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HOAT/OAT - One for the record books

82K views 141 replies 57 participants last post by  13T&C 
#1 ·
Don't trust anybody!
I noticed the level in my coolant reservoir creeping down just a little so I decided to get some coolant to top it off and just to have on hand. I tried NAPA for the OAT coolant like some have recommended but two different stores here in Houston didn't know what I was talking about. Rather than fight it I decided to go to a dealer for the real thing. I told the parts clerk I needed some coolant. "What year?" 2013. "Vehicle?" Jeep Wrangler. It takes the OAT coolant. "Right" The purple one. "Right, got it right here"
He puts a gallon on the counter and charges me, $15.65. Hmm, I think. I heard this stuff was really expensive. I guess the price has come down some. I take it home and start pouring it into my reservoir but it's coming out red/orange, not purple. Dang, the dude sold me HOAT! I found my turkey baster and suctioned it our as far as it would reach but then had to get a length of heater hose to suck out the rest. BTW, this stuff tastes terrible. Now I'm getting mad! I poured distilled water into the reservoir and went to bed but I had nightmares. I woke at one point and realized I had poured HOAT coolant into the reservoir of a hot engine during cool-down when it sucks it back. Now I'm getting worried.
I called the guy this morning and asked him for a part number - coolant for a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. I'm watching my receipt as he rattles off 68051212-AB. I think you sold me the wrong coolant yesterday. I've got a 2013!
The guy falls all over himself apologizing and says he'll call me right back. He calls back and says I need to flush it ASAP. I can sell you 3 gallons of the OAT at a discounted price. I said, "Hold on man. This flush is on you. I can bring it in and your service department can do it or you can give me the coolant and I'll do it myself but I'm not paying for it."
I'll call you right back, he says. He calls back, his service people won't do the flush and his parts people won't spring for the coolant so he comes out of his own pocket, so he says, for 3 gallons of OAT and 3 gallons of distilled water along with flushing instructions.



Now here's my question, given the fact that I only poured a few ounces in and sucked most of that out, do I even need the flush and if so does anyone have a good shade tree procedure for me to follow,
 
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#2 ·
Would you mind posting the part number of the correct stuff so I can avoid a similar issue at my dealer?
 
#3 ·
I don't know the part number, but yes the 2013 takes OAT and it's cost is about $46.00 a gallon at your Jeep Dealer.
HOAT is a lot cheaper, less than $20.00 a gallon.
.:thumb:
 
#7 ·
^ Water for the flush I'd say.

Here's a few other things to look at -

2012 - HOAT - blue cap on bottle, 5 year/100,000 miles on label

2013 - OAT - black cap on bottle, 10 year/150,000 miles on label

I'd also take it up with the general manager at the dealer. The guy made a big mistake selling it to you, especially after you asked if it was the right one. You may even have a decent argument to call the Star line on the dealer too.
 
#8 ·
I'll post the actual part # for the OAT coolant but if you just pay attention, which I obviously wasn't, the easiest clue is 5-year versus 10-year. HOAT or OAT is nowhere on the bottles that I could find and a Google search didn't turn up any part #'s.
I don't necessarily fault MOPAR for changing to a coolant that is more environmentally friendly though I think much of the danger is overblown. We have no way of knowing what political pressures they are under. What I DO fault them for is failing to train their parts counter employees as to the inherent problems.
This system is ripe for trouble and I'm sure I'm not the first and won't be the last one to fall into the trap.

Does anyone know a good way to evacuate the distilled water out of my system after the cleaning process. I want a good 50-50 refill.
 
#11 ·
coolant

Hey guys need your help. Just installed a ripp system on my 2013jeep and spilled some coolant. My coolant is orange in the radiator. Called the local jeep dealer and he said cannot mix the hoat and oat. Told him mine was orange and he stated oh yah it turns orange after you run the vehicle/
has anyone else seen or heard of this
 
#12 ·
I don't think that guy knows what he's talking about. I read somewhere that Chrysler used amber OAT for factory fill, but also has an OAT that is dyed purple too for service fills. Was he saying the purple turned to orange/amber? I would think the purple OAT and orange would be compatible, but if I were you I'd get a hold of a service tech who you'd trust.
 
#13 ·
You sure its orange? My '13 looks orange in the radiator and resovoir but once I removed some I could clearly see its purple.

If yours truly is orange then I'd assume maybe the supercharger installer drained your coolant and refilled with the wrong orange stuff.
 
