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Mixing Coolant

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23K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  T. Texas Tony 
#1 ·
Hi there,

This August I bought a 2012 Sportsman H.O. (first time owning an atv)

Before storing it for this winter I topped off the coolant levels with some aluminum safe coolant.

I just realized that your not to mix two different types of coolants :eek

The coolant that came in the atv when I bought it was fluorescent green, and I topped it off with "STP Power Sport Antifreeze/Coolant" which is more yellow looking.

I am screwed? I've heard that coolants can react and form a gel like substance?

I've put the atv in storage already for the winter and have limited access to it, but if it's time sensitive, I will make arrangements.

Looking for input, thanks folks,

Luke
 
#3 ·
Polman just taught me something else!!! I was under the impression you don't mix colors. Unless it is demand alright by the coolant manufacturer to mix say like Prestone.

So yeah you'll be good under my knowledge because you mixed same colors!
 
#4 ·
There are some exceptions to my generalized statement bp and some of the new exotic coolants are made with stuff other than glycol that aren't supposed to be mixed. But unless the product you have specifically says not to mix it don't really matter very much and color alone won't tell you. You have to read on the product label. Its been quit a few years ago and things change, but I used to haul semi truck loads of bulk antifreeze direct from the manufacturer as a young man. The plant I hauled from made many different "brands" of antifreeze. There was some slight differences in additive formulas, dye color and packaging but it all basically came out of the same vat. In fact, part of my responsibilities when getting loaded was to use a stencil for the particular "brand" I was hauling and an ink pad and roller to mark the plain generic barrels with a "brand" name as they were being loaded on my truck lol. :grin
I had grown up being warned to never mix yellow with green or pink or blue or whatever and that Prestone or some other name brand was the best you could buy and that's why it cost so much more. You can imagine my surprise to learn that most of them were actually the same stuff made at the same place and that the color was mostly just a "brand" thing and really doesn't tell you much of anything about the contents.
There's lots of reading on the net on this subject and you can read till you get eye strain and you still won't be able to tell much of anything by color alone. You have to read the package.
 
#6 ·
You're welcome Luke.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't claim to know all there is about coolants and especially some of the modern specialty varieties. You can read up on it if you like. I was just saying that I don't think you have anything to worry about from adding a little bit of different colored coolant to your machine. Your motor won't be harmed.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Most of the auto manufacturers have moved to POAT, HOAT, OAT, etc and they don't tend to mix well with the old IAT silicate formulations that were used through the 1980's and early 1990's. IAT is what most folks refer to as green anti-freeze but it came and comes in a lot of different colors.

The mixability problems is likely a good portion of the problem with early Dexcool formulations. I've run a 6.5 diesel on Dexcool for 20 years and 6.0L LQ4 on Dexcool as well. No sludge or crud buildup but I keep up my cooling system and I don't mix the old green IAT stuff from the tractors. I run Dexcool in the IH 656 since I did a re-sleeve.


The latest and greatest Polaris coolant is Yellow. Yellow may be HOAT but not necessarily. The MSDS says it contains a proprietary blend of Organic Acid Salts so it's not the old IAT stuff. --> https://cdn1.polaris.com/globalasse...life-antifreeze-50-50_05302015.pdf?v=40409f2a


As long as it's labeled "aluminum safe" and it's a modern organic acid formulation you should be good to go.
 
#9 ·
Hi Hatzie,

The STP Power Sport antifreeze I topped up with doesn't have an MSDS to compare to the Polaris antifreeze, however, reading the bottle it says that STP is compatible with all aluminum radiators as well as containing "Organic Additive Technology" (which I assume is used to provide protection to all components of the cooling system including those exotic materials like aluminum)

So the STP stuff I added does have OAT...

My question is: Is newer Polaris antifreeze similar in composition to OAT since it contains Organic acid Salts?

Best,

Luke
 
#10 · (Edited)
It's a bit of a PITA to find information on what you should be using. Not shocking that the equipment manufacturers are hiding the formulations so they can gouge the unaware on their special brew of monkey goo.


It'd be darn nice if they'd just put the industry standard coolant type acronyms on the bottles and be done with it. Prestone and the others are just as bad as Polaris and Subaru and VW and ... It's darn annoying to have to dig for the information.

Here's a timeline for automobile coolant types. http://www.pqiamerica.com/Antifreeze_Coolant_Timeline.pdf

Here's the STP propaganda page... https://www.stpproducts.ca/products/licensed-products/power-sport-5050-premixed-antifreeze-coolant

The STP Power Sport Coolant is Ethylene Glycol based, pretty much everyones witches brew is. The STP propaganda states "Low Silicate and Proprietary OAT additive package free of 2-EHAs, phosphates, borates, nitrites and amines". Sounds like HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Tech) coolant to me. HOAT is hybrid proprietary blend of IAT (low silicate) and an OAT formulation that's free of 2-EHAs, phosphates, borates, nitrites and amines. HOAT is likely what was in your Polaris from the factory as it's the most forgiving of the proprietary coolant brews.

