The Different Colours Of Coolant - What’s in a colour  

I bet you were thinking I was talking about car colours right? Well you would be wrong. I was talking about coolant colours….yes that’s right coolant. Up until recently I thought all coolant was green. If you are in a car park and see green coming out from underneath someone’s car, you don’t think, oh crap that cars gone mouldy, no you think, oh poor bugger he isn’t getting home anytime soon as his radiator is stuffed. If I had seen red, orange, yellow, pink, or blue I wouldn’t have known what the problem was.

Turns out there isn’t really any method to the madness of making coolants different colours. Historically they were made different colours so that true car enthusiasts could tell what types of chemicals were going into their precious babies (sorry, cars) but today it serves no real purpose.

All coolants are purely antifreeze, which is actually clear. Putting a clear liquid into your car wouldn’t help when you want to see how much is left so colouring was added. Your standard green coolant can typically be found in older cars and contains Inorganic Acid Technology (IAT). New cars typically have an orange or yellow coloured coolant which contains Organic Acid Technology (OAT). Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) is usually found in European, German and Asian car manufactured vehicles and just to confuse you even further comes in a variety of colours such as yellow, green, pink, blue, red and orange.

The different colours can also indicate the length of time your car can function with optimal performance between coolant changes. Coolant does what the name suggests and the fact that it is made from antifreeze is another give away to the purpose of maintaining the coolant in your vehicle. The product mixes with the water to keep radiators from freezing or overheating. It also has anti corrosion properties.

The main thing to take away from this article is that all cars NEED coolant and if your car has a particular coolant in it when it’s purchased try and stick with that colour and ensure that it is checked and serviced regularly.


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