Adding coolant?

Hey guys this may be a silly question but I am not much of a mechanic so I feel I should ask. I just bought a 2012 Ram 1500 5.7 a few weeks ago. This is the first vehicle that I have owned that I have spent more than $15,000 on so I really want to make sure I am doing things right with it. I checked the coolant level today and noticed it down to the very bottom of the stick at the min marker. I ran to the store bought some peak 50/50 pre mixed coolant, I took the radiator cap off and noticed it was full. I then added the coolant to the resivor where the stick is to bring it to about half way on the stick. I noticed that the coolant in the radiator was orange and the coolant I added to the resivor was green. I did some Google searching and read a couple forums saying you shouldn't mix coolant. Is this going to cause problems for my truck? The coolant I bought says for any vehicle on the packaging so I guess I just assumed it would be fine now I am a bit concerned. Like I said I haven't really owned any vehicles that I carried too much about in the past and I don't know much about working on vehicles though I am trying to learn.

I believe your hemi should have HOAT coolant. Not good to mix coolant types. Check your owners manual if you have one

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After doing some research I see peak coolant is not an HOAT. So my question now is should I drain the system? If so what is that process like? Do I just drain it out and refill with HOAT coolant? I tired watching a video of doing a flush but not sure if I fully understood it.

At this point, because the two antifreezes are not compatible, I would let a shop or dealer hook it up to a machine to make sure it is all drained out and replaced with the proper antifreeze. By me it would be about 100 to 125.00.

Here is my plan, I didn't add a lot of the peak coolant to the resivor only enough to move it from the min line on dip stick to not even half way up dip stick. I also haven't driven the truck since adding the coolant. I plan on siphoning coolant out if resivor, draining coolant out of radiator. Than filling it up with distilled water and running it for about 15min. Than drain water and fill with right coolant. In my mind that should be sufficient but I am not a mechanic so any input on that plan would be appreciated.

Badger88 said:

Here is my plan, I didn't add a lot of the peak coolant to the resivor only enough to move it from the min line on dip stick to not even half way up dip stick. I also haven't driven the truck since adding the coolant. I plan on siphoning coolant out if resivor, draining coolant out of radiator. Than filling it up with distilled water and running it for about 15min. Than drain water and fill with right coolant. In my mind that should be sufficient but I am not a mechanic so any input on that plan would be appreciated.

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Depending on the mileage, new coolant may be needed. If so, do a complete drain and pull the block plugs if they will come out

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Badger88 said:

Here is my plan, I didn't add a lot of the peak coolant to the resivor only enough to move it from the min line on dip stick to not even half way up dip stick. I also haven't driven the truck since adding the coolant. I plan on siphoning coolant out if resivor, draining coolant out of radiator. Than filling it up with distilled water and running it for about 15min. Than drain water and fill with right coolant. In my mind that should be sufficient but I am not a mechanic so any input on that plan would be appreciated.

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You can probably just take the resivour tank off and pour it out and then just add what you need of the correct coolant and be fine. It's not even been circulated in the engine, so no way I'd take it to a dealer or anywhere else.

Frank Powers said:

You can probably just take the resivour tank off and pour it out and then just add what you need of the correct coolant and be fine. It's not even been circulated in the engine, so no way I'd take it to a dealer or anywhere else.

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^^^^ this.... And I think this is a good opertunity to change out the coolant and it being a 2012 I would change out all fluids and spark plugs. Every time I got a used vehicle I did this just for peace of mind:

Engine oil
Tranny fluid
Coolant
Rear diff (if a 4x4 do the front also)
Spark plugs

Didn't realize you haven't started the truck, just drain the overflow tank.