Can you mix blue and green coolant Nissan

2013 Altima, I noticed the reservoir is at the MIN, I am not sure what coolant is in there but I'm assuming it's OEM Nissan coolant? vehicle is at 60,000 miles, hasn't been flushed yet or anything.

Should I get the OEM coolant or any particular products in mind thank you, do not want to cause unnecessary harm using a different color coolant mixed with the blue one

It's not recommended to mix coolant types. That said, the long life Nissan OEM coolant does have a bluey green hue to it compared to say Prestone which is 'algae green'. Apparently there are aftermarket coolants formulated to play nice with the additives in OEMs....but at 60Kmi...which not have a proper flush done...I mean, all your anticorrosion and lubricating additives have worn out by now anyways!

It's not recommended to mix coolant types. That said, the long life Nissan OEM coolant does have a bluey green hue to it compared to say Prestone which is 'algae green'. Apparently there are aftermarket coolants formulated to play nice with the additives in OEMs....but at 60Kmi...which not have a proper flush done...I mean, all your anticorrosion and lubricating additives have worn out by now anyways!

From the Service and Maintenance schedule it says to replace @ 105,000 miles but usually I replace things sooner, but at 60,000 miles? Is the process easy DIY?

If i do it at a independent shop should I allow them to use there own antifreeze or bring my own

Depends on if they allow that, some shops won't stand for you bringing your own supplies to lower their profits.

The dealer topped off my blue with green coolant. All coolant is either propylene glycol or ethylene glycol with various additives (rust inhibitors) and colorants; and there is absolutely no reason they can't be mixed. Like synthetic oil and conventional oil they are completely interchangeable and anytime you hear otherwise it's not based on an actual study. The various rust inhibitors that Nissan chose for it's blue long life coolant are tailored toward the metals and seals that the coolant will come into contact with but adding 1pint of "green" to a 2gallon+ capacity system is not going to affect a damn thing.

That said my knowledge on the subject is this; I've been working on cars since I was 8 and have been working in a chemical lab for over 10 years now. I've worked with both proplene glycol and ethylene glycol and they have no chemical reaction with one another; they are 100% soluble in one another; and propylene glycol is 1 carbon longer than ethylene glycol and therefore has a higher boiling point and viscosity index. Also I have a 2002 Grand Am currently running Dexcool and classic green coolant blended in harmony for just over a year. There is about 50% of each in there.

That said the blue stuff is pretty cheap on Amazon and it doesn't ever expire. If you get an oil change or tire rotation (something cheap) done at the dealer just ask them to top it off and they will. That's how I got mine "greened" :laugh

The dealer topped off my blue with green coolant. All coolant is either propylene glycol or ethylene glycol with various additives (rust inhibitors) and colorants; and there is absolutely no reason they can't be mixed. Like synthetic oil and conventional oil they are completely interchangeable and anytime you hear otherwise it's not based on an actual study. The various rust inhibitors that Nissan chose for it's blue long life coolant are tailored toward the metals and seals that the coolant will come into contact with but adding 1pint of "green" to a 2gallon+ capacity system is not going to affect a damn thing.

That said my knowledge on the subject is this; I've been working on cars since I was 8 and have been working in a chemical lab for over 10 years now. I've worked with both proplene glycol and ethylene glycol and they have no chemical reaction with one another; they are 100% soluble in one another; and propylene glycol is 1 carbon longer than ethylene glycol and therefore has a higher boiling point and viscosity index. Also I have a 2002 Grand Am currently running Dexcool and classic green coolant blended in harmony for just over a year. There is about 50% of each in there.

My understanding is that the green/yellow family of glycol coolants (IAT) use phosphates and silicates as additives whereas the orange, like Dexcool (OAT) use organic acids, and that combining them reduces the effectiveness of both sets of additives, and in some cases can form gel like blobs that restrict or block the flow of coolant in parts of the engine and rad.

What you said above is true if just mixing IAT's which use similar glycol bases, but not so for mixing IAT with OAT.

My understanding is that the green/yellow family of glycol coolants (IAT) use phosphates and silicates as additives whereas the orange, like Dexcool (OAT) use organic acids, and that combining them reduces the effectiveness of both sets of additives, and in some cases can form gel like blobs that restrict or block the flow of coolant in parts of the engine and rad.

What you said above is true if just mixing IAT's which use similar glycol bases, but not so for mixing IAT with OAT.

An organic acid would cause corrosion. If you look on the dexcool label it says right on it that it contains some ethylene glycol. I google this after posting and I can't find anyone making this claim other than forums which are packed with regular Joes like you and I. The Grand am has no globs floating in it but again I'm just some asshole and not an expert. I've worked on paint and stains with these and not automotive antifreeze.

I don't know what the blue coolant is but the dealer put green into my blue and after I pointed it out to them they said that I would need to change it sooner than 120,000 miles or whatever it is. I don't believe that either because it's 1 pint in over 2 gallons of fluid.

Nobody's calling anybody anything...I just don't want some schmo blazing through here and making a bad decision based on a google search and 5s of reading...

