I plan on replacing my coolant in my 02 SE. Read a lot of posts with lots of variety. Service manual states "to use a high quality solution with rust and corrosion inhibitors".

What product does this translate to on the market? I read and see about Toyota "red" coolant but cant get to the dealership to get any. Will be going to a national brand store instead.

I plan on changing the fluid once every 4-5 years.

Thx!

 

All coolants are the same. different brands have different colors. you can mix them, btw.

 

nothing wrong with prestone.

 

1. Just use OEM Nissan
2. Coolant should be changed every 2 years or 50,000 miles

 

You can't mix all of them! If someone replaced it before you with that crap some domestics have in them, you'll have to flush the whole system and probably get a new radiator. I've seen some friends do it. It turns to sludge.

 

Correct. You do NOT under any circumstances want to run Dex-Cool...its been known to fubar engines that were designed to run it.

 

On Prestone's website (http://www.prestone.com/products/antifreezeCoolant.php) they're very direct that you can use their 5/150,000 extended life coolant in any vehicle and mix it with any existin coolant. I just did.

 

Use Nissan OEM antifreeze. Its what the manual says. Prestone will say whatever it wants to get you to buy their crap. Nissan OEM is like $5 more, just use it, whats the big deal.

And whoever said all coolants are the same and you can mix all of them has no idea what they're talking about. Stop giving such useless advice. Why don't you go ahead and put some DexCool and some Nissan OEM into your radiator and see what happens to your water pump buddy.

 

OEM, OEM, OEM. Nothing else, the owners manual gives you no choice but Nissan Long Life Coolant.

Mixing coolants is a big NO-NO (I know very well, clogged my radiator).

Paying the extra bucks for OEM coolants is the price you pay for "peace of mind". No one can attach a price for that.

Trust none other than OEM coolants (just not Nissan, but any vehicle you own).

 

Are you crazy?

 

Coolant flush
==========

1) Remove lower radiator hose (LRH) and drain radiator and reconnect.
2) Remove block bolts and drain block and keep heat to high with blower set highest.
3) If the block bolts are hard to get, then fill radiator with distilled water, remove upper radiator hose (URH) and plug the upper radiator hole at the radiator end with towel. Connect a water hose the one I got was from Home Depot for $5 and of 4 ft length, it is deep blue in color which fits snuggly onto the URH and clamp it and point the extended hose to a gallon bucket. Start car and keep filling the radiator with distilled water while thermostat opens and sends out the coolant out of the block via the URH to the gallon bucket.
4) Run thro 4G of distilled water, and after sometime its only water that comes off the URH.
5) Stop and reconnect URH and drain radiator of remaining water. Fill it will full strength Nissan Long Life Coolant (about 1G).
6) Block has distilled water and radiator full strenght coolant (total capacity is 8L including heater), block has 4L or water and radiator little less than 4L of coolant.
7) Start car and have it cycle thro for the water and coolant to mix.
8) Fill overflow tank completely with left over coolant and distilled water.
9) Purge remaining air in system by taking off the radiator cap and with the front of the engine raised (driverthro or ramps) and keep running for 30 min.
10) All air is out of the closed loop system. Fill overflow tank to full and check levels for a week.

Done.!!!

 

Either OEM Nisaan

or Toyota Red.

I personally rather the Toyota.

 

Holy Sh7te! --you're an idiot...

Nissan LONG-LIFE/Extended Life Coolant.

Dealers will try and sell you the "Regular" Version that's rated for 2 yrs. only...

Mine did, and I made them change it after I TOLD them only to use the 5yr. -- they had to SPECIAL ORDER it.

Toyota AND Honda BOTH make acceptably similar variants in Red and Blue colors, respectively.

This stuff ain't cheap but it IS recommended by the manual, and is the BEST possible coolant for you engine and cooling system due to the low-silicate/borate formulation that is designed NOT to eat your rubber seals!

Also MAKE CERTAIN whomever changes your coolant, uses DISTILLED WATER to mix the content. VERY important!!

gr

 

If my foggy memory serves me correctly Japanese motors require silicate FREE coolant. Thats kinda of the difference between just "regular" and "special".

I personally use Toyota Red because it was rated highly and I an MR2 that requires it. Also, its one of the few items I can purchase "pure" instead of paying a premium to have them premix it for me.

 

Who makes the OEM stuff? Pretty sure Nissan doesn't have a coolant factory.

 

Nope.

I mixed mine when i changed my rad with mishimoto radiator. i thought 1 gallon was enough. but it didnt. it had to be at least 2 gallons

I remember the first brand was prestone 50/50 and the other brand was Peak also 50/50. the containers say "it is safe to mix with different type of coolant."

