Another Coolant Question

[Caddyman]

Hello All,

I know there is a ton of discussions about the coolant in all Chrysler/Fiat vehicles but I seem to find one that answers my question. I there is discussion out there and I missed it I apologize

I have a 2014 Ram 3500 6.7L Diesel. I purchased the truck new and have performed all the maintenance/repairs myself other than recalls and warranty work.

I need to replace the upper Y fitting and I want to get the correct coolant for the repairs.

My question is that I think I should use 68163848AA coolant with the MS12106 OAT because that's what the sticker on my reservoir bottle says. From my understanding that coolant is purple in color and my coolant is clearly orange/pink in color currently. I really don't want to flush the coolant system, just looking to top off what is in there. I contacted a dealer to ask about recall/warranty repairs to see if the coolant system has ever been repaired. Without me remembering that water pump was replaced in 2018. Now I could swear the coolant was never purple gatorade in color.

I know you can't mix the old green coolant with the newer stuff but what about the purple and orange or OAT and HOAT? The dealer said it would be fine but the service advisers aren't always the sharpest knife in the drawer if you know what I mean!

What are your thoughts?


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[Burla]

It's not close, a 2014 takes 10 yr oat only and that is what came with it. The purple is often pink in use and at different temps. You can use the lifetime coolants with oat, but I wouldn't, just use Chrysler 10 yr oat, there is only one either pre mix or concentrated. There is a coolant thread with killer info in it, in the end you should stay with what is in it, 10 yr mopar oat. Yes it can look different colors, but the chrysel hoat 5 year which is orange.

 

[Burla]

You see the variants below, it is oat and I seriously doubt any dealer would mix hoat in there.

 

[Caddyman]

Great information, sincerely thank you very much!

 

[06 Dodge]

Do not mix HOAT with OAT. As for what brand to use that's up to you so long as its a 10 year / 150K OAT anti freeze that meets Cummins spec's, I would not buy the 50/50 mix because you need to flush all of the old stuff out with distilled water before you refill with new anti freeze ( do not use Tap Water unless you have the time to flush it out with 10-15 gallons of distilled water), the block will hold a few gallons of water so buy the concentrated. You did not state miles but if you have not replaced the T stat since new now is a good time to do so but make sure you use Cummins T stat... IIRC you will need 3 gallons of concentrated anti freeze and do you best to winterize to -34 or lower so that you have minimum of 265 boil over protection..

 

[Burla]

btw, I think it is time for a flush anyhow, mize well make good use of buying some and pick up two gallons concentrate. Future flushes should be less then ten years because full flushes are near impossible. There are all kinds or reasons it isnt as simple as hooking up a flush machine or dyi. My 1500 one block bolt is stripped and the other is very hard to access, so I just went to yearly drain and fills. It's not perfect but working with what I got.

 

[GTyankee]

Usually you can't go by the color of the antifreeze

with use the color may lighten up a bit
the color also changes in sunlight

 

[Caddyman]

Do not mix HOAT with OAT. As for what brand to use that's up to you so long as its a 10 year / 150K OAT anti freeze that meets Cummins spec's, I would not buy the 50/50 mix because you need to flush all of the old stuff out with distilled water before you refill with new anti freeze ( do not use Tap Water unless you have the time to flush it out with 10-15 gallons of distilled water), the block will hold a few gallons of water so buy the concentrated. You did not state miles but if you have not replaced the T stat since new now is a good time to do so but make sure you use Cummins T stat... IIRC you will need 3 gallons of concentrated anti freeze and do you best to winterize to -34 or lower so that you have minimum of 265 boil over protection..

The truck has 55k on it and I live in Southern California so the -34 isn't a factor for us. The coldest we see is maybe 26-27.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Usually you can't go by the color of the antifreeze

with use the color may lighten up a bit
the color also changes in sunlight

Yep - the purple OAT turns pink/orange with use. I was shocked to see pink/orange antifreeze drain from my 2017 truck this spring. Then I read online about OAT colorant changing color with time and usage. Don't know the chemistry behind why. So I poured the purple OAT in and it hasn't done anything weird since that I've noticed. I got about 55% of my coolant out with just a gravity drainout.

 

[06 Dodge]

The truck has 55k on it and I live in Southern California so the -34 isn't a factor for us. The coldest we see is maybe 26-27.

Ya missed the part that when you have anti freeze level to -34 it gives you 265 degrees of boil over protection (a 50/50 mix) but if you were to increase anti freeze level mix to 70/30 it would give you around 276 degree boil over protection and around -84 freeze protection, anti freeze does more then just protect you from freezing...