Which coolant can I use?

[robkay]

Originally Posted by thepartsmancometh

buy toyota red and dilute it. its cheaper, and essentially the same as toyota pink. Our toyota technical rep said its basically the same antifreeze without dilution.

Old thread I know, but still relevant. As my coolant is down a little I went over to the local dealer this afternoon to buy a gallon of red. He asked about my car and I told him it was an '07 Yaris. He said he thought the pink was spec'd for it and checked his book and confirmed. I told him I thought the pink was just diluted red. He went and got a gallon of each and showed me in the Contents list how there is a little difference in the composition between the two and they are spec'd for different model year ranges of vehicles.

Each component in the product has a name and number (even the water in the pink). They were the same in both, except for two components, I believe an acid and some chemical. Interestingly, one of the components had the same number on both products, but the name was different. The second component had a completely different name and number on each jug. He even walked out to the shop to ask a tech whether he knew if the pink and red were exactly the same thing, but he said he didn't know.

So, while the pink and red are similar and compatible it would appear that they are not quite exactly the same thing. Will either one cool your engine? Sure. Will using red in your Yaris, or mixing the two, cause engine damage? Doesn't sound like it, at least not in the short term. But, the pink "Super Long Life" product might be formulated to be nicer to engines it's spec'd for over a longer period of time than the red.

OTOH, the two chemical differences between red and pink as stated on the jugs might just be marketing mumbo jumbo BS to get people who bought cheaper cars to spend more money on parts.

Much as I was looking forward to saving money by buying the red ($31.84/gal which would make 2 gals when diluted), I caved and spent $21.81 to get a gal of the pink as it is spec'd for my car. sigh......