Adding VP Cool Down to old high mileage antifreeze ?

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I have a 2012 Hyundai Accent I bought new. It has 195k miles on the original coolant. The owners manual recommended changing it at, I think 140k, and then according to the manual something like "every 30k afterwards."
First of all, why do they recommend more frequent changes after the long initial interval for the factory fill.
Secondly, I'm a bad boy.
I left the factory fill in until now. It has 195k on it. I was thinking about just pouring in a bottle of VP Cool Down since it purports to inhibit corrosion and I talked to a tech at VP and he said it was fine to add it to old coolant and it would rejuvenate its anti-corrosion properties.
Go easy on me guys. I've been in bad health and I'm not able to take care of my car like I would have 10 years ago. I'd just like to get through until next spring when I hope my health lets me do it right. Can't really afford to have someone else do it and if I did you know they wouldn't do it properly anyway.
Do the VP or not? Or is there a better coolant additive I should use?
 
Don't do the VP stuff. It won't do any better than what's supposed to go in there.

Drain the current coolant, do a proper flush - there are lots of good videos online - and refill it with the PROPER stuff, which is either the genuine Hyundai stuff, or Zerex Asian Blue. Both will work at the correct ratio.

Also, for what it's worth, nobody is going to flame you for missing the flush interval on your coolant. Lots of us do it. The important thing is that you're doing it NOW.

Also, if you do a proper drain, flush and refill, you can go much longer than 30,000 miles.
 
To answer your question about, why is it necessary to do 30K coolant exchanges after the OE coolant has been drained & refilled?...Because you have now introduced air into the system.

But, I agree with SirTanon about going longer than 30K miles. I believe you can go much longer than that. How much longer? IDK, every 100K miles with proper coolant after a proper flush & fill not just a drain & fill.
 
If your Hyundai has Asian PHOAT coolant (like the Scion in my sig), you could do a drain and refill with Zerex Asian or similar. My brother's ‘02 Altima went to the shredder (totaled) with 190K on it on the original Nissan fill, 17+ YO, no cooling system issues.
 
Sir, Char, Bull... thanks. Char, makes total sense now you mentioned introducing air into the system. I'm no chemist, so if you understand chemistry could you explain what happens once the air gets in?
 
I don't understand the "introduced air into the system" explanation. Systems with non pressurized overflow tanks are exposed to air all the time. During a fluid change, the internal engine exposure to air is for a very short time. Once refilled, the air will eventually bleed out and the new coolant will reestablish a protective coating relatively soon.

I have read that the manufacturers have several reasons to suggest a shorter coolant change interval after the factory coolant is removed: 100% of the old coolant may not be removed, so the new coolant is no longer 100% pristine. Water quality is not guaranteed, maybe requiring a shorter change interval. The engine metal components have experienced some corrosion over the years, again meaning it is no longer the pristine condition compared to leaving the factory.


http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/321 Just their opinion... "Many coolants today are long-life formulations. They will work well for up to five-years, in the original application. When the vehicle is new, long-life coolant protects metal from corrosion for about five years. This is not so on subsequent changes. Protection on a system will last about three years, after we service it. Because the metals are older and have been subjected to the forces of corrosion, protection does not last as long. With a system that is run to the point of depletion, change intervals are much shorter."

Note: the AGCO article must have been written before the 10 year coolants came to market. J_mac, I hope you can find someone to help you change your coolant properly! Because yours is so old, it is probably best to do a full exchange vs. just a radiator drain and fill.
 
[Quote: doitmyself]: I have read that the manufacturers have several reasons to suggest a shorter coolant change interval after the factory coolant is removed: 100% of the old coolant may not be removed, so the new coolant is no longer 100% pristine. Water quality is not guaranteed, maybe requiring a shorter change interval. The engine metal components have experienced some corrosion over the years, again meaning it is no longer the pristine condition compared to leaving the factory.
I would agree with this^^^, more than the "air getting introduced into the cooling system" that I mentioned. But, it does have some validity...I have only read these comments on coolant manufactures websites, even after a full flush. However, I can't remember which sites or mfg's they were. I'm not a chemist so I can't explain completely, the "air in the system thing", Sorry!

I look at the "AIR in the system" thing like any metal corrosion once air/O2 is introduced, which is why I brought it up.
 
During the big Dexcool debacle some people blamed air in the system as one of the culprits causing problems (gunk and corrosion). I think that was in systems that had pressurized overflow tanks and the air intrusion was due to defects in the system allowing air in. I think this is different than the short exposure to air that engines get when you drain and refill the system. But, what do I know?
 
Originally Posted by SirTanon
Don't do the VP stuff. It won't do any better than what's supposed to go in there.

Drain the current coolant, do a proper flush - there are lots of good videos online - and refill it with the PROPER stuff, which is either the genuine Hyundai stuff, or Zerex Asian Blue.



While I agree on not using the VP product, I don't agree on doing a "proper" flush - there is no need to unless the cooling system is full of contaminates or rust/slime from an otherwise severely neglected cooling system.
 
Originally Posted by The_Eric
Originally Posted by SirTanon
Don't do the VP stuff. It won't do any better than what's supposed to go in there.

Drain the current coolant, do a proper flush - there are lots of good videos online - and refill it with the PROPER stuff, which is either the genuine Hyundai stuff, or Zerex Asian Blue.



While I agree on not using the VP product, I don't agree on doing a "proper" flush - there is no need to unless the cooling system is full of contaminates or rust/slime from an otherwise severely neglected cooling system.

Well, that's just it, isn't it? 195,000 miles, and 12+ years old.. and still on the original coolant. Don't you think this might be a good candidate for a flush and refill, especially since doing so would allow the OP to go MUCH longer between coolant changes?

With that many miles and that much time on the existing coolant/system, there's no way of knowing what sort of contamination is in there. This is one reason why the 30,000 mile interval "thereafter" is in place - because of those use cases where the cooling system has not been flushed, and therefore still contains an unknown amount of contamination and old coolant. A "proper" flush would remove all of that and start the cooling system off in a clean state, allowing for the new coolant to go it's intended (ostensibly 100,000 mile or more) interval.
 
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