I took my car down to the shop today to get an oil and lube job done and I go to pick it up and the mechanic said it was a little low on coolant and he checked for leaks couldn’t find any. Also he checked the hoses and they were fine as well. He didn’t fill it up with coolant because he said that Nissan requires a certain type of coolant…50/50 mixture and he recomends only using the Brand specifically designed for Nissan vehicles. He said the coolant level isn’t critically low but the only problem I have is I live in rural Nevada and the nearest Nissan dealership is 63 miles away and none of the autoparts stores in town have that type of coolant, they recomended using the Prestone All Makes and Models but they didn’t have the 50/50 mixture in stock. Mind you, I haven’t dumped any coolant in my car as of yet. So here’s my question why was the coolant a little low if there’s no leaks or anything in it?
Because coolant is 50% water and water slowly evaporates (especially hot water in Nevada) and you can expect to need to top off your reservoir tank once or twice a year…Every time you go through a warm/cold cycle, a little water vapor is pushed from the tank. It’s not sealed…(Well there are a few systems that are completely sealed…)
The Prestone All Makes antifreeze should be fine…You can add the 50% water yourself…
Actually, if it is just a little, you can add distilled water. a small amount, up to a cup or so won’t significantly raise the freeze point or lower the boiling point in the system. Check you owners manual and see when the first coolant exchange is due and if it is not to far in the future, you will OK till then. The Prestone will be OK also.
Next time you visit the dealer, then you can pick up a gallon of the Nissan Brand coolant if you want. You can also use the Prestone if you want. I don’t think the Nissan coolant will be that much more expensive, if at all.
The lady at the Autoparts place was saying “Dex-Cool”. I was like “Dex-Cool?” I thought Dex-cool was for GM vehicles. Also the mechanic said his shop is particular about what they use fluid wise when it comes to vehicles. They will only add what manufacturers recomend for the vehicles. It makes sense, especially if the vehicles are still under warranty. He says its not critcally low, he just wanted to bring it to my attention. I’m glad he did. Also they said a flush was unnecessary. I’ll have to look in the manual and see when they recomend that service to be done.
You have a good mechanic, however I don’t think the Nissan coolant is dexcool. It is probably a HOAT like G05 or a dex cool derivative with one of the elements missing. Don’t flush, just drain and refill in accordance with the schedule in the owners manual.
“the only problem I have is I live in rural Nevada and the nearest Nissan dealership is 63 miles away and none of the autoparts stores in town have that type of coolant,”…
126 miles for a jug of antifreeze?? Datsuns can’t be THAT special…
From another forum:
“I believe that PEAK Global Lifetime would be the most compatible as far as toppin off; Peak Global appears to be very similar to G 05, with the exception that Peak Global does not contain any silicates. Peak Global and G 05 both use sodium tertaborate for their corrosion inhibitor, as far as I know.”
Our local Nissan dealer does recommend the Peak Global Lifetime.
Living rurally (my summer) the internet and does wonders to make my life easier. No Acura dealers in entire state I summer in. I just mail order fluids and parts and delivered to my farmhouse door.
Actually, in my case, I buy a lot of stuff online for convenience, don’t have the time to go to the stores. OP should consider buying the correct coolant online. The coolant options have gotten too confusing and I am not willing to risk my engine for a $5 savings.
I don’t think anybodies engine was ever “ruined” because they put the “wrong” coolant in it…It’s mostly about service life, shelf space, price points and profit margins…
I am not sure about that point Caddyman, and prefer not interchanging coolant types.
All of it, no matter what, is water soluble…After all, coolant is 50% water …The other 50% will all sleep in the same bed without too much trouble…With todays “long-life” coolants, you are good to go until it leaks out anyway…Then you can worry about what to replace it with…
@caddyman; My Camry calls for change of coolant at 120K miles or 10 years. I am guessing even before that I will end up needing a new water pump, because these are known to fail earlier. Whichever comes first, I don’t want any unneeded gasket leak because of using the wrong coolant. If I am going to keep the car for only another 1-2 years or were to be stranded somewhere, I will pour anything in, but otherwise I am going with something that I am sure is compatible with all parts.
“I am going with something that I am sure is compatible with all parts.”
The parts haven’t changed much since the 1960’s…Prestone’s “Patented Silicone-Silicate Formula” set the standard and worked fine for 20 years or more…Now that formula has suddenly become certain death to cooling systems…True enough, the new “Special” made to order coolants have a much longer service life which is a very good thing because there was a lot of nasty ethylene glycol being dumped into sewers every fall as DIY motorists changed their antifreeze…
I had a lot of Gasket Issues with my 1999 Chevy Malibu that I used to own and everytime I had to get the intake manifold gasket on that car replaced, they flushed out the coolant and put the recomended coolant in it. I could never understand why I always had problems with gaskets on that Car! If they were leaking, I got them fixed but they just kept going bad, even using aftermarket parts! When the malibu broke down in Sept. 2010 for the last time, that’s why I got rid of it and bought my Nissan.