COOLANT?

[tubakins]

What type of coolant would be more efficiant for a sr w/ aluminum rad?

[Nismo_Freak]

70% Water to 30% EG (green coolant)

or.

50% Water to 50% PG (clear/pink coolant)

Propylene Glycol (PG) is a better coolant and alot better for the environment. You can buy the PG from http://www.splparts.com ... they should have plenty in stock.

[s13sr20chris]

i have had good luck with redline water wetter as well but i have no proof that it was working. i used 75% water and 25% green coolant with one bottle of water wetter.

[travisn]

its best to use distilled water so there wont be anything in the water to ruin the radiator or engine. if you spill some regular water on the aluminum radiator it leaves stains, who wants that? plus who wants contaminents??

[180fan]

Get the red coolant from Toyota. It works better than the regular green stuff with aluminum.

[PDX_S14]

they said 50% of water and 50% of the redline water wetter work really good and actully lower 20* F something like that. but i used 50% wate,r 25% coolant and 25% water wetter with my koyo alu. radiator is kept my temp a little bit lower then normal.

[TogueDrifter]

how about the universal dex cool?

[kane2g]

they said 50% of water and 50% of the redline water wetter work really good and actully lower 20* F something like that. but i used 50% wate,r 25% coolant and 25% water wetter with my koyo alu. radiator is kept my temp a little bit lower then normal.

25% water wetter BS!!!Unless you are total tard and don't read what the recomended ratio is

[PDX_S14]

dude that just a ball park range .. like i said "I PUT IN MY KOYO ALU. RADIATOR" ........ the direction is one 12oz bottle treats 12-16 quarts of water or 50% ethylene or propylene glycol solution. smaller cooling sys use 4-5 caps per quart.

[xero1]

toyota red coolant and japanese green coolant dosen't contain any phosphate. the best coolant to use is american green, it have phosphate.

[xero1]

the water to coolant ratio depends where you live. if you live where its warm a 65 water and 35 precent coolant will work good, but if you live where its cold 0 degree, you could freeze your block(will blow the freeze plugs out) if the ratio is not 50/50, also coolant lubricates the water pump.

[s13sr20chris]

phosphate is good? i was under the impression that phosphate was bad.

[180fan]

The Toyota red was formulated for aluminum engines. You'll see a residue form over your engine's internal cooling passages from use of the green stuff. Another plus to the Toyota red is a long service interval, only big drawback is that it's expensive.

[xero1]

if you change your coolant ever 30k miles or every 2 years there wouldn't be any coolant build up around the coolant passages(a complete flush not a drain and fill). phosphate stop the coolant for leaking. look at japanese brand car that comes with japanese coolant( jap green and toyota red) and you will see some coolant leaking out of the coolant hose if the coolant hasen't been change. i see this most on mitsubishi and toyota with original coolant.

[180fan]

you are aware that phosphates corrode aluminum right? You can look at the service recommendations of European engines, VW's in particular have had problems with phosphates in the engines blowing thead gaskets from corrosion around the water jackets. Considering that the SR is an all aluminum motor I suspect more people will begin switching over when doing some research on their own about the stuff in coolant and what those chemicals do when they're passing through your engine.

You can stop coolant from leaking by using better hoses and good hose clamps.

[95lstegman]

so what did Nissan fill the old SE-R's with for the showroom?

anyways, i filled up using nice red GM dextron or whatever it was. i have the big Koyo. it looked like every time i used that stuff, rusty-looking bubbles formed ALL OVER the inside of the radiator. i could pop them with my finger, but they looked JUST LIKE RUST. i'm using cheap green stuff right now because that rusty look didn't sit well with me.

if anybody can shed some light on what i saw, please do. i'd like to think those bubbles are harmless.

[574-240sx]

I use to do PG. I use to work where we dealt with alot of PG and it was one of the common raw materials that we used. I really didn't notice a difference but free is free.

[xero1]

i'm not going to tell anyone what kind of coolant to use, but if you're using a different coolant other than american green, look at your coolant hoses closely after a year or two, and see if there is any coolant seeping out of the coolant hose.

[AZhitman]

Lots of misinformation here....

First off, "freeze plugs" aren't an accurate name - They're actually casting plugs and would be impossible to "blow out".

Also, it's highly unlikely to completely freeze the fluid in your cooling system (it'd have to be damn cold for a long time, and have NO coolant in it).

The best coolant is CLEAN coolant. As xero1 stated, flushing/changing your coolant annually is the wisest thing you can do, especially for an aluminum block engine.

Coolant is critical for corrosion prevention and lubrication of the water pump, so use whatever coolant is recommended by Nissan, but be cautious not to overdo it - a good mix is 70% distilled water, 30% coolant and a bottle of Water Wetter. The stuff works.

[s13sr20chris]

dexcool...

i used to work at a gm dealership long long ago. dexcool turns brown and clogs everything up over time. q45tech told me this was due to impurities in the non-distilled water. regardless, nobody else will use dexcool because the only corrossion inhibitor is OAT(organic acid technology) and its a long term deal that doesnt come on strong like the green stuff. i have always had great luck with the nissan green(i used to get it free) and have seriously considered the ford type of yellow coolant. that stuff mixes some small amount of OAT with standard coolant to give extended life but not being dexcool.

the only way i would use dexcool is if i had a newer gm vehicle that came with it. and i dont like gm.

distilled water is a real key here whatever coolant you use.

[95lstegman]

thank you so much chris! you've answered my question very well.