What Type of Coolant to Use for Your Car?

Types of Coolant in Johnson City TN

Radiator coolant is an important fluid in your car which is often ignored by car owners. Coolant plays several important roles in your engine’s health. For example, it prevents the car’s engine from overheating. It also acts as a corrosion resistant for your car’s engine.

Using the right type of coolant is necessary to keep your car in good condition. However, the market is full of different brands and types of coolants that make things confusing for car owners. Here is some important information about how to choose the right type of coolant for your car.

Know the Different Types of Coolants

There are three main types of coolants on the market. The technical name of the coolant generally refers to the corrosion protectant in the coolant.

IAT Coolant: IAT stands for Inorganic Additive Technology. It is a traditional composition of antifreeze which is green in color. An IAT coolant can be either used with propylene glycol or ethylene glycol. The normal life service period of IAT coolant is 30,000 miles or two years.

OAT Coolant: OAT or Organic Acid Technology coolant can be either Ethylene Glycol based or Propylene Glycol based. It is one of the most used coolant types in North America. The OAT coolant is either red dyed or orange dyed. The red and orange dyed coolants were primarily introduced by Caterpillar and General Motors Company. However, you can also find blue, pink and green dyed OAT coolants in the market.

HOAT Coolant: HOAT stands for Hybrid Organic Acid Technology. HOAT coolant is a combination of OAT and IAT. Several car manufacturers use HOAT coolants in their cars. The HOAT coolant is generally dyed orange which contains 10% recycled coolant. You can also find a yellow dyed HOAT coolant that does not contain any recycled coolant.

What Type of Coolant Should You Use in Your Car?

Most car manufacturers provide car dealership with the right coolants for different car models. If the technical information about coolant confuses you, visit your car dealership and get information about the right type of coolant for your car. Many aftermarket coolant products have models names mentioned on the packaging. This information can be useful to determine whether a specific coolant is right for your car. The car owner’s manual holds important information about recommended fluids. It means it is more likely that the car manufacturer has mentioned information about the right coolant type for your car in the car owner’s manual.

Don’t Mix Coolant Types

Many car owners go by the color when it comes to determining the right coolant for their car. The truth is that the color is not the right indicator for deciding the right coolant type to use in your car. If you mix two different coolant types, the problem of corrosion might increase and it might affect the performance and life of your car’s engine. Since there is no color standardization in coolant types, you should avoid using color coding to decide the right coolant for your car.

Auto experts recommend that car owners follow the car manufacturer’s instructions to determine the right coolant for their car.

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