DO NOT MIX HOAT, or any other non Dexcool formulations, with Dexcool you'll get a sludgy mess. The Dexcool OAT brew has nitrites. Nitrites don't work and play well with the silicates in IAT and react poorly with some of the other witches brews.
 
#11 ·
On the topic of coolants, I recently started looking into pet-safe(r), more eco-friendly antifreeze. I found that it's out there but almost impossible to get. It seems to me, that if they're capable of making this stuff that it should all be produced like that. I went to Oreillys, Advance Auto, and Tractor Supply; none of them had it. I went in NAPA, and they did have 1 jug of Peak Sierra for $20. They said a local farm comes in and buys, and that's all they'll use. I've seen it online but every place requires you to buy 6! I don't need $100 worth of antifreeze at once!
 
#13 ·
Why are you concerned with 'pet safe' coolant? Keep it in a sealed container and your pets will be safe from it. If you spill it on the ground the alcohol will evaporate and the glycerin will dry up. Glycerin is derived from animal fat - it's bio-degradable. It's the alcohol that's dangerous to pets and other animals. Antifreeze is made with methanol alcohol which is distilled from wood products. While it is bio-degradable and mixes with water, it is poisonous to humans and animals. Boil old antifreeze and the water and alcohol will evaporate and only the glycerin, silicates and other inert products will be left and they are not harmful to either animals or the environment.
 
#16 · (Edited)
You have a very good point, and it is probably just me wanting to try something that is unique as I often have a tendency to do. I recently became obsessed with owning a battery-powered chainsaw since I never liked chainsaws in general and down right hate trying to start a gas one. I ended up buying one, and I love that thing.

But as far as the antifreeze goes, this is a case of someone making a product and most people "poo-pooing" the benefits of the product. You talk as though there's no need for it to exist, and you're probably right in my case that I don't "need" it. However, it must be a reason that manufacturers felt the need to produce it and that there are people out there who want it. We do keep our antifreeze sealed and put away. And we don't have any spilling all over the place on a regular basis (however I did get some on the car port when I was trying to siphon out some from the Polaris, hence what started this quest). But there must be a concern from people, such as the farm that buys the coolant from Napa that I mentioned.

I did read a post somewhere where the guy was praising propylene glycol (which is used in the low tox antifreeze) vs ethylene glycol used in normal antifreeze. He sounded convincing but I have no knowledge of this stuff when it comes to how it actually works.

EDIT: I should say he praised it's benefits in performance, not its low toxicity.
 
#14 ·
Curious if anyone here runs the Evans waterless coolant? I changed my 2006 Rincon to this way back when new and haven't touched it since. My thought was that whenever we overheat we tend to boil off and lose coolant so lets prevent the boil off in the first place.
 
#15 ·
I have tried Evans Waterless Coolant - it's Ethylene Glycol that is not diluted with water - it has a bitterant added to it so animals will not consume it and it still needs to be changed. Evans warrants the product for 2 years, so if your engine is damaged by a coolant related failure, it's not covered if the coolant is over 2 years old. Change it every 2 years.

I put it in a Honda Goldwing to try it - it worked well, but not better than Honda coolant, so it was the last time I used it. The cost did not outweigh the benefits. In high performance engines there might be a marginal advantage.

I run Honda coolant in my CRF250X and have never lost coolant (the bike has a coolant recovery system) - it get changed 1 to 2 times a year depending on the frequency of piston replacement. I haven't been racing as much as in the pastso the coolant has not been changed in the last year, but probably will get changed this winter or next spring. I can put about 5 more hours of operation on the engine to get to the piston replacement interval.
 
#17 ·
OK Hatzie when the reading the MSDS in the link you provided, in Section 14 Transportation information it says its
Proper Name"Etheylene Glycol" but if you look up UN 3082 it is "liquid not otherwise specified"
Polman 500 would know of this too since he was hauling dangerous goods(TDG Card)
So bottom line
Can you mix the current Polaris coolant with Green Prestone? or avoid that and mix it with Dexcool--the silicate stuff?
 
#20 ·
If your looking for a HOAT antifreeze the Zerex G-5 in the gold colored gallon jug is HOAT. My 03 Dodge Cummins manual says to use a HOAT antifreeze/coolant. The Zerex G-5 is clear in color, looks like water or at least it is around my area. I use food coloring to tint it so I can actually see it in the reservoir bottle.

Tony
 
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