Is a Coolant Change Required

[Radar78]

Last February I had a coolant leak on my ‘16 M8000 LTD that turned out to be a faulty rad cap. The lodge I was at in Wyoming is roughly a 20 mile trail ride out so I just topped it off with the generic anti-freeze they had there for sale (see pic). It ended up taking roughly 1.5 litres of this coolant mixed 50/50 with some bottled water that we had. My question is, do you think I should swap it out and put fresh A/C coolant back in? Or will it be fine the way it is? I’m worried cause I don’t see anywhere on the jug that it’s safe for aluminum engines. But it does say safe for all makes and models so it should be? Also should I check it to make sure it’s good as far as mixture? Thanks for any advice.

 

[mountianguy]

As long as it is the same color you should be good. It is not a good idea to mix the different colors.

 

[Radar78]

As long as it is the same color you should be good. It is not a good idea to mix the different colors.

Both green and both ethylene glycol.

 

[Dawizman]

I'm running the same coolant in my 15 for a similar reason. Sled needed 1.5 litres of water on a trip last spring. Did a partial drain when i got home (tipped it over in to a drain pan and got ~1 litre out) and topped it up with that same coolant that I had kicking around from my rm250 rebuild. No issues so far.

 

[mountianguy]

Both green and both ethylene glycol.

You will have no issues. The ethylene glycol just cant be mixed with the OAT or HOAT. It actually shouldn't be used in place of them either and vice versa.

 

[sirkdev]

Just for kicks... you can switch out ethylene glycol for OAT at up to 75% of system capacity. (25% old coolant left) for a vehicle you plan on keeping its a good plan. My delvac OAT is good for 10 years or million miles so the bottle says.

 

[mountianguy]

Just for kicks... you can switch out ethylene glycol for OAT at up to 75% of system capacity. (25% old coolant left) for a vehicle you plan on keeping its a good plan. My delvac OAT is good for 10 years or million miles so the bottle says.

I am not sure how that will work out. Head gaskets have failed when using the E/G in a OAT application (large diesel engines, i don't have a lot of experience with automotive application) As far as the 10 year thing it probably is good for that but you will most likely need to check it after 4 or 5 years and each year after that. You will have to read the fine print on that one as usually there is some required testing to ensure quality. The dealership would be able to better answer this question as they see way more than I do. If you know a tech there or the service manager you should get a straight answer.

 

[sirkdev]

Agreed I would never switch an OAT engine to EG but OAT is vastly superior in every way compared to EG and there should be no issues switching an EG engine to OAT. I always test mine anyways..

I am not sure how that will work out. Head gaskets have failed when using the E/G in a OAT application (large diesel engines, i don't have a lot of experience with automotive application) As far as the 10 year thing it probably is good for that but you will most likely need to check it after 4 or 5 years and each year after that. You will have to read the fine print on that one as usually there is some required testing to ensure quality. The dealership would be able to better answer this question as they see way more than I do. If you know a tech there or the service manager you should get a straight answer.

 

[Bikeswithtrax]

If you drain and refill, use distilled water instead of bottled drinking water to.