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#16 ·
went to the dealer yesterday and asked for coolant for a 2013 jkur. The young lady plopped a gallon of the 5 year/100k mile coolant on the counter. I questioned her if this was the correct coolant and the parts manager said dont ever sell that one for any 2013 or newer and placed the 10 year stuff on the counter ($35). By the way both caps on the jugs were black. took a sample out of my rad and my wifes 5.7l 2014 GC summit and summit is bright pink and mine depending on the light is either orange if viewed from the side in a glass jar or purple if viewed from the top. Very confusing
 
#19 ·
You guys are going to have to take this one by the short hair and manage your own cooling system service. The dealers have all gone stupid or something. Here's a good picture of the two coolants. You can't mix them or it turns to sludge. OAT on the left and HOAT on the right. Nowhere on the bottle does it say OAT or HOAT.
10 year, 150,000 mile, OAT part# is 68163849AA............5 year, 100,000 mile, HOAT part# is 68051212AB

 
#20 ·
Great pic. This should definately clear it up for everyone. Unfortunately, some parts personnel aren't totally knowledgeable on all of the products. It's ultimately up to us to know what to use. Now, if someone has a flush done at the dealer and the parts dept. gives the service tech. the wrong stuff and it's not caught and put in, oh well.
 
#21 ·
OK, I work for jeep, and this is the coolant flush procedure.

1. Drain coolant
2. fill engine and radiator with water.
3. run engine until you hit operating temp and the thermostat opens (easiest way to know, wait for the fan to cycle on).
4. drain
5. do it again if you want to be REALLY sure.
6. Fill with OAT
7. relax.

Now, for a quick history on OAT. When we merged with Fiat we had orange HOAT, like you see in the above pics. Fiat had orange OAT that was very similar in color to our HOAT. When we switched to OAT, we took their orange stuff and dyed it purple, that way people can tell it apart from our orange HOAT easily. Other than that it is the same coolant. Now, I can tell you that I've seen times that when looking through the overflow bottle, ours looks a little "orangeish"(is that a word?) I assume it's just because it's dark under the hood, and you're looking through an opaque bottle. Suck a little bit out with a hose, turkey baster, etc. and look at it in the light, or better yet, follow what service procedures says you have.

If you get working on this and have questions, PM me, I'll be happy to help out.
 
#39 ·
OK, I work for jeep, and this is the coolant flush procedure.

1. Drain coolant
2. fill engine and radiator with water.
3. run engine until you hit operating temp and the thermostat opens (easiest way to know, wait for the fan to cycle on).
4. drain
5. do it again if you want to be REALLY sure.
6. Fill with OAT
7. relax.
Thanks for posting. I have a question. Since this coolant is already a 50/50 mix and you are doing two drain and fill cycles with water, what happens to all the water in the block when you drain the radiator after the second run of water? You won't have a 50/50 mix because the block is now full of water and the Mopar coolant is mixed with half water. Do you suggest draining the block? Does it have a provision to drain it. IIRC there are no freeze out plugs.

Thanks
 
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#24 ·
They didn't put "oat" and "HOAT" so we can sue?

Different weights of oil have the same packaging. Different types of aftermarket antifreeze are in the same packaging (don't believe me, go to any parts store). They did nothing different than EVERY OTHER MANUFACTURER! it is clearly labeled that it's 5 year or 10 year. It also has the part number. Part numbers are what the parts people are trained to use. Most packages in the parts dept look the same, most only have a small sticker with the part number to tell the difference between them. On top of that, there are bullitens, videos, and training by Chrysler to tell everyone in the dealership how to tell the difference.

Yes, the parts guy messed up, but let's not go crazy here.
 
#26 ·
Yes, the parts guy messed up... but clearly after it left the parts department and the consumer wasn't able to identify it was the right stuff before pouring into the vehicle - which results in immediate and sustained damage to the cooling system.

You can mix oil brands and viscosities all day long.. drive it until the next oil change and be okay - slight difference. You may even throw a code or get a "Wrong Oil" indicator.

YES... they absolutely need to clarify the "Intended Use" on the product labeling.

.
 
#25 ·
What I will shoot Jeep for is the absolutely confusing color of the stuff. It's very obvious in the photo above that one is orange and one is purple. It's also known that they put purple in my Jeep. However, after 14k or so I checked it again because I had one last air bubble purge out and the level dropped a hair, I took it over and watched them top it up with the purple, but I wanted to check the level later that night to see where it settled.

Looking into the reservoir the fluid looked orangish with a pinkish hue to it! I cursed myself down one side and up the other because I had taken it in to be bled out last winter and they topped it off back then - but I left it at the dealer and never saw what they used. As someone else suggested in another post - http://www.wranglerforum.com/f33/2013-coolant-is-orange-pink-should-be-purple-297057.html - I pulled some out, it was purple again. I also took a flashlight and took photos of it in the reservoir.

When I took a photo looking in at it, you can see how it looks orangish pink.

When I put the flashlight behind it and took a photo, it looks like the normal purple.

THAT is more confusing then a label on the bottle! Reading a label is easy, now imagine if you aren't Jeep-savvy and you want to top it up. You open the hood, look into the reservoir, see it's orange, and then go to "name of auto parts store" and tell them you need some orange antifreeze, the new kind. They give you what? HOAT? Dexcool? Yeah, that's my issue with this.

