I have a 2003 Mitsu Montero. The coolant is green. The manual says to use a high quality long life ethylene glycol coolant(or mitsubihi coolant). The normal change interval is 4 years or 60k miles. Is it just the old fashioned coolant?
For years people were using high-phosphate, silicated coolants in the US. Although Prestone no longer seems to, the generic non-EL coolants (Peak, Full Force, etc) still seem to use that combination. Before Dex-Cool and its clones, the #1 coolant used in American cars was probably yellow Prestone with its high phosphate level. I understand that high silicate coolants worked great up to the point where the silicates gel or precipitate out.quote:
Originally posted by Ray H:
The Japanese seem to be alone in their preference for high phosphate levels, though that doesn't necessarily make them wrong. I'm just not convinced they're absolutely right, either. (In principle, their logic seems sound enough, but in practice, perhaps it's not really that much of an issue.) I ran Havoline DEX-COOL in a '96 Accord for three years with no problems whatsoever. Based on my prior experience, I wouldn't hesitate to substitute the Prestone extended-life antifreeze/coolant in any Japanese make at changeout time for vehicles out of warranty. The Japanese are also united in recommending dilution with distilled or de-ionized water. As you pointed out, the European OEMs are generally united in not wanting phosphates in their cooling systems - Europe's generally abysmally hard tap water and the fear a high phosphate dose would be more likely to fall out as hard precipitates to grind waterpump seals as the generally accepted reason. (And, again in principle, the European OEMs' logic seems sound, too.) The big three in the U.S. are also not fond of phosphates - DEX-COOL has always been phosphate-free, as are the Ford and Mopar G-05 clones owing to that formulation's European heritage. At some point, I suspect common ground will be attained, but currently the world's drivers are paying beta-testers for competing coolant philosophies.
I took a quick look once trying to find the original non extended-life Honda coolant. I thought the "Type 2" label said that it was blended with deionized water.quote:
Originally posted by Winston:
I understand why Honda sells premix coolant. It is the only way they can assure that people do not mix the coolant with regular water. What I do not understand is why the coolant bottles do not mention distilled water. They usually say something like "clean clear water".