by Begle1 » Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:55 pm
Anti-freeze is not just anti-freeze. There's dozens of sorts on the market.
The standard color for pre-2001 Chrysler vehicles is green. That's what all the first gens come with. It's got to be changed every 30,000 miles or 2 years to prevent corrosion.
Now all the companies use their own color of crap.
The OAT/ HOAT fluids are Orange for GM DexCool, Pink for Audi/ Volkswagon and Toyota, Dark Green for Honda, Caterpillar uses Red, Orange for Daimler/ Chrysler/ Mercedes, Fuschia for Saturn, Yellow for Ford. Then there's blue stuff for other European and Korean companies. I think that all of the off-colored stuff is good for 150,000 miles or 5 years.
Then there's the aftermarket stuff that you buy by the gallon that can be amber, light green or whatever color you can imagine. I think Prestone's new stuff is plaid and Peak's is polka dotted.
Some colors are compatible with others, some anti-freezes are only good in certain engines or radiators, some compatibilities aren't valid for given vehicles.
It would probably be worth it to put some of the newer stuff in your truck, just for convenience; I sure don't know enough to say which colors would be okay though. For what it's worth, Chrysler says not to do it. But there's always a chance that the previous owner filled his system up at whatever dealer his cousin worked at.
1990 D-250 Regular Cab: Tweaked injection pump, built transmission, a cataclysmic charlie foxtrot of electronics, the most intense street-ran water injection system in the country, and some more unique stuff.