 

so who has put in Prestone Green Coolant (non-Dex-cool) and experienced ZERO problems? I put this type of coolant in this weekend. Will let you know if I experience any problems ;-)

By the way, the EXACT wording in the repair manual for the 2002 Maxima is:

The engine cooling system is filled at the factory with a high-quality,
year-round, anti-freeze coolant solution. The anti-freeze solution
contains rust and corrosion inhibitors. Therefore, additional cooling
system additives are not necessary.
CAUTION:
When adding or replacing coolant, be sure to use only Genuine
Nissan anti-freeze coolant or equivalent with the proper
mixture ratio of 50% anti-freeze and 50% demineralized water/
distilled water.
Other types of coolant solutions may damage your cooling
system.

Also, 1st change interval is 60K miles or 48 months. Thereafter, it should be changed every 30K miles or every 2 years.

 

I've used prestone in my cars for years and never had a problem i see no reason the max wouldnt like it.

 

prestone is fine. your water pump just wont last as long as if you used OEM. theres no way someone can invent a substance that will work 100% good as OEM in every single car out there, because water pumps and radiators vary.

 

Regular Prestone (green) coolant works great when you use water pump lubricate or (Redline) wet wetter...Been using for years. The most important thing is to drain, flush, and replenish at least every 12-24 months! These aluminum engine components will waste away when the coolant isn't changed regulary!

 

This is ABSOLUTLEY CORRECT.

And you guys mixing Prestone & Peak WONDER why your rads/cooling systems fail prematurely when you DON'T follow the owner's manual?!?!?

This IS the definitive answer.

gr

 

There is quite a bit of good info in this thread. Sticky in the Fluids and Lubricants section.

http://forums.maxima.org/fluids-lubr...look-like.html

 

Is Nissan OEM coolant silicate free? Is Prestone Green silicate free?

IF Prestone is NOT silicate free than it is NOT equivalent.

The guide also recommends demineralized / distilled water and I see a fair amount of people discussing if that’s really necessary. Seems like a silly area to try and save ten to fifteen bucks.

I am one of those crazy people that does change it every two years. Color doesnt seem to change or dillute but the soot I remove makes me feel better.

 

Nissan doesn't make coolant, just as they don't make the glass in our cars either.
Oh for just for the record, Nissan doesn't make oil either.
R134 doesn't come from Nissan.
Power steering fluid and tranny fluid isn't manufactured by Nissan last time I checked, neither are the spark plugs which say NGK on them.

People, use come common sense here. Prestone has been around for years protecting engines for millions of miles. There are other coolant brands out there as well that work just fine. Just for the record, the best "coolant" is actually pure water. Antifreeze doesn't transfer heat very well. But we all know that you cannot use straight water in your cooling system as it boils at 212F and offers no protection against corrosion.

Premixed coolants are actually the way to go here. The water used in the pre mix formula will have less contaminents and chlorine then your tap water or in some cases well water which is sometimes very high in minerals.

I'm not a fan of flushing a cooling system with a garden hose, or any type of flushing of the cooling system for that matter. A drain and refill is all that should be needed as regular maintenance.

 

That inexpensive distilled water actually works very well, very low in sodium and calcium deposits! But always se some sort of water pump lubricant it keep those bearing spinning for many more years...

 

This is from Prestone's FAQ's. If you use their extended life formula it's phosphate, borate and silicate free.

Q. Does Prestone® Antifreeze/Coolant contain phosphates?
A. Some European automobile manufacturers request that a phosphate-free antifreeze be used in their vehicles. This issue is related to the extremely high mineral content of the water in Europe. If you were to mix an antifreeze that contained phosphates with the type of water they have in Europe, it may produce deposits that can settle in the cooling system and promote corrosion. However, in North America we do not have this type of water problem. Typical North American coolants have contained phosphates (which is part of the corrosion inhibitor package) for many years. Therefore, the question of phosphates is a non-issue here in North America. Prestone® Antifreeze/Coolant is completely safe for use in both foreign and domestic vehicles. For those consumers who would feel more comfortable using a phosphate-free antifreeze, our Prestone® Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant is phosphate, silicate, and borate free. This coolant uses a special chemistry and technology that extends the life of the corrosion inhibitor package so that it lasts for five years or 150,000 miles (whichever comes first), and is safe for all cars and light trucks (old or new). Prestone® Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant has been approved by General Motors under their DEX-COOL® specifications and is compatible with other DEX-COOL® approved coolants.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. If you go OEM that's all good. But you should at least find out if OEM-brand stuff is really just marked up OTC stuff. Outsourcing usually wins when it comes to manufacturing...just grab the stuff someone already made.

 

Nissan doesn't make coolant of course not. They however contract a company to make coolant for them using a specific formulation for their specific engines.

