Coolant variation

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jetstream87
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Coolant variation

Postby jetstream87 » Thu May 03, 2018 10:02 am

Is there any advantage/disadvantage on coolant colors? I am about to my timing belt, radiator, and water pump. I am leaning on ordering Beck/Arnley Blue coolant 50/50 pre-dilluted mix coolant from Rockauto. I just heard that some cars are picky on the color since it can mess up the cooling system if the wrong color is added. Any suggestions?


Hooligan
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Postby Hooligan » Thu May 03, 2018 3:16 pm


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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri May 04, 2018 12:04 pm

Pre-2010 Nissans used Nissan green, coolant, which is the same as Pentosin Pentafrost A2 antifreeze, which is a concentrate that needs to be mixed 50/50 with distilled or demineralized water, which you can pick up at the local Walmart or drug store for $1/gallon or less. Nissan recommended its first service interval at 90,000 miles and then every 60,000 miles, thereafter. I use the Pentafrost A2 in my own Nissans as my personal preference, but the aftermarket "one color fits all" like Prestone and Wal-mart's SuperTech anti-freeze will work well, too.
In 2010, Nissan started phasing Nissan blue extended life coolant into their vehicles, which is actually Pentosin Pentafrost A3 coolant. This is pre-mixed, so no mixing with water. Pentafrost A3 has a service life of 10-years/130,000 miles, albeit Nissan still recommends service intervals of 4-years/60,000 miles. Nissan blue and Nissan green coolants are backwards-compatible, however, if you are using Nissan blue and there is a percentage of it that is green coolant because you couldn't get it all out of the system, it will reduce the Blue coolants 10-year/130,000 mile service life.
So, essentially, for those that came with Nissan blue, they would be best to stick with the blue coolant. For those that came with green, you can go either way, but for me, I always just stuck with the green or "one color fits all" Prestone and similar coolants. Rockauto sells both Pentosin Pentafrost A2 and A3 and the Beck~Arnley blue is probably made by Pentosin, as well.


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