Radiator coolant - how to tell?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Dodge 1500 4X4

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2019
Posts
2,558
Reaction score
2,219
Location
Rochester, NY
Ram Year
2019
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Added about half gallon of distilled water to overflow
You need to put a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water in the overflow jug, if it were me, I would dump what's in there and start over fresh, so you know it's done right.
 

GTyankee

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Military
Joined
Nov 2, 2020
Posts
10,059
Reaction score
12,598
Location
El Cajon Calif. 92021
Ram Year
2016
Engine
3.0 ecodiesel
seeing that you are not the original owner

I would drain & flush the whole coolant system a couple of times
Then pick a good brand of coolant & do a 50/50 mix

Then mark the brand of anti freeze you decide to use, somewhere visible under the hood, include the date of the change
 

RedRanger97

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2023
Posts
1
Reaction score
0
Location
Maple Ditch BC
Ram Year
2017 1500 Laramie
Engine
3.0 Eco-Diesel
Did you buy a turkey baster from the dollar store?
They are usually transparent so you can see the coolant color when you squeeze the bulb and suck some up
Good for getting brake fluid out of master cylinder or power steering fluid change over
 

06 Dodge

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2022
Posts
1,900
Reaction score
1,781
Location
Forest Grove, Oregon
Ram Year
2022
Engine
6.7L CTD
Did you buy a turkey baster from the dollar store?
They are usually transparent so you can see the coolant color when you squeeze the bulb and suck some up
Good for getting brake fluid out of master cylinder or power steering fluid change over
Now days you can not go by color, when I changed the HOAT coolant in my old 2006 I had a choice of color, yellow or clear I chose the clear, the factory coolant color was orange, in my 22 the coolant looks purple...
 

Sherman Bird

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Posts
1,499
Reaction score
2,214
Location
Houston, Texas
Ram Year
1998
Engine
5.2
Up to you what you do but I started making it a practice years ago, whenever I get a used vehicle I just service every fluid in it regardless of what the seller said. That includes coolant and if the car's more than a couple years old, brake fluid. Cheap insurance in my book.
So with that in mind if I was you I'd just drain it, run a couple rounds of distilled water through ( let it get up to full operating temp to get it through the block and heater core) and then refill with OE specified coolant. Distilled water is cheap, coolant is cheap compared to replacing a heater core or an engine.
I agree with you. Many times, I see where someone has the incorrect color coolant (most often a green color as opposed to gold, orange, red, etc) only find out someone put "universal" coolant in the cooling system. There AIN'T any such thing as "universal" coolant. With all the different chemical bases that coolant is designed for different applications, it is apparent that someone has appealed to the lazy nature of people by designing an inert fluid which doesn't react to mixing with other base coolant chemistry.
I NEVER use so called universal, due to it not being possible to address the differences in automotive design engineering for all possibilities.
 

GTyankee

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Military
Joined
Nov 2, 2020
Posts
10,059
Reaction score
12,598
Location
El Cajon Calif. 92021
Ram Year
2016
Engine
3.0 ecodiesel
2009 - 2012 should have 50% HOAT in the Coolant system

Draw fluid out of the radiator & look at the color in clear jar, in the Daylight
Now just forget about color, different manufacturers use different colors for the same antifreeze type.

What color coolant does Chrysler use?​

It's critical to understand that color doesn't matter.
While most Organic Acid Technology (OAT) coolants are normally orange, yellow, red or purple, Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) coolants are orange and yellow.
So evidently, there's quite a bit of overlap. Then you have Inorganic Acid Technology (IAT) coolants that are normally green, yet, some manufacturers sell them in blue.
At the end of the day, consistently be sure to read the bottle to confirm the type of coolant you're utilizing.

Online searches may be correct or incorrect :

from a Wrangler site;

The purpose of this thread isn't to start a debate about anti-freeze. I simply wanted to pass on some info I learned today from a tech at Valvoline.

The other day I noticed some sediment buildup in the bottom of my overflow reservoir. So today I took it out and cleaned it. I had some leftover Zerex G-05 HOAT antifreeze, which up thru 2012 was the Chrysler specified antifreeze.

I wondered if the sediment came from the factory HOAT so I placed a call to Valvoline and spoke to one of their antifreeze techs, named Ronnie. Here's what I learned.

1) Valvoline makes the HOAT for Chrysler. Zerex gets a yellow dye while the Mopar version gets a pinkish dye. Chrysler buys the stuff in bulk. Automakers have been known to throw stuff in the mix to help prolong the life of rubber hoses or lubricate the water pump. This is a common cause of sediment drop out in overflow tanks.

Then the same guy, was incorrect when he wrote;
2) The Mopar OAT for 2013 and newer (which is expensive as hell from the dealer) is the same as the latest Dexcool.
(( this is a complete inaccuracy, that comes from Valvoline, they are irritated that the did not get the OAT Coolant contract from Chrysler, FCA, & now Stellantis ))
 

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
194,902
Posts
2,863,860
Members
155,252
Latest member
radikio
Top