How determin what coolant I have now?

[WobblyElvis]

I bought a used 99 dodge and the coolant is green but not as bright or luminous as I'm used to seeing. Is there a way to determine if it's some kind of universal coolant or regular old green coolant? It tests very strong with a specific gravity tester.

Is there a down side to universal coolants?

 

[Oro_O]

You should have "regular old green" (IAT) in it. Per the Zerex chart, that was the factory fill for that Y/M/M. I use if for reference when in doubt:

http://www.audiworld.com/forums/12v-v6-discussion-52/zerex-coolant-chart-2592129/

I can not think of a way you could easily test it for the underlying chemistry, but that it might have been switched to another chemistry also colored green is highly unlikely.

I have noticed the factory die fill will fade over a long time so that may account for the lighter color - hopefully not it being really diluted, which would be bad in your climate. Cheap insurance is to drain the radiator and fill 60/40 or a wee bit stronger with fresh coolant/AF. If you have easily accessible block taps, drain it, too. It will boost your mix so you can approach winter without worry. Green is so cheap it's trivial to do along with some dH20 from the supermarket.

 

[Donald]

You could add Peak Global as needed.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: WobblyElvis
I bought a used 99 dodge and the coolant is green but not as bright or luminous as I'm used to seeing. Is there a way to determine if it's some kind of universal coolant or regular old green coolant? It tests very strong with a specific gravity tester.

Is there a down side to universal coolants?



Sounds like regular old green coolant to me, that's been in there awhile.

Can't speak intelligently about universals.

 

[WobblyElvis]

The local auto parts store sells some "universal" style coolant very cheap. The obvious answer is to simply flush and switch to this coolant but I have a dislike for anything "universal" and I have had good luck with the old style green fluid. I was hoping for a simple answer but there doesn't seem to be one. No problem. I'll probably just flush this system with water and drain what I can and then switch to the "universal" coolant. Should be fine.

The universal fluid readily available is this...
http://www.vulsay.com/msds09/V001.pdf

 

[Donald]

I am not hot on the universal coolants that for the most part are a variant of Dexcool.

But Peak Global is different. I would use it without hesitation. If your current coolant is shop then you first need to do a drain and fill.

 

[barkingspider]

I don't think it's possible to figure out exactly what kind of coolant u got in there. Could be a mix. I would drain, flush w water, and refill w what OEM recommends. If regular ol green, then replace every 2 years