Here are my photos from that night.
 

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#27 ·
This is the first thing I noticed too, the first time I looked at the reservoir. The immediate thought was an accident waiting to happen. Can you imagine taking your Jeep to Oil Can Henry's for an oil change and the high school kid tops off your coolant reservoir from the bulk antifreeze load?

I can guarantee we'll be seeing more of these threads.

Thanks for bringing this to the forefront.

.
 
#29 ·
Oh, I just got an answer from the service saying the technician topped off coolant during the recall service but they already knew the difference between HOAT and OAT. They suggested me a free service for flushing out current "orangish pink" coolant and installing new "purple"
 
#30 ·
Had the same prob. Couldn't find any at the parts stores so went to dealer. Mentioned the hoat/oat difference and they looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

Didn't believe me until they looked it up.
 
#31 ·
But I see some debris floating in the coolant. I found this was one of results in mixed coolant (see "Caution" section below). As I said, the technician topped off my coolant when I got the recall service 2 months ago. The service manager said they used a right coolant at that time. However, if it causes my coolant orangish pink and debris... how can I know how much my engine and cooling system damaged? Am I worrying too much? I just got off from "Pentastar ticking problem"

TSB - 07-004-12 REV. A
SUBJECT:
Attention! Release Of New Engine Coolant Organic Additive Technology (OAT)
MODELS:
2013 (D2) Ram Truck (3500 Pick Up)
2013 (DD) Ram Truck (3500 Chassis Cab)
2013 (DJ) Ram Truck (2500 Pick Up)
2013 (DP) Ram Truck (4500 / 5500 Chassis Cab)
2013 (DX) Ram Truck (Mexico)
2013 (DS) Ram Truck (1500)
2013 (FF) Fiat 500
2013 (JC) Journey
2013 (JK) Wrangler
2013 (JS) Avenger/200
2013 (LC) Challenger
2013 (LD) Charger
2013 (LX) 300
2013 (MK) Compass/Patriot
2013 (PF) Dart
2013 (RT) Town & Country/Grand Caravan
2013 (WD) Durango
2013 (WK) Grand Cherokee
2013 (ZD) Viper
NOTE: This bulletins applies to all vehicle listed above for every engine application
EXCEPT the 2013 MK equipped with the 2.2L Diesel engine (sales code ENE)
and the JC vehicle equipped with the 2.0L Diesel engine (sales code EBT).
NUMBER:
07-004-12 REV. A

GROUP:
Cooling

DATE:
November 03, 2012

DISCUSSION:
Chrysler Corporation LLC. has released a new engine coolant for the 2013 model year
vehicles and beyond, for all engine applications except the ones listed in the note above.
This new coolant is an Organic Additive Technology (OAT) (
Fig. 1). OAT coolants have a
service interval of 10 years or 150,000 miles. For heavy duty truck and extreme duty cycle
applications refer to the Service Information or Owner's Manual for proper maintenance
schedules.

CAUTION: Vehicle Damage may occur if dissimilar coolants are mixed!
Coolants of different technologies are not compatible nor interchangeable (OAT, HOAT or
IAT).
Mixing these coolants could result in:
• accelerated corrosion within the engine and cooling systems.
• the coolant having an ammonia smell.
• debris (particles) floating in the coolant.
Further inspection by the technician may find corrosion in the system. This could show up
as aluminum pipes turning black in the coolant system, engine overheat, or leaks in the
coolant system.
NOTE: If OAT (MOPAR P/N 68163848AA Purple) has been Mixed with HOAT (MOPAR
P/N 68048953AB Pink Or Factory Fill HOAT Orange (Fig. 2) or (Fig. 3)) or any
other coolants have been mixed, it will be necessary to flush the cooling

system.
 
#34 ·
Yup. Even the dealerships don't know this in some instances. I expect to see a lot of these threads popping up soon as systems begin to fail.
 
#35 ·
This is a perfect example of why it's so damn important to know how to do basic maintenance on your vehicles. Because there is so much knowledge and information on this forum, you really don't have any excuse not to. I went through this with my 2003 Liberty, which used the orange HOAT. Because of the L.O.S.T. forum and independent research, I was able to explain to my mechanic why it was bad to mix the HOAT with Dexcool and only to use the Zerex G-05 or the factory coolant.
 
#37 ·
...and...just fer a little added twist...

...i believe there is a prestone product out there labeled something like...

..."mixes with ANY other coolant"...
 
#38 ·
I just got my coolant flushed and replaced with OAT this morning at free in my dealer. After that, a huge difference! I do not need to use a turkey baster or antifreeze tester or clear glass/plastic no more. Even with my naked eyes, I can see it is definitely purple in the coolant reserve container.
I high recommend to check it with your dealer and reflush and reinstall OAT if indicated.
 
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