Coolant Type

kahlilj

Member
Car
2006 FX35 AWD
What type of coolant are you using instead of the factory recommended "Genuine Nissan Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant"?

Are you using blue, green or yellow? Peak, Beck Arnley, Prestone, Pentosin??
 
Lol

Seriously though. I would like to know what choices there are. I recently had my car serviced at an Indie and they used yellow colored coolant. I forget the brand. I seem to recall reading somewhere to use only blue colored coolant?

What color do you use?
 
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Good read. Thanks for sharing.
I'm concerned about this because I recently had to replace my water pump. When I saw the condition of the water pump it looked horrible, caked on build up of something along the periphery, corrosion, etc. I believe the previous owner did not use the right coolant in the system and it attributed to it's condition. So i want to be certain to use the right coolant going forward.

So after more researching I think the different colors represent various additives that are present or not present in each type. The factory coolant doesn't contain amines or silicates which may harm water pump seals nor borates that may cause aluminum corrosion and pitting.

blue color lacks: amines, silicates, borates
green color lacks: amines, silicates, borates; contains "advanced formula" EG based product

So any alternative should avoid those additives right? I actually bought some Beck Arnley recently when my fx35 was low on coolant. I was hesitant, but decided to do so after I read the label and did a quick search on my phone to see that it was compatible. So today I read more info about it and see that indeed it is a good choice:
Formulated For: Acura, Honda, Infiniti, Mazda, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, and Suzuki.
  • Provides superior extended life corrosion and rust protection
  • Utilizes Phosphated Organic Acid Technology also known as Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT)
  • Contains no amines or borates and is free of silicates
Also see attached SDS's for the BA & Nissan OEM coolants.
 

Attachments

If your water pump was really corroded then I think you're correct in that the previous owner either used the wrong coolant which will have adverse consequences or too much water or even possibly tap. A 70% distilled water to 30% coolant is the max one would want to use as I understand it.
Not to concern you as I know little on the subject but my concern would be potential corrosion that the coolant flows through having built up in areas. Could be within the block or the radiator. The rad is dirt cheap and an extremely easy thing to replace. Perhaps there's a flushing agent that one could add, drive around for a week/month then do multiple flushes with distilled water to de-corrode?
 
If your water pump was really corroded then I think you're correct in that the previous owner either used the wrong coolant which will have adverse consequences or too much water or even possibly tap. A 70% distilled water to 30% coolant is the max one would want to use as I understand it.
Not to concern you as I know little on the subject but my concern would be potential corrosion that the coolant flows through having built up in areas. Could be within the block or the radiator. The rad is dirt cheap and an extremely easy thing to replace. Perhaps there's a flushing agent that one could add, drive around for a week/month then do multiple flushes with distilled water to de-corrode?


Good thoughts and yes I remain concerned about the internals of other components. The shop did a coolant flush, but I'm going to get some more antifreeze and have them flush it again. I hadn't thought about a cleaning flushing agent as you described to do prior to flushing out. I'm gonna check into that and report back on here if I find anything noteworthy.

Thanks for the tip. :)
 
Your welcome. Might be a dead end or overkill but if you got a minute to look into it, it might be worthwhile.
 
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