Prestone vs. Asian Antifreeze

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We have a Hyundai Tuscon and based on the Owners manual, I should be able to use Prestone antifreeze.
OM says ethanol glycol based antifreeze and there is no other specific requirements ...

However the antifreeze in the car is kind of blue (if I recall correctly) and few people (including the parts dept at Hyundai) have told me not to use Prestone ... another guy at auto parts place told me i need to buy a special antifreeze for Japanese cars like zerex Asian???
I have to trust the OM (unless if it is out of date) and besides I have 3 gallons of prestone in the garage... lol

something doesn't make sense here! I haven't done a lot of research but I should be able to trust the OM. No?
 
IIRC, the Asian antifreeze are silicate free while the regular Prestone have silicate.

Not sure why that is important but I am sure when dealing with chemicals, there may be reaction if mixed together.
The results may be undesirable for long term.
 
Not all Prestone is the same! If you have the Dex-cool (OAT) prestone fluid, I would take it back, because Hyundai does not use OAT.
If you bought Prestone Extended Life, then you can mix it, and it will be fine; these are both HOAT fluids (their organic acids are the same, or at least have no resulting detriment to mixing.)
Typically the Asian HOAT formulas use corrosion inhibitors that are different than european formulas.
Asian formulas use phosphates to protect against corrosion on ferrous parts and preventing cavitation.
European formulas use silicates in small concentrations, which helps protect aluminum from high temperature corrosion (and can also help slow or stop a head gasket leak if one forms).

Asian formulas can be bought at the car dealer, but their suppliers in NA are generally Zerex, owned by Valvoline.
Zerex Asian : https://www.valvoline.com/our-products/antifreeze-products/zerex-asian-vehicle-antifreeze-coolant
Valvoline Asian : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-Asian-Vehicle-Antifreeze-Ready-To-Use-1-Gallon/49660461
[As far as I have found, these are the same products... I have no idea what Valvoline is doing.]

Personally, I wish I could get a low silicate addition to either of these, but I have come up dry. Can't say I've ever heard of it being an issue anyway.
 
If your Hyundai’s owner’s manual is like the one for my ‘10 Sonata, the coolant spec is for an “ethylene glycol base for aluminum radiator”. My Sonata’s OEM coolant was also blue. Get the Zerex Asian blue stuff, and be happy. Hand off your green Prestone to someone with an older domestic vehicle.
 
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The OM that I have states :"ethylene glycol based coolant for aluminum radiators" I use regular Peak Long life full strength mixed 50/50 with distilled water. When I type year and model for my Sonata or Tuscon into the part search on Autozone the following brands fit: Prestone, Peak,OET, Pentefrost and the Autozone brands. The 50/50 mix seems a bit high since the full strength is only about $2 more and distilled water is so cheap, easy enough to do a 50/50 mix. Prestone would work fine as would the Zerox Asian blue , or the global types of coolant.
 
i guess Ethylene and not "ethanol" ... I got my chemicals mixed up
smile.gif


Btw, the Prestone i have doesn't say extended but it says verbatim:

"For ANY car"
"Works with ANY color antifreeze"
"Will NOT void warranty"
"ALL MAKES, ALL MODELS"

Better be on the safe side, I am going to get the valvoline zerex. I have seen it at WM. I have older cars that can use the prestone.

Thanks guys!
 
I personally am going to use Pentofrost Asian because I cannot stand purchasing 50/50 mix and valvoline only offers that in their zerex asian.
 
I don't recall seeing the Asian concentrate in stores either. At least for the name brands i use.

Just curious why prestone (see my previous post) says use for all cars, models, any color ...
Is that marketing [censored]?!
 
Originally Posted By: Brian553
Not all Prestone is the same! If you have the Dex-cool (OAT) prestone fluid, I would take it back, because Hyundai does not use OAT.
If you bought Prestone Extended Life, then you can mix it, and it will be fine; these are both HOAT fluids (their organic acids are the same, or at least have no resulting detriment to mixing.)
Typically the Asian HOAT formulas use corrosion inhibitors that are different than european formulas.
Asian formulas use phosphates to protect against corrosion on ferrous parts and preventing cavitation.
European formulas use silicates in small concentrations, which helps protect aluminum from high temperature corrosion (and can also help slow or stop a head gasket leak if one forms).

Asian formulas can be bought at the car dealer, but their suppliers in NA are generally Zerex, owned by Valvoline.
Zerex Asian : https://www.valvoline.com/our-products/antifreeze-products/zerex-asian-vehicle-antifreeze-coolant
Valvoline Asian : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-Asian-Vehicle-Antifreeze-Ready-To-Use-1-Gallon/49660461
[As far as I have found, these are the same products... I have no idea what Valvoline is doing.]

