Replace coolant is ok but disposing them is also very necessary. So take care of that also.
The flush/refill is $32 per year until you need it again; less than10 cents a day. I don’t think that’s a lot of money for your car.
Actually it will take two gallons to replace the whole thing, or 50+tax… one guy at work who used to be a mechanic says I can just flush and replace to preston extended life coolant… which is like $13 a gallon. and I only need one gallon to mix with water.
Dealer just mark it as FL22 and scare people to have to use their coolant only, I tend to agree.
It’s not to “scare” anyone. It’s that the coolant mix was designed in the midst of a whole nexus of other things, and will match up with what the vehicle’s cooling system needs AND the recommended maintenance schedule. It’s also the case that mixing SOME coolants with others can cause troubles, and that certain coolant “chemistry” should not be used for some cars.
With that said, I grew up when coolant was all the same basic green stuff. I got completely tired of the stupidity of special manufacturers all wanting to do their own thing. So I change every vehicle I have over to “universal” coolant (yellow color) and leave it at that. Just put your change interval at something like 5yrs/50K miles - or less if the universal coolant you use says otherwise.
Others here will probably disagree. If you rethink it and get confused, look into it yourself. The coolant thing is not as “special” as the manufacturers try to make it.
Read the first post from ponderosaTX toto learn more about FL-22.
I think I’m going to flush out the FL-22 coolant and just use prestone extended life coolant afterwards… would that cause any problem?
The only thing I would add from changing coolant in my older cars and tractor is; I flush the system with water. By doing this, you are assured of getting all the coolant out. You may not, at least I was never, assured of getting all the water out. Therefore, instead of adding a 50% mixture, which I was always worried about being slightly diluted, I added 100% coolant in the amount of half of the coolant capacity, then topped off with water. The running machinery mixed the solution. Reasonable ? (distilled water of course)
@michaelscai
Why don’t you just keep it simple?
Buy some more Fl-22 from your local Mazda dealer
Even replacing motor oil not the same as recomended is no big deal if you don’t do it continually. Antifreeze is a whole other story as unlike motr oil, it sits there for a very long time and is not always comparable. Do your concience a favor. But it from a Mazda dealer as @db4690 suggests.
If you do go the dealer route, just get the $99 drain and fill, don’t flush. BTW, even with the Japanese coolants, only the initial fill is good for 10+ years, subsequent drain and fills are for 5 years. At $99 for a drain and fill every 5 years, thats less than the price of a tank of gas every year.
BTW, it seems that some of the drain plugs in the radiators are getting to be non reusable. Its not they are designed that way, but that they stay in one place for so long that they leak when moved. You might be better off at the dealer where they can handle minor issues like this and have all the necessary parts for unexpected issues.
If it were me, I’d drain and refill with any (preferably “on sale”) long life universal antifreeze that I mix with distilled water, but in your case, I’m not sure that is a good route for you to take.
well dealer did quote me $99 for drain and fill, or $160 for complete flush… but drain and fill only drain a percentage of the coolant out? not sure what percentage… I might go that route if most of the coolant is replaced during a drain and fill?
why I don’t want to go with FL-22? I will need two galon which is 50+tax, when 1 galon of prestone only cost like $13? after all coolant is coolant, they prevent rust and overheat…
You don’t need to get 100% of the old coolant out. A drain and fill will get at least 80% to 90% and that is enough. The intent of the drain and fill is to renew the corrosion inhibitors.
The dealer price of $99 should include the coolant so it does not matter to you what it costs, it costs you $99 and that is all that matters. Be carful that you don’t get penny wise and pound foolish. Remember how much that car costs to replace if you mess it up.
$160 every 10 years for a coolant flush and replacement seems a reasonable fee to me. If you are concerned about the price, ask a couple of inde shops for a quote – making sure to remind them your car uses a special coolant. This is a routine job, you don’t need a dealer for this unless the warranty requires it be done by a dealer. A lot of DIY’ers like me with econoboxes do this maintenance in their driveway to save money.
Me, I wouldn’t risk using a coolant with different specs than is required by the manufacturer. The coolant touches pretty much every part inside the engine. Besides the metal parts, there’s various gaskets, static seals, dynamic seals (like in the water pump), and all those have to be made of materials compatible with the coolant chemistry. So with a different coolant, these may start to fail over time. You’d be risking coolant leaks and water pump failures.
what’s the risk? prestone coolant says it’s compatible with any coolant… coolant only needs to prevent rust and the rest 50% is water… I want to do it myself for like $15 instead of $160 at the dealer
Well you seem to have your mind made up so just do it, after all as you said,
after all coolant is coolant, they prevent rust and overheat..So why even ask?
Remember that Castrol commercial where an old geezer is driving along, laying down a smoke screen, muttering “motor oil is motor oil”?
Personally, I just put every car I own on universal coolants and I don’t worry about it. But you’re not going to get any agreement here about that. MOST of what you have been told is to go buy the Mazda stuff. But, as PvtPublic said, you already have your mind made up. So just go do it. You can keep asking all you want, but nothing about the mixed message on this board is going to change.
My concern is your ability. You can’t find the drain petcock or the block drain or the lower radiator hose. I’d be less concerned if you have a friend who has done this before and is pretty knowledgeable on doing this.
If you have someone to help you, then there is nothing wrong with using the Prestone or any other universal long life coolant. Be sure that if you mix it yourself, use distilled or purified water that is mineral free. Do not use any type of chemical flush and do not flush out the system with a garden hose. Just drain, then mix the antifreeze with the distilled water and then refill.
When I do mine, I mix the antifreeze to distilled water at a 2:1 ratio instead of 50/50. That puts in more corrosion inhibitors, therefore more protection.
thanks for your concern…
I will craw under the car to see where that is… or look at youtube, it’s not rocket science 
so the process is:
- drain it from the petcock or the lower radiator hose. open the metal cap on top of the radiator
- fill it with distilled water, close the radiator metal cap, run (idle) the car for 10 minutes
- repeat step 1)
- put in 1 galon of prestone coolant, add distilled water until reservior is on full
- close the radiator metal cap, run the car a bit more, top off with distilled water…
car takes two gallon of 50/50 mixed coolant… so i should end up with about 50/50 mix of coolant and water…
sound right?
@michaelscai
I would premix the water and coolant BEFORE . . . perhaps in a small bucket
Then you can pour in the mixture with a funnel