Like i said prestone cannot make a coolant that can protect 100% of engines out there equally and as good as OEM coolant. Why? because all engines, radiators, and water pumps are different, and there is no such thing as a "universal" fluid for cars, except gasoline, and even then thats' why there is 85 ,87, 89, 91, 93

You're saving $6 in the hopes your water pump will run just as well. Your sarcasm was very hilarious at first. Go to the honda forums and check out a few guys and their civics who put Amsoil ATF in there (which supposedly works with all ATFs) and had their trannys busted 2 days later.

 

OK! So after reading all the above, what's the best antifreeze?

 

Nice year-old bump....assclown.

gr

 

Does this process also automatically drain the coolant from the over flow tank or is that something I have to drain separately? If so, how? Thanks

 

To do the overflow tank, just disconnect its hose from the radiator cap neck, push it out of the two clips that hold it, let it drop down behind the radiator and it drains itself, as long as you take the overflow tank cap off.

I just did it last night.

I used Prestone Extended Life, BTW, which is silicate-free.

I'll probably change it again in about 3 months and go to Toyota red.

You do not need to remove any radiator hoses; drain radiator, put drain back in, fill with distilled water,run the car with the radiator cap off to operating temp, make sure you have the heater running on HIGH, shut off car and dump radiator again. Do that three times, you will use about 5 gallons of distilled water. Your drained fluid should be clear after the 3rd time. Put in a gallon of Antifreeze, run system with cap off to burp air bubbles, make sure system if full, replace cap, done.

 

Stick to the OEM stuff...the extra cost is worth the piece of mind.

We had a guy come into the shop I work on my car at complaining about his car overheating.

He had a Ford, and filled it up with Dex-Cool (GM's stuff for anyone who doesn't know). I'll have to snap a picture of the water pump they pulled out. If they still have it laying around.

 

What'd it look like??
Curious.

I've been spouting the "no off-the-shelf" antifreeze line for sometime now!
Long-life Nissan/Honda/Toyota stuff is the way to go!

gr

 

^ All the fins on the impeller were literally eaten smooth. Those ridges you see on the back of each fin that help move the water? Completely gone. There was barely anything left of it, and what was left was worn to a sharp, rusty edge.

I'll have to snap some pictures. It was pretty bad.

 

AWESOME!
I love ACTUAL proof that this shEot is bad for the cooling system!
I thought the silicate/borate in these fluids was just bad for the SEALS and Rubber on the pumps and intake tracts....but WOW!

It ate the damn propeller too!!?!
That's nuts!

I guess using this stuff to CLEAN a dirty engine for a short time would be more "ideal" than to use it long-term.
The coolant obviously did it's job -- just a little TOO well!

gr

 

Nope. Using Dex-Cool in any engine but a GM engine will absolutely destroy it. Most no-name coolants will do the same. Whatever the chemical compound is in the Dex-Cool, it doesn't play well with the metals in other cars' engines.

It didn't eat just the impeller. It also annihilated the thermostat, too. (Part of the blame for the jammed therm falls on the dude trying to use stop-leak to fix a pinhole leak in his coolant system).

There was actually one point where the car got so hot so quick, we couldn't react in time and it shot coolant ten feet across the garage when one of the hoses broke loose.

For anyone that doesn't believe me, compare the two yourself. Just put a drop of Nissan coolant on your fingers and rub them together. Do the same with cheapo stuff. It feels different...

 

You will destroy an older Ford water pump using just about any type of coolant. The 1995-1999 Taurus's were famous for it. It was the silicates in various antifreezes that caused the problem. Bad example of why you need to use OEM. If you used Ford's (Motorcraft) coolant, you still had the same problem.

Anyone who has ever been on a Taurus forum knows about the issue (I have owned 2 Taurus's)

The post above about the Ford water pump is NOT a reason why you should spend $28/gal for OEM compared to $10/gal for a known brand of afterrmarket antifreeze. That kind of fear is unwarranted, and every mechanic out there working on cooling systems knows it was a Ford issue, not an antifreeze issue.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Prestone Extended Life is silicate free. Only issue you might have to deal with using it is the phosphate issue. Japanese cars seem to like phosphate to coat the aluminum, but that is a much debated topic.

 

It was a 2004 Taurus. Thanks for playing, though.

And to answer your question about the phosphate additive, yes it does react very well with aluminum.

Simply chemistry will tell you. Phosphate (PO4) has a -3 charge on the atomic level. Aluminum has a +3 charge. Perfect match. Hence why you get phosphate coating on aluminum parts. Unless they coat the aluminum with some kind of sealant or something...

 

If the photo above is the one that goes in the 2004, it looks identical to the one in my 1996 that I replaced.

Besides DexCool is a HUGE exception. Should never go into anything but the GM cars that require it.