Personally, I wish I could get a low silicate addition to either of these, but I have come up dry. Can't say I've ever heard of it being an issue anyway.


GO-5 is a H-OAT with a little silicate in it.
Also, I believe that Prestone AMAM is an OAT coolant (very similar to their Dexcool without the license).
I think any of these will work fine for the OP as long as he FLUSHES his system (with Distilled) water) until there is no trace of the original coolant...3X should do it.
If the OP is intent on using a phosphated H-OAT he should check his local Autozone for the Pentosin that's on CLEARANCE....the A2 green and the A4 blue are both compatible....the A2 is a concentrate and the A3 is a pre-mix. The A2 is original H-HOAT LL while the A3 is improved formula good for 'extended' long life. These are similar to what came in his Hyundai originally. I also wouldn't hesitate using the silicated H-OAT, GO-5, after a good flush.
 
Originally Posted By: jj51702
I don't discriminate against my antifreeze whether it's Asian or not


That's not for you to decide!
Will your car marry the antifreeze in order to make it %100 legal? it will be for 3-5 years if compatible like most Other marriages ...
grin.gif


Btw, no one knows about the "any color, any car, any ..." claim On the container!
 
Originally Posted By: OilUzer
Originally Posted By: jj51702
I don't discriminate against my antifreeze whether it's Asian or not


That's not for you to decide!
Will your car marry the antifreeze in order to make it %100 legal? it will be for 3-5 years if compatible like most Other marriages ...
grin.gif


Btw, no one knows about the "any color, any car, any ..." claim On the container!

Haha
 
did some more research ... I have prestone cor-guard and it says "extended life" on it as well. I missed that before. It is the regular yellow container you see in most stores. It also says to use in any car/model, or with any color antifreeze ...

As @pbm and others have said here, it should be ok to use it in Hyundai. OM says use ethylene glycol based coolant for aluminum radiator and I called another Hyundai parts department and the parts person put me on hold and asked one of the mechanics at the service dept. and was told that it is ok to use the prestone.I

Regarding any car, and model, any color antifreeze claim:

So far ok for Asian cars ... and also this is from prestone website regarding Europen cars:

"Some European automobile manufacturers request that a phosphate-free antifreeze be used in their vehicles. This issue is related to the extremely high mineral content of the water in Europe. If you were to mix an antifreeze that contained phosphates with the type of water they have in Europe, it may produce deposits that can settle in the cooling system and promote corrosion. However, in North America we do not have this type of water problem. Typical North American coolants have contained phosphates (which is part of the corrosion inhibitor package) for many years. Therefore, the question of phosphates is a non-issue here in North America. Prestone® Antifreeze/Coolant is completely safe for use in both foreign and domestic vehicles. "

Anyways, do your own research but I will be using prestone cor-guard in our 2014 hyundai. We also have a 2005 hyundai (original owner) and I have always used regular prestone with no issues. I have also used the same in my Toyota Tacoma and no issues ...

Thanks everyone for your help!
 
Also Forgot to add the spec.
this is from prestone website:

"Prestone® Cor-Guard™ Antifreeze/Coolant is an Extended Life coolant that meets or exceeds the performance requirements of the following industry specifications:

ASTM D3306
ASTM D4985
SAE J1034
[censored] 6580 (European specification)
JACA/JSA-JIS K 2234-2006 (Japanese specification)
Australian AS2108-2004
Chinese GB 29743-2013
General Services Administration CID A-A-52624
In addition, Prestone® Cor-Guard™ Antifreeze/Coolant will meet or exceed the ASTM D 1384, D 4340, D 2570, D 2809, property characteristics and performance requirements of the following OEM/OE specifications:
Ford WSS M97B55-A
Ford ESE-M97B44-A
Ford WSS M97B44-D
GM 6722M
GMW 3420
Chrysler MS- 7170, MS-9769
Chrysler MS-12106
European and Asian Specifications"

B.S. (Without dots) was in front of 6580 and was "censored" ... lol
 
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The OEM Hyundai coolant in concentrate from the dealer is actually priced very reasonably ($20). It's just weird that the factory fill is blue and the coolant you get from the dealer is green.
 
mine is blue and you are correct! dealer parts dept. told me theirs is green and told me mine is not blue. I said mine has always been blue ... Maybe the dealer is filling their bottles with Prestone
grin.gif
 
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