For a coolant liquid, a colour is not just a matter of appearance. The manufacturers of this product use a particular colour for a particular type of a coolant. Even though all of the coolants have very similar ingredients including antifreeze and water, there might be slight differences. Since mixing popular types of coolants is not recommended, these liquids have specific colours which will inform the car owners of the exact type of a coolant inside the vehicle.
Some of the additional substances added to coolants are meant to prolong the time for which a coolant can be used while others have anticorrosive properties.
The most popular types of coolants
There are two most widespread coolants available on the market which are a green coolant and an orange coolant. These two particular types of coolants can never be mixed with each other since this can lead to a drastic change of the consistency of a coolant making it more jelly-like rather than liquid which can lead to a whole range of problems with your car.
Green coolant
Green coolant has a very bright colour which is a bit yellowish and might look as if it is glowing. The smell of this coolant is pretty sweet, while the substance is extremely poisonous. Unfortunately, it usually attracts animals when split somewhere and it is enough for them to consume just a teaspoon of the product to die.
Fortunately, vodka has properties counteracting with ethylene glycol, so, if someone consumes this product, it is possible to stop the poisonous activity of a green coolant before the person has a chance to get professional medical aid. Still, as you can imagine, it is crucial to keep a coolant far from pets and children.
Green coolant is in fact ethylene glycol, however, in the vehicle it has to be mixed with water. The ratio of the substances required is 50/50.
The lifespan of a green coolant is around three years. It is said it will be good for 36 000 miles.
Orange coolant
Another particularly popular antifreeze is the orange one, however, it is not thus widespread as the green one. The major ingredient of this product which is primarily offered on the market by the name of Dexcool is ethylene glycol too. Yet, this product also includes other substances which are supposed to prolong the time this product can be used in the car. According to the manufacturers of this coolant, it can last in your car for five years while the mileage which can be made with this substance is 150 000. Prolonging the lifespan of the orange coolant is achieved by the use of an anticorrosive substance.
Certainly, this looks like a better option than the green coolant. Still, you should note that this product does not have a good reputation on the market. In the past, many drivers experienced problems with their vehicles and Dexcool was proved to be the culprit for them. Actually, this antifreeze even was called DexKill. In 2008 there were particularly many lawsuits of the drivers whose cars were damaged by the usage of Dexcool.
Pay your attention to the fact there other brands offering orange coolants. Some of them are produced for particular brands of cars. For example, for such cars as Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, it is recommended to purchase the OEM coolant.
Less popular antifreeze products of different colours
Even though green and orange coolants are prevailing on the market, you can find a variety of products of different colours. In fact, some of them can be mixed with each other since they are basically the same with the major difference in their colour. Still, others can never be mixed.
Yellow antifreeze
Yellow antifreeze is the one of the type with a prolonged lifespan. This product is specifically dedicated to the cars if the Hyundai and Kia brands.
Blue coolant
Blue antifreeze is also featured with a prolonged lifespan and it was designed for the cars of the premium class. In fact, there are two types of blue coolants. The first one is dedicated to the cars of the Japanese brands such as Mazda, Mitsubishi, Infiniti and Nissan. Another type of a blue antifreeze was designed for Subaru, Acura and Honda.
Gold coolant
A gold coolant has an intensive colour of a mixture of a yellow and orange colours which might even look like an oil. It is also available in two types. The first one is dedicated to the cars of some of the Europeans brands including Volvo, jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, the mini and BMW. The other one should be used with the cars of the brands related to Ford, for instance, with Mercury and the Lincoln.
Pink coolant
Another example of an antifreeze product with an increased lifespan is a pink coolant. It is also available in two different forms. The first type of the pink coolant was designed for such Japanese brands as Toyota, Lexus or Scion. There is also a European antifreeze of a pink colour which was created for the vehicles of the Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen brands.