Iam changing the y coolant pipe that's dripping,was wondering I have pink antifreeze in it now ,do I have to top it off with pink also??do I only get the pink at the dealer? it has 73,000 miles, thanks Rick ncpa

 

You can get the Mopar coolant from a dealer or you can get Zerex G-05 coolant, they are both HOAT coolants approved for use in your van. The G-05 coolant is a gold/yellow color.

George

 

No sense in topping off antifreeze that's probably almost 6 years old. Even the extended life Hoat's are only good for 5 yrs max. To heck with oddball fluid.

I flushed the system out in my '08 by performing repeated cycles of garden hose topoff, running motor until hot to circulate and then drain. I then final flush with distilled water couple times until it runs clear. It took about 4 gallons at 80 cents each to get it flushed 3 more times good. Then I filled the system up with universal "All Makes" yellow Prestone and distilled mixed about 60/40.

Now I don't have oddball dodge-specific hoat antifreeze to deal with for the life of the vehicle. I just stop by walmart anywhere and buy a gallon for $10. There is nothing magic about the aluminum, steel, plastics, seals and factory fel-pro gaskets in your van motor and cooling system. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The same stupid arguments are made by Mercedes and BMW who try to sell weird color hoat or oat antifreeze at $35/gallon, but experienced mechanics know better. To steer clear of any trouble, just flush completely with pure water. After refill with your favorite type of fluid, stick with the same fluid for future top-off and refills.

Engine cooling system troubles are caused by indiscriminately mixing incompatible fluids without first flushing and/or running old anti-freeze in wrong ratio that has too much water from top-off and not enough anti-freeze. I top off with 60/40 mix to prevent system corrosion from too much water.