Coolant question

[Subiel94]

So i drained my coolant out and glad I did it was nasty. I will be flushing everything out and replacing with new antifreeze.

I was thinking of going to the Subaru dealership and get the correct Subaru coolant but it's a trip. And I want my car running.

So what type of antifreeze do y'all recommend running in our cars? Or I would I just be better off going to the subaru dealer and get the coolant recommended for my car?

And please don't post coolant is coolant. Bc it's not.

Thanks

[Subiel94]

Bump

[gijonas]

Just get antifreeze for it.Seriously.

[speedmaxx]

Not true not true not true. Subaru coolent or nothing.....

Subaru coolent ftw, That's all I will run, I made the mistake of running parts store coolants...

[mike-tracy]

Not true not true not true. Subaru coolent or nothing.....
Subaru coolent ftw, That's all I will run, I made the mistake of running parts store coolants...

I made that mistake for the last 5 years with my subies, they seem to work fine.

[evolutionmovement]

Never flushed cooling system, only replaced coolant whenever it had to be drained, never careful about the mix, but lean towards more coolant. Whatever the cheapest name brand green stuff is what I've used. 260k+ hard miles, no issues. If it's not GM or a Nazi staff car with their proprietary fussiness, I wouldn't worry about it. Also, 7500+ oil changes. Cars are like women—if you treat them too nice, they won't respect you and they'll shit all over you. Well, some will shit on you no matter what you do.

[Subiel94]

Well I go to school for this stuff. Coolant is not coolant. So, so far just either Subaru coolant or just green coolant. Your suppose to change your coolant every three years when I drained my coolant it was nasty. Like it was dark and had crap in it. It wasn't good.

[speedmaxx]

Ya I'm leanring about cooling systems in school also, it crazy how a slight difference in coolent can have a huge impact on your cooling system

Personal experience, about 2 years ago I put in a new radiator, upper and lower hoses, oem thermostat and gasket, along with Preston coolent. Just recently I started to see my temp gauge going higher then normal, took out the old coolent, pulled the upper hose and I noticed a scum like substance kind of like rust to aluminum.

Now when I originally replaced everything there was none of this substance although the system did have oem Subaru coolent.

So moral of story oem fluid is best... The others all work but is it worth it to save $5. Oem stuff is designed for the specific engine, universal is designed for all which is not neccisarly the best idea.

[Subiel94]

Ya I'm leanring about cooling systems in school also, it crazy how a slight difference in coolent can have a huge impact on your cooling system

Personal experience, about 2 years ago I put in a new radiator, upper and lower hoses, oem thermostat and gasket, along with Preston coolent. Just recently I started to see my temp gauge going higher then normal, took out the old coolent, pulled the upper hose and I noticed a scum like substance kind of like rust to aluminum.

Now when I originally replaced everything there was none of this substance although the system did have oem Subaru coolent.

So moral of story oem fluid is best... The others all work but is it worth it to save $5. Oem stuff is designed for the specific engine, universal is designed for all which is not neccisarly the best idea.

Thanks. I will prolly end up making the trip to the dealer this week to get coolant. I wanted to see if anyone had a good explanation or bad experience with non oem coolant. With subaru's running all the aluminum its kinda hard to ge the perfect coolant for our cars.

[mesoslow6969]

just wondering, but isnt the gunky stuff related to using tap water vs. distilled water? just wondering..

[evolutionmovement]

Mine's never looked bad when I've dumped it. And I only worked on cars and boats for money, but what do I know? People like to waste money because the marketing departments have convinced them, like 3000 mile oil changes, to do it, then go ahead. My Mazda3 has half the mileage and runs the balls (the rust, OTH, will be what junks it). Never touched the engine except for 10k mile oil changes with synthetic. Barely uses any oil in between and the coolant still looks new. They're all rated the same. As long as they pass the same tests and are the same type (you don't want Dexcool, for example), there's no magic pixie dust in "Subaru's" (who actually makes it, I don't know—like most things, it's likely rebranded, maybe from the manufacturer that makes what you get at any auto parts place) ethylene glycol. Maybe at one time, there was something in it to reduce galvanic corrosion because of the alloy engine and brass radiators, but most engines are aluminum today and many still use brass radiators as well. Again, it's your money and some people prefer that little peace of mind I guess.

[gijonas]

If you can find any coolant brand,mix,color ect. That provides a difference that is noticeable in the least bit please post about your experience.

[Omega79]

I have to agree with Evo. What school is this that is telling you that? Most "OEM" coolant is rebranded of something else. My dad has worked in dealerships, independents and on race teams (as an engine builder) and I've had a short stint at an actual Subaru dealer and have never heard the OEM coolant being special. 99 times out of 100 in my experience it's the water people mix with. I'm trying to remember if the Subaru is premixed, it's been a while. I want to say it is but I'm not 100% certain.

[Subiel94]

What brand coolant do you guys run then if not Subaru coolant?

[Omega79]

I run Prestone, but I try to get some sort of filtered or distilled water. Our water is pretty nasty here anyway, lots of calcium.

[Subiel94]

Ok yeah I'll def get distilled water I'm prolly just gonna go with non Subaru bc I'm to anxieties to get my car going.

[Subiel94]

Well today I talked to my teacher he has been driving subaru's for years. He had a 94 like mine bought it new he drove it for 250xxx+ and he never changed the coolant. He checked it once a month. So he said to go Subaru coolant so thats what I did after that story.

[Omega79]

It certainly can't hurt to do that, it usually just costs more.

[Subiel94]

Yeah it was 20 for a gallon. But after tlking to my teacher who has autocrossed with subaru's and bazaar and everything he said. Along with his coolant story I figured I might as well just put the best in. Lol

I also noticed the coolant was a darker green it wasn't like other green coolant I have seen.

[kimokalihi]

Only use distilled water. It doesn't cause corrosion like tap water. Or so I've read on this forum. In the FSM it states that you should only use Subaru brand coolant because it is specially formulated for aluminum blocks and heads. Whether this is really an issue or just another way for Subaru to make more money is up for debate.

[Subiel94]

i used distilled water for sure put about a gallon of subaru coolant in with about 7/8 of a gallon of distilled water.

[Legacy777]

I've run Prestone or similar green coolant in my car since I've had it in 95.

I'm all for using Subaru parts for certain things. However for Subarus of this age, I don't feel it matters that much. If it were a newer subaru, prone to headgasket issues, I might consider using Subaru's fluid with their additive.

I'll just add and confirm that you do want to use distilled water or premixed. I have used tap water before and it didn't kill the cooling system, but it's a good idea to used distilled.

[kimokalihi]

Oh yeah I forgot they make a coolant conditioner as well don't they.