Googling gives a variety of answers. So what's your experience?

I got an '05 IS300 with original coolant. Needs a top off. The usual yellow-bottle Prestone 50/50 stuff from Autozone advertises "compatible with all types, all colors." Legit?

[Edited on June 16, 2011 at 10:32 PM. Reason : ]

6/16/2011 10:31:51 PM

Legit enough to do fine for topping up. There are a lot of folks that argue that you should only use the factory red shit, but I've been doing this for years with no ill results.

6/16/2011 10:45:32 PM

kinda related question. If you live somewhere that has no chance of freezing weather, is there any harm in using just water?

6/16/2011 10:48:34 PM

YES. Oh fuck yes. One of coolant's TWO primary functions is (1) to broaden the boiling/freezing index of water and (2) to provide corrosion protection...and that's doubly important with engines with dissimilar metals exposed in the cooling passages.

Anticorrosion additives are sacrificial, and therefore have a finite life, which is a very good reason to follow the maintenance schedule for replacement.

6/16/2011 10:54:06 PM

what about water wetter in that situation?

6/17/2011 11:13:40 AM

Wyloch, shouldn't you have your fluid flushed by now? Over 6 years seems like a very long time for the original fluid.

6/17/2011 11:31:45 AM

Water wetter is most certainly better than nothing, though it by no means is a complete corrosion inhibitor by itself.

6/17/2011 11:36:57 AM

i ran distilled water/water wetter in my gsxr for 2 years and never had issues. but then again, its a bike

6/17/2011 12:14:32 PM

2 years isn't a long time.
If you're in it for the long haul I don't know why you wouldn't drop $10 on some Prestone.

6/17/2011 1:28:08 PM

Quote :

"Wyloch, shouldn't you have your fluid flushed by now? Over 6 years seems like a very long time for the original fluid."

Was flushed and replaced at 70k (2.5 years ago). Ever since then, during the summertime (never in the winter), I hear a trickling/gushing sound behind the glovebox while accelerating from standstill.

The "low coolant" lamp is not lit, nor has it ever been. Temperatures have always been spot on. Googling revealed this is a textbook symptom of an air bubble in the coolant.

Putting the car up on ramps while cool pushes any air to the overflow tank. At that point I'll add coolant. Probably have to do this 2-3 times to get rid of the bubble.

6/17/2011 2:04:01 PM

that sounds like condensation from your evaporator while using AC to me (to me)!!!!

6/18/2011 3:03:17 PM

The old green coolant was ethylene glycol with inorganic additive technology...things like phosphate, borate and silicate were used to protect metal. The additives only lasted 2 years and it didn't do jack for aluminum.

As far as I know modern coolants are propylene glycol, less toxic to mammals, and are either organic acid tech(dexcool) or hybrid organic acid tech(the mix with anything stuff). Both usually are phosphate, borate and silicate free, and the additives they do have are said to last 5 years. The lack of silicates that can crystallize is really important to modern water pump seals.

That said I run tap water and old recycled antifreeze in my junk and manage alright.

6/18/2011 3:21:02 PM

^now that's what I call tech, along with personal input from experience. Well done.

Coincidentally, things like this are why I don't like having really nice or expensive cars, cause who wants to worry about the exact type of coolant they used, and/or do complete flushes when you're 1/10th of a gallon low (or even worry about it in the first place).

6/18/2011 3:29:10 PM