Today I noticed my 1999 ram heading to the redline on the temp. gauge while idiling. Temp. dropped as I got up to speed. The radiator bottle shows I need to add liquid. What type should I use? It appears to be red in color. The manual also talks about 50/50 mixing the antifreeze. Are pre-mixed versions out there or do I need to mix it myself? If so what kind of water should I use? Sorry for the multiple questions any help is very welcomed.

 

If its red, I would assume that theres dex-cool in it right now. Thats the type that chevy cars require. At any rate, you have a choice, get premix dex-cool, non pre mix or just add water! When you mix it, use dilluted water as regular old tap water has a bunch of impurities that impeed the cooling effectiveness and will overtime corode the inside of your engine. Also, find the source of the leak.

 

Also I just noticed the first part in your post. If it gets really hot and then cools down dramatically when you get to speed, your t-stat is either set to high or is sticking. You might wanna check that too and replace it with a 180 degree.

 

The low fluid may not be the solution, but would be the first thing to rule out. I've never seen red anti-freeze, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Typically it's bright green or yellow.
I would buy the regular anti-freeze( not the pre-mixed ) and get a gallon of "distilled water". Get an empty gallon jug, pour in half the anti-freeze, split the distilled water between the two jugs, and "poof", two gallons of 50/50.
Top off the radiator through the cap( when cold of course ), then add to the overflow bottle. Keep an eye on it for a couple days as the radiator will suck it up as it cools.

 

Sorry dex-cool isn't red but it is an orangeish color.

 

94-2001 Ram

FLUID RECOMMENDATIONS

Coolant found in late model trucks is normally a 50/50 mixture of ethylene glycol and water which can be used year round. Always use a good quality antifreeze with water pump lubricants, rust and other corrosion inhibitors, and acid neutralizers. Also available is another type of antifreeze, propylene glycol, which is non-toxic. Keep in mind that should you decide to use a propylene glycol antifreeze, you should follow the antifreeze manufacturer's instructions closely. Do not mix ethylene and propylene glycol together, as the benefits of the non-toxic propylene glycol would be lost. In the event you decide to change to propylene glycol, make sure to completely flush the cooling system of all ethylene glycol traces.



Personally in the summer time I use nothing but water and Redline Water Wetter in all my vehicles. I have noticed a coolant temperature decrease of about 10 to 15 degrees, and in the winter I use a gallon of pure (not pre-mixed) Prestone anti-freeze, a bottle of Redline Water Wetter and the rest water. It's good stuff and can be had for about $8 a bottle at your local auto parts store.

 

I am a little unsure why my Ram would have chevy antifreeze in it. I am the orginal owner and I have had the cooling serviced once at the dealership. The truck was loaned to a sibling for a few years while I was at college so not sure if they had any work done on the cooling system. When it almost redlined I was stuck idling for 5-10 minutes at a bad intersection the temp. dropped once I was able to get back up to speed. I did notice the temp crawling up from around 150ish to 190ish if I sat idiling at a redlight for 1-2 minutes then dropping as I got to move. There is really not that much in the overflow bottle so my calling it red may be off. Although from poking around a little bit this may be "long-life" antifreeze and it would be bad to mix green/yellow with it. Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

Well if you're concerned about the color, you can always just flush it out and start with fresh new green liquid!
+1 on the water wetter, ondatkryptonitepretty much said it all.
As far as my guess on the dex-cool, i was a quick assumption seeing how you said that it was red in color. But, since your the only owner that might not be the case. Have you checked your tranny fluid lately? Make sure that its not leaking in through the radiator and mixing with te antifreeze thus making it look a lot like christmas! You may still want to check your t-stat though. It shouldn't be fluxtuating that much at a dead stop. You can simply check it by putting in a pot of water with a thermoter, heat it up and see what temp it opens at.It shold have the temp written on top of the unit.

 

prestone makes a coolant thats safe to mix with any coolant ive used it before with no issue. as for the over heating check to make sure the clutch fan is working properly.