are we talking standardized long life OAT, like the yellow prestone stuff?

We talking newer phosphate subbed HOAT?

Too much discussion around coolant here is useless because no further elaboration given than just a color, which is generally meaningless.

---

From what I gathered, the original Toyota "red" was a silicate free HOAT. When people say "just use green" I have no idea what they are referring to? Old school IAT coolant that used silicates were typically dyed green. These days alot of the "universal" long life OAT coolants can be dyed green/yellow too.

Silicate free HOAT coolants seem to be preferred for these engines to fight corrosion with the iron blocks. Most modern HOAT is already silicate free, and uses phosphates instead. While old school IAT Works well on helping protect the iron blocks, it would typically contain silicates which not good for aluminum radiators.

Most importantly, flush it, and don't mix coolants, but also don't rely on color to tell you much about the actual chemical content of the coolant!

 

[FMC80]

@gwolf3 Green stuff is the Prestone brand in the yellow bottle; the basic-bîtch of all coolants. Have you read this thread?: Green coolant vs. Red coolant - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/green-coolant-vs-red-coolant.45372/page-2

Seems like you’ve answered your own question. What else you’re trying to get after? Use Toyota Red or risk going to hell and use another coolant that shares the same properties of it.

 

[gwolf3]

@gwolf3 Green stuff is the Prestone brand in the yellow bottle; the basic-bîtch of all coolants. Have you read this thread?: Green coolant vs. Red coolant - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/green-coolant-vs-red-coolant.45372/page-2

Seems like you’ve answered your own question. What else you’re trying to get after? Use Toyota Red or risk going to hell and use another coolant that shares the same properties of it.

Word thanks - I did read that thread and have seen people mention "prestone green" in the linked thread, but wasn't exactly sure it was the yellow "universal" coolant bottle (this one seems more neon yellow to me, and that it came in yellow bottle confused me further). So thank you for clarifying. I saw Prestone also has a conventional green product that uses traditional IAT formula, which also didn't seem right, so that was not clear to me before.

Its also interesting that the consensus has settled on a long life OAT formula. Definitely has very good advantages of being most widely available. I wound up going with the Zerex Asian forumula in the red color after some deliberation. Probably all this is really not very important, compared to just regular maintenance and flushes.

But my point in commenting was mainly point out, and ask for future discussion, is to ask for more context information than just color when discussing coolant. Mud is usually great for finding detailed and clear information for noobs like me but I found it a bit more difficult in this domain.

Anyways, I appreciate the further clarification and hope my comment did not come off the wrong way here. I hope it may help future mudders who may have also been a bit confused.

 

[baldilocks]

Buy the stuff that says “any make any model” and forget about it.

 

[FMC80]

Word thanks - I did read that thread and have seen people mention "prestone green" in the linked thread, but wasn't exactly sure it was the yellow "universal" coolant bottle (this one seems more neon yellow to me, and that it came in yellow bottle confused me further). So thank you for clarifying. I saw Prestone also has a conventional green product that uses traditional IAT formula, which also didn't seem right, so that was not clear to me before.

Its also interesting that the consensus has settled on a long life OAT formula. Definitely has very good advantages of being most widely available. I wound up going with the Zerex Asian forumula in the red color after some deliberation. Probably all this is really not very important, compared to just regular maintenance and flushes.

But my point in commenting was mainly point out, and ask for future discussion, is to ask for more context information than just color when discussing coolant. Mud is usually great for finding detailed and clear information for noobs like me but I found it a bit more difficult in this domain.

Anyways, I appreciate the further clarification and hope my comment did not come off the wrong way here. I hope it may help future mudders who may have also been a bit confused.

I took no offense. Seems like you had done your due diligence but I do think this topic is over analyzed without much ROI. Maybe I’m ignorant but I don’t think it’s that complicated. Use some variety of coolant, use distilled water and do your routine maintenance. Cruise on and enjoy the ride.