Coolant Experts

For best results, Asian Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant must not be mixed with conventional high pH, phosphate, borate, silicate containing coolants. Asian Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant has a distinctly orange color to help differentiate it from conventional engine coolant, which is typically but not always green. While deleterious effects are not expected to be significant, the mixing of conventional coolants with Asian Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant will result in a lower than expected lifetime (change-over intervals).

GM itself had issues with their orange coolant failing many gaskets to cause warranty issues that cost them plenty. They blamed people for mixing coolant types at first to cause the coolant to gel up. The additives are the difference and some take up to 6 months to develop full corrosion protection and why I never use lifetime coolant, the oldschool '1 year' green works fine for 5-6 years and longer than they say, and provides instant protection. There is also more than one green coolant, many lifetimes are colored in that color so that it stops people from asking if it can be mixed with others. I sold like 4 different green colored coolants when I was in parts.

'An organic acid would cause corrosion.'

Yes, and it does, why I quit using the longlife. I actually had the coolant cause pretty bad corrosion and dropped it to go to oldschool 1 year and the problem disappeared. I don't use longlife in anything.

http://www.sancarlosradiator.com/dex-cool.htm

Take note of the very last link on that radiator page. If that is not corrosion I don't know what is.

The major ingredients being glycols have nothing to do with whether or not they mix. One would think a chemical lab guy would consider all of the formula not just the major part of it.

There is at least one GM TSB due to Dexcool issues and it mentions air exposure to the coolant. How one avoids that I haven't a clue as you MUST have an air pocket in the system to not have it rupture or leak due to a solid (liquid) expanding.

Agree, except for the air pocket bit...that's what your rad cap and expansion tank are for. Cap permits fluid to escape at the stated pressure, and the vacuum caused by cooling draws the coolant back in from the expansion tank through a 1-way valve in the rad cap...voila..no air bubbles...no laws of physics abused.

A Dexcool MSDS declaration....................it clearly shows 2 acids in the ingredients on page 2.

http://www.worldpac.com/tagged/ACD_Dexcool_10-101_EN.pdf

We agree even on the air pocket. My point being that at least part of the coolant has direct exposure to air. Cannot be any other way. The give and take of cooling and heating make sure the air amount exposed to fluid in reservoir is always fresh, the bottle or cap always breathes to a point.

I did some research and theres no definite answer but I went with OEM Nissan antifreeze. It was $22 at the dealer, a couple bucks more than listed on Amazon.

There are green antifreeze types that GUARANTEE to mix with any and all other types safely that would sell for much less than that. They clearly state it on the container.

Nobody's calling anybody anything...I just don't want some schmo blazing through here and making a bad decision based on a google search and 5s of reading...

Coolant Experts

Quote from your linked page "While deleterious effects are not expected to be significant, the mixing of conventional coolants with Asian Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant will result in a lower than expected lifetime (change-over intervals)."

That said to be clear, I take no offense from you educating me. I love cars and I love to learn. Most of what I know about cars comes from doing stupid shit in my younger years before I had internet to learn from others. I know I'm not an expert and I agree I don't want anyone damaging their car without understanding that I'm just some guy with unscientific experience in the automotive field.

GM itself had issues with their orange coolant failing many gaskets to cause warranty issues that cost them plenty. They blamed people for mixing coolant types at first to cause the coolant to gel up. The additives are the difference and some take up to 6 months to develop full corrosion protection and why I never use lifetime coolant, the oldschool '1 year' green works fine for 5-6 years and longer than they say, and provides instant protection. There is also more than one green coolant, many lifetimes are colored in that color so that it stops people from asking if it can be mixed with others. I sold like 4 different green colored coolants when I was in parts.

'An organic acid would cause corrosion.'

I'm not shocked GM would do something so completely stupid. The way you determine if a coolant has reached the end of it's life is to test it's acidity, I can't see how they would put acid in it especially to extend it's life but I guess it's possible.

Acid in and of itself is a relative thing, and not always bad. It is often the degree to which ANY chemical gets to that determines its' usefulness or danger. Light acid in a system actually cleans it to be drained of contaminants, the common system cleaners are often weak acids and I've used muriatic in the systems myself to remove sediment. You have to be sure it is completely removed though.

When I went to Walmart they had 1 jug of the blue stuff and many of the red stuff that I had posted earlier. For some reason the blue stuff will not come up in the Walmart app but they did have the Prestone blue stuff that I didn't think they sold it all because it doesn't even come up on their website. Long story short I bought a bunch of the Nissan Prestone blue which comes out to $1 more per gallon and because it comes in half gallon jugs I can return what I don't need.

Yah, that color thing just makes people whacky. I got so much argument over it when I was in parts I began to want to shoot anyone even bringing the subject up.

The dye color means nothing. The only real changes are old school, longlife, and non-toxic. There are literally few materials used that are new enough to require a different coolant, maybe 2 or 3 plastics, everything else in an engine will be the same materials used in the '60s. The OEMs stress you must use their color to be in warranty and about the money only as always.