I checked my coolant level this morning, and had very little in my resivour. My jeep has the orange/redish colored coolant in it. I used the green prestone to fill up my resivour to the proper level this morning because that was all I had.
Probably not going to hurt anything, but can this be mixed on a regular basis?
Uhhh... some coolant types absolutely cannot be mixed with other coolant types and unless one or the other that you mixed was the type that can be mixed with anything, that could have been the wrong thing to do. Unless you know what you mixed together, I'd flush the cooling system before too long and refill it.
Jerry, what kind of problems can I encounter? I poured about half a quart in my resivour this morning to bring it back up. Haven't looked yet to see if it's compatible.
If incompatible coolants are mixed, it can cause the coolant to turn into clumps, cause corrosion, etc.. Here's a thread that is interesting... http://paulaxford.com/bmw530i/coolant.htm
I went out and checked the jug of coolant.....it DOES state that it is compatible with other colors and types of coolant.
I had enough sense to question what I did this morning, but was also stupid enough to perform the task BEFORE consultation!!!
Thanks Jerry, for ruffling my feathered mind and furthering my limited knowledge what and what not to do!!
Confusing - isn't it?
My Rubi came with a pink coolant, the manual says only to use HOAT. Yet the articles say not to use HOAT in Chryslers. So then - is Jeep a Chrysler or a Mercedes?
I think the most important thing is flushing it periodically and sticking to ONE type.
Trick - how do you know when it needs flushing?
Litmus paper - compare with new coolant.
One we used when things were simple (coolant was green, period) - a voltmeter. Attach the (+) lead to the radiator, dip the (-) lead in the coolant without touching the sides. Hot or cold doesn't matter.
When the meter reads 3/4 volt or more it's getting too acidic, time to change it. At about 1 volt it's eating the inside of your engine. After a good flush it still will read 1/4 volt. Seems to get acidic more from time than mileage.
I have no idea if that still works with all the new coolants, but it's worth trying.
Why a voltage? Radiator, block, head, freeze plugs, T-stat, etc - all dissimilar metals, + acidic solution - makes a battery!
(Hmmm, I wonder - if the coolant gets up to 12 volts, will it start the engine? {No!})
Caution if the coolant has been in for many years - the acidicness (is that a word?) could do eye damage. Same with old oil.
I have no idea how the type coolant might affect it. When I used the trick it was a few years ago - when all coolant was green - ethylene glycol.
Might be worth trying now.
The theory - all head gaskets will leak slightly. The slight leakage of the gasoline (HC) mixing with the coolant or even water eventually forms a weak acid. The more HC, the stronger the acid, the longer it sits, the more acid.
A battery is made of dissimilar metal and acid, so it actually forms a miniature battery - electrolysis.
Someone showed me the trick - I didn't believe it, but I started testing and watching - it was true. If I remember right the voltage went up about 3/8 of a volt every year, starting with 1/4v.
I won a few bets guessing how long someone's coolant had been in it.
But with the more modern coolants, it may not work the same. It may have an acid reducer or some such thing.
He He --- If you lose a bet - it's not my fault!
Hmmm, makes me wonder - oil - dump it in a metal pan, one electrode on the metal pan, the other dipped in the oil?
This is one of the very few times I regret my VOM being an analog (with a needle) meter vs. a DVOM (digital). It probably won't do so well down at that low of a voltage.
That's really interesting...if anyone has a chance to test this on the newer Jeeps, I'd be interested in if it still works. Seems easier than using one of those antifreeze testers...lol
Its not good to mix green antifreeze with the red bio-deg. stuff , will turn it to mud and plug everything up, know this from experience...........................
I know what you mean. My Simpson died a few years ago.
I found some really cheap digitals - Harbor freight. They aren't real accurate, but they usually are good enough to get the job done.
When on sale they get as low as $2 (China of course) - low enough that I bought quite a few - one in each vehicle (11), a couple in the motorhome, 2 or 3 in the house, and several in the shops. Saves steps, I don't have to go get my Fluke.
If they give trouble I toss them in the trash.
I also have a couple of analog meter types for when I want to see the needle sweep - like for a TPS etc.
The "radiator battery" must not be very high impedance, otherwise the 20,000 Ohms/Volt Meter type analogs wouldn't work.
I'll try "dipping" both types in my Rubi tomorrow - and post the results.
Hey, I just changed the coolant in my 03/tj 4litre 6 cylinder twice!
That's because I neglected it for a while and the water turned a little rusty!
To my knowledge you never mix red with green coolants!
They are specific for certain vehicles!
My tj's specs indicate green coolant and that's what I used!
Hope that helps...
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