Why did Nissan use two different types of coolant on their 2010 model Versas? There was the blue coolant and the green coolant and one of my friends was kind enough to volunteer to pick up a gallon of it at the Nissan Dealership for me while she was up in Reno for the day and once she got up there, she called me and told me the service department wanted to know if it was blue or green because apparently you can’t mix blue and green coolant together. Also the mechanic up at the dealership was under the assumption that I had already dumped coolant in my car and I had to explain to the service department I haven’t put anything in my car yet and they told me I needed to bring it in to make sure there wasn’t a leaky hose or something and I had to tell them the mechanic who serviced my car and informed me my coolant level was a little low already checked for leaks. Everything is fine! I may not be much of mechanic but I’m not completely clueless when it comes to cars. So another question is what brands of coolant are available in “Blue”? I live 63 miles away from the nearest Nissan Dealership and I don’t want to have to drive up Reno every time I may need some kind of fluid for my car whether it be coolant, brake fluid, or tranny fluid.
Check the owner’s manual for the recommended fluids. If any of the others are ‘special’ fluids, you can usually mail-order them and stick them on a shelf in the garage for use later. This way, you’ll at least have some whenever you just need a top off.
Nissan is not alone, if you look at the chart of Ford’s recommended coolant by model and year, it’s a rainbow of several different types, often switching mid-year. This constant changing really baffles me, you’d think the industry could fairly easily standardize on one type.
In the first week after I bought my Acura, I stopped at the dealer and picked up some coolant, power steering fluid, and oil to have on the shelf.
Information on Nissans blue Long(er) Life Coolant;
http://www.autoserviceprofessional.com/article/91523/nissan-coolant-has-the-blues