I bought a can of Coolant at Repco after the staff member checked it on the computer for my vehicle - 98 Camry.
She mentioned that I should only put the coolant if the color matches.
The one repco gave is green in color (according to them that is the correct coolant for my camry based on the computer records).
But my car has pink coolant.
Does the coolant color matter?
If I use the green coolant with the pink coolant will it cause any problems?
Thanks!
Should be fine. The one to watch for is power steering fluid. If you have red stuff do not put in the green type, you will ruin your seals.
I guess something similar could apply to coolant, but I am not aware of such a thing.
I just Googled "car coolant colour" and I found out that there are several different main chemicals used in car coolant. I also found out that you can't tell anything from the colour. The colour is just a dye that is added. You need to know from the label which one is which.
About 15 years back the Ford dealer changed or topped up the coolant in my car. Sometime later in the following summer I started to get overheating problems. After a lot of stuffing around it was finally determined that two different coolants had been mixed and had turned to a solid in the bottom of the radiator and half of the capacity of the radiator for cooling, was lost. The moral of the story is if you don't know what is already in there then it may be safer to completely drain the old and replace it with new.
I was fortunate that except for time lost, my problem did not cost me anything. It was a company car on a lease that included servicing.
Thats a very interesting story. Thats why I never trust dealer stealers for anything done on my cars. Usually they are a bunch of apprentices who are supervised by a pro mechanic who don't really care much since he gets paid the same every month regardless.
When purchasing coolant I was told not to mix different coloured varieties as then can have a corrosive effect.
Coolants type/colour depend on the combinations of metals used in the construction of the motor. Coolants are designed to reduce the corrosive interaction of the various metals that the fluid comes into contact with. Toyota uses red coolant, other Manufacturers have different colour coolants. Never mix different colours. Always use the same colour additive. It is surprising how quickly metal parts will corrode when the wrong colour coolant is used. Science tells us that the effect is similar to electrolysis.
In my experience it's not just the colour but the type of coolant. OAT type coolants should not be mixed with non-OAT varieties. A bit of googling should tell you what type you currently (should) have in your vehicle and what type you may have already bought.
I bought a vehicle that the PO had run with straight water in the cooling system some years back. I'm now paying the price with corrosion related problems due to their mistake. One component I replaced was approx. $500 plus labour of almost $400 due to the difficulty in accessing the part.
Moral of the story? Do your homework on this one well and you'll potentially save yourself a lot of pain/$$$ down the track.
best not to mix and match coolant. It can gum up if the chemicals react
Best to just flush out what you have and replace it with the new stuff. Note which product you used and make sure to use that in the future.
If it is only a little low and you just want to top it up with 500ml or so i would just use water until you get around to a complete change.
Agreed.
It's not a difficult job to do..
Do a flush with demineralised water before topping up.
1) drain coolant - refill radiator/reserve tank with water, turn on engine for a few minutes to run it through the engine.
2) Drain again
3) Refill with new coolant, run the engine again and top up the reservoir, check again after a few days of driving which should have cleared the system of any air bubbles.
This will help remove any gunk built up in the radiator and ensure that you're not mixing 2 incompatible coolants.
In general there are different types of the same coloured coolants. Red coolant can be different grades of protection such as VAG cars (VW Porsche Etc.) and you should really detyermine exactly what coolantb wa sin your car and top up or change with the same coolant or risk reducing life of coolant protection. For a Camnry use any SLCC grade.
Before draining coolant, i've always been told to turn the heater controls up to full as the heater core is connected to radiator, here is a complete guide http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/maintenance/1272…
Thank you all for your responses.
The following is my conclusion based on the responses on this thread and my own research on the web.
My camry uses Ethylene Glycol chemical in the coolant.
Color coding of coolant was done to easily identify the coolant.
Example
Orange - DEX Cool
Green - Ethylene Glycol
Ethylene Glycol coolants are usually Green in Color. But Toyota uses the red color dye for this coolant.
This is the cause for confusion.
The dye itself has no chemical impact.
By keeping the same color its easier check coolant life, since there will be variations in color as the coolant ages.
Mixing Orange and Green is a definitive NO NO since they uses different chemicals.
Still best to drain and refill. Especially for an older car coming into Summer. If there is any crud built up in the radiator a flush can remove any debris and improve cooling out of sight!
You also want to look up how to bleed your coolant system. Some cars can be a bitch and its pretty important. This should also cover your heater radiator
I would never mix any colors, doesn't matter what chemicals are in there. It is just not worth the risk. I am even scared to put green into green due to different brands. Apart from Ethylene Glycol, different manufacturers can put in Silicate, Borate and Phosphate. This explains why being the same color, some coolants are cheap and others are twice the price.
Flush many many times, through all the drain plugs there are (usually a car would have at least 2 - check service manual), with heater knob on hottest and refill and bleed well.
Coolant replacement is a fairly easily DIY-able thing, but if it gums up in your system, you might have to take it to a shop. Otherwise, it overheats, head gasket blown, more $$$
Please correct me if I am wrong here but Toyota 98 comes with Long life coolant Red. Modern Toyota comes with Super Long life Pink. Toyota Pink can be topped up with Toyota Red. I am amazed at how Repco would give you green..
It would be great to get updates from you OP since it sounds like you have mixed the 2 colors?
I thought all the fluids for a car were colour coded to help you identify what goes where?
i.e. coolant green, transmission fluid pink/red, etc
If both really are coolant I don't see an issue though.