Question is if i completely flush out all the old anti-freeze does it matter if i put in normal anti-freeze from say autozone or will i still need to get the mopar antifreeze from a dealer? It is for a 2013 jk sport. My radiator and thermostat housing are shot so ill be replacing them at the same time but i dont want to pay $50.00 + for a gallon of anit-freeze

 

Dealership antifreeze is only $24/ gallon for the undiluted mix. You could try a flush until you get clean, clear water, but really the recommendation is to stick with factory fluids. It's not $8/ gallon like prestone but how often are you adding fluid after this change? Hopefully not frequently at all.

 

Agree, coolant is oddly enough one thing not drastically overcharged at the dealer. I'd stick with Mopar undiluted OAT (for your '13) as well and mix with distilled. The real issue is that it is very difficult to ensure you have everything flushed out of the system, including the heater core. It's just not worth it IMO. You should only need 2 gallons and then distilled, and should end up with a little left. If i recall, it's only like 13 qts or so capacity.....unless I'm just daydreaming. That figure seems about right.

 

ok thanks for the help, but just out of curiosity though could you run any type of anti freeze if you would remove all the old stuff? im going to stick with the mopar stuff but just wondering

 

assuming you really did get everything flushed out, you could run (pretty much) whatever you'd like. Most coolants these days are going play nice with today's engine blocks and radiators. The real issue is potentially mixing different types of coolants and the resulting reactions.

 

.....coolant turning to gelatin, but some people call it a resulting reaction

 

Go with mopar coolant. You can get it from dealer, rock auto or quadratec. Use quadratec website to get the exact mopar part # for it and then search that.

 

Yes, you can. It typically comes down to which coolant lasts the longest before it needs to be changed and which offer the better protection against corrosion. The best way to change coolants would be to completely drain as best you can, then replace with straight distilled water, run it for a day, drain again, fill again with distilled water, and drain. Do that until you reach the point of when you drain it looks like clear water. Mixing any of the coolants with water won't cause any "resulting reactions".

You can do that flush method except during winter/freezing months since the water would freeze which would cause big problems.

 

I switched to universal green. There is no more issue if I need coolant I can find it anywhere and I don't have to worry about any other issues either.

 

The problem with my 13' JK is that the dealership I bought it from had replaced the core engine after they took it in on trade and found the engine bad. I'm really not sure what coolant they put in it, so I'm not sure what to use to top it off...

Is there a way to know what's in it?

Tom (in Papua New Guinea)