wizurd Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 hi all I have searched but want to check. my coolant is on the min mark and I want to top it up. What can I use? I've read the owners manual and can see the recommended nissan coolant but what other coolants can I use or are recommended by people on here. Also I'm guessing it's a 50/50 mix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I'd like to sort of bump this as I was thinking the same. The manual is very specific, but says alternatives can be used. I have some 50/50 halfords extended life, will that do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 There are two types of coolant in modern cars, and they're blue/green or red in colour. The Zed takes the blue/green stuff, so the equivalent stuff from Halfrauds in the same colour will be fine. That said, I'd simply top up to mid way with tap water then buy some Nissan stuff from my local dealer next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Ahh ok. Is red the extended life then?? I'm pretty sure my 350 has red orange in it at the moment?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hmmm, interesting. I only know that the Nissan stuff is definitely blue as I used the remainder of what I had left over from my Zed on the Impreza the other week. They're definitely not compatible as one is glycol based and not suitable for engines with aluminium content (which is which I can't remember), but in theory you could drain all the coolant 100% and then refill with either, you'd only notice the difference after 10+ years I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Also interesting! My bottle of red stuff (used in the S type too) says 'especially recommended for aluminium engine' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Ah, it'll be that way round then, I can never remember which is which! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Haha fair enough! I was sure Halfords couldnt lie about their product THAT much! So it's safe then? And Nissan's fluid isn't some godly concoction that is the only fluid capable of not destroying their engine? As you can imagine, I'm not a fan of stuff that destroys Zed engines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I would match whatever you've got in there, so stick with the red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizurd Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 cool. Cheers for bumping this back up. Always nice to know for sure about things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Ok but now I'm confused.. it LOOKED Orange/red from the outside of the bottle.. taking the radiator cap off shows it as green/yellow.. and theres conflicting advice about whether the colour matters or not. Cant be too cautious in my experience.. shouldve seen the performance I made about which windscreen washer fluid to put in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Aha, I was right then! Deffo don't mix it mate, really going to cause you major grief that way. Stick with the green stuff, whether that's Nissan or Halfrauds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 But I don't get it.. how can it be 'recommended for aluminium engines', be 50/50 mixed and be the wrong stuff? It would help if they did away with the colours really! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Ah, just re-read your post again, I see what you mean now. Can you take some pics for us? Take a sample out of the expansion bottle and the rad too as well if possible to see the colours side by side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltzinblack Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 So here's what I've learnt. Anyone else as uninformed/stupid/paranoid as me may find this useful: -The Zed demands 50/50 antifreeze and demineralised water mix for coolant, suitable for aluminium engines. -The manual recommends 'Nissan L250' and the internet cannot provide you with any direct alternatives! -Mixing the wrong type of coolants can be bad as the additives work against each other! The internet in inconclusive about whether the colour matters! So, Halfords 50/50 premix that I had in my shed is RED, but does say that it is recommended for aluminium engines.. The coolant at the bottom of my reservoir was ORANGE. The coolant in my radiator cap was YELLOW. I'd read bad things about mixing coolants, and arguments on both sides that the colour did or did not matter. I looked at my receipt from Abbey, which listed Motul Ingel Optimul, which is ORANGE. Still didn't explain the greeny/yellow colour in the rad cap. Drove to Nissan, the replacement for L250 is L248 Premix, coloured GREEN (it looked BLUE in the bottle, I was cursing to hell!). So probably not quite every last drop of my original nissan coolant was drained out, and the green and orange mixed to make yellow. Was this a problem? And which one should I add? Paranoid after my last engine, I had to make sure. Finally seeing in the small print the additive 'ethylene glycol'. The Halfords one contained it, the Nissan one contained it, and a google showed that the Motul stuff contained it. You would assume that three substances with this ingredient could not affect each other if mixed, as how could something that contains ethylene glycol adversely affect the performance of ethylene glycol!? So in went the Nissan stuff and now I'm done, after worrying over a rainbow of different colours it appears that the colour didn't really matter as long as it wasn't blue, and it contained the same ingredient, and its 50/50 mix. Also, from Min to Max in the reservoir is about 450ml out of the total 8 litre capacity. So probably didn't really matter anyway! I'm not sure if paranoia and suicide will kill me before the toxicity of the coolant ive been exposed to does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankeesiter Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Antifreeze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia According to the DEX-COOL manufacturer, "mixing a 'green' [non-OAT] coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batch's change interval to 2 years or 30,000 miles, but will ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze - Cached More results from If this doesn't confuse you....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankeesiter Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Antifreeze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia According to the DEX-COOL manufacturer, "mixing a 'green' [non-OAT] coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batch's change interval to 2 years or 30,000 miles, but will ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze - Cached More results from If this doesn't confuse you....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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