Green antifreeze or coolant as some call it.
I took a path to simplicity. We own a Toyota RAV4. It uses a a pretty pink Asian coolant. So back when my 96 Toyota Camry had a hose burst at its little heat exchanger at oil filter I changed it to the Asian coolant. When 67 Barracuda needed a water pump I changed it to Asian coolant.
From what I understand, it's environmentally friendly, doesn't poison pets, etc...
My main reason is about having just one partial jug of coolant sitting here that I can pour into any vehicle here.
I installed a aftermarket coolant recovery bottle to B'cuda several years ago. Similar glance at coolant level under all hoods.
Here is more or less what I found out yesterday when reading about the different coolants. It started over 100 years ago, they had only water in, and when the summer came to an end it was just a rusty mess. Then winter came and they had to drain the water after every trip and fill new water in before every trip. So, they obviously had two issues.
They fixed both, and were happy with it, the engines were cast iron, and the radiator was copper. No aluminum.
Then some started with aluminum parts, thermostat housing and water pump. And they had an issue, the aluminum corroded. Then they fixed that too.
So, then they used American coolants / antifreeze in Japan, and they got issues. Had to be investigated, and they found that the water in Japan was not like the water in America. Different soils, and different minerals.
Then European water was more like American water, but not entirely the same. So, Japan developed a coolant for their water, and Europe for their water. Half fixed, they continued and changed the aluminum alloy to fit their water and their special coolant better, and Europe did the same.
So, then Japan and Europe found out that they wanted to export their cars to the US, and now the fun starts. The US now has conventional coolant for trucks and older cars, adapted to American water. Then since they have a lot more aluminum in the engines the aluminum protection in the conventional coolant is not enough so they have made coolants for aluminum engines with American water, and then they have made coolant for Asian/Japanese cars in the US with American water, different from the coolant used in Asia and Japan, and they have done the same for European cars that is being used here in America. Some of these coolants from what I read can be mixed, others react to each other and forms a gel that in worst case is a commercial business to fix. And then they have made a coolant that is not supposed to react to any other coolants but from what some says, it is not the very best for any of the engines. It is good, and last long, but still the specified coolants seems to be better.
It has created a mess, but what I read is that if you go with the yellow modern stuff, you do not ruin anything, even if mixed with other coolants. It works fine, but there might be other alternatives that might be better.
Then you have the specific stuff where you should know what you are doing and stick to that. In other words, use it for the cars and water it was intended for, and don't use it on other cars and in other places of the world with different water. This is how I understand what I have been reading so far.
I wish life was simpler than this, and it is simple enough if you stick to modern yellow coolant. If you want to be a little more advanced, read up on the stuff and get educated and do it the right way.
I want to thank everybody for their input in this. I hope maybe someone could pick up a little useful information, as for me, I have learned a lot.
Bill
