Does the color of antifreeze you use matter?

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asked Apr 25, 2020 in Repairs/Maintenance by gspoon11 (300 points)
Does the color of antifreeze you use matter?

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answered Apr 25, 2020 by Grahlu (51,270 points)
It doesn't really matter for most cars or vehicles on the color of antifreeze that you use for your vehicle.

However you should never mix antifreeze or coolant colors with different colors of antifreeze or coolant because the additives cannot work properly and can then lead to overheating issues and damage to your vehicle.

If you're in an emergency situation and cannot find the correct color of coolant and need to temporarily mix coolant colors then that is okay for short term.

But as soon as possible drain the coolant, flush the cooling system and replace the coolant with the same color of antifreeze.

When you mix the wrong color of antifreeze or coolant in your car then the additives in those coolants will not work properly.

Then your engine can suffer damage from overheating and corrosion.

That corrosion can happen to the radiator, engine, water pump, head gasket etc and then lead to damage on the engine.

Always make sure you add the correct coolant to the car because it does matter what color of coolant you use in your coolant system on your vehicle.

The wrong coolant can cause a costly repair to be needed to your car.

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