Hey guys, Im trying to flush out my FD's coolant, i got a rebuild about 1k miles ago and my rebuilder put in the 50/50 prestone, kinda yellow/limegreen color.
its been working fine and of course i didnt know about the coolant seal issues with the 2-EHA and other elements that can cause the seals to break. but i did
some research last night and i found out that FL22 is the most recommended but its pricey, but I also saw a thread that said Beck/Arnley's Blue Coolant does the trick
on their website it reads

"This Premium Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant is an Ethylene Glycol based, pre-diluted, Antifreeze/ Coolant formulated for Asian automobile engine cooling systems that specify the use of “Extended Life” Antifreeze/Coolant. Premium Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant utilizes Phosphated Organic Acid Technology also known as Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) and contains no amines or borates and is free of silicates that may harm water pump seals and cause gel formation which may clog the radiator. DO NOT ADD WATER. This Antifreeze/Coolant provides superior extended life corrosion and rust protection of water-cooled automobile engine cooling system components and meets ASTM D-3306."

I was trying to find a thread to see if anyone uses this coolant and is fine with it?

Also, with the prestone 50/50 has been in my car since july of last year, so not too long,but do you recommend that i flush it out ASAP to either put FL22 or Beck/Arnleys coolant in?
How bad & how long does it take for the seals to get bad with coolants like prestone?

Thank you for your time!

ps: I know its just coolant and i might be making a big fuss... but with these engines, you can never be too careful lol

 

I did not know Beck&Arnley made coolant. I went with Zerex Asian Formula since it is a proven 2-eha free coolant and is available at any parts stores and supermarkets. I don't like that it is red tho.

 

You're overthinking it.

I buy 1 jug of full strength Prestone and 1 gallon of distilled water from the grocery store. The cooling system will take a bit under 2 to fill.

Drain and re-fill once a year.

You'll have zero problems.

The coolant isn't the enemy here, it's people never changing coolant or people running the cars too hot. The factory system runs the cars WAY too damn hot for emissions/fuel economy, read up on fan control. Keep your temps in the 80's deg. C and you're fine there.

I've gone through motors that have had proper coolant changes and the inside of the motor is spotless.

Dale

 

I use pentosin A2. its available at the common stores. I googled the requirements in the manual and thats what seemed to match up.

 

Thank you, I was looking for someone who knew more about this than me to tell me that I am just thinking too much!
So just frequent changes in my coolant and constant flushes yearly to keep it well working?

So for the distilled water, do you put the preston 50/50 and then a gallon of distilled water to mix with it?
How many times do you flush with distilled water usually?

This will be my first time doing a coolant flush so please inform me on anything I need to know.
I only know the basics a bit of a flush, but i know nothing about flushing agents or helpers, just know to use distilled water and let it run for a while.

Thank you


How long have you been using the Zerex coolant?

 

How long have you been using pentosin? was this ur go to coolant from the start? I have some local for sale where i live so this might be an option for me

 

I agree with DaleClark that just changing is the most important. I used to do a complete change annually in the spring when the car came out of storage. Now I just drain what’s in the radiator but still do it every spring and the coolant never gets old.
I confess that maybe 7 or 8 years ago (when I still completely changed coolant) I switched to the Zerex Asian stuff. Probably a feel-good thing but it performs fine and temps are good.
I don’t care what color it is...well OK maybe I do. I mean, who does green with a red car?

 

I've had my car since ~Oct 2018, I changed all the coolant related hoses, waterpump, etc in Nov 2018 and thats when I started using it. Now that I think of it, there was something with the standard aftermarket coolants called 2-EHA. Pentosin A2 doesn't have it, which is what swayed me. DaleClark and others have been messing with these cars much longer than I though.

 

IAT (the green stuff) is corrosive over time, that's why you need to change it. Manufacturers have moved to long life coolants. Generally, Europeans manufacturers use silicates and Asian manufactures use phosphates. There are pros/cons to both

There's a lot out there on the subject to overthink if you are so inclined

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/c...ooling-system/

 

Beck Arnley is a re-boxer. they do not make anything, they just buy, put in their box and resell.

that being said, there are only a couple of coolant plants in the US, and 90% of the coolant sold here comes from those two plants

 

If you use the already-diluted 50/50 coolant, DO NOT DILUTE IT FURTHER. It is already diluted to the proper ratio.

You can flush with any clean water, as long as you drain it thoroughly before filling. However, use only distilled water if you buy 100% coolant and then dilute it to 50/50 yourself. And for our older cars, the IAT Ethylene-glycol coolant (usually green) is best, IMO, but as has been noted, it needs to be changed regularly.

 

You can buy the 50/50 pre-mixed Prestone but it's a ripoff. It's like $8 for a regular jug of Prestone and $7 for a jug of the pre-mixed. So you would need 2 jugs of premix ($14) or 1 $8 jug and a 79 cent gallon jug of distilled water.

Nothing wrong with the 50/50, it works fine, but you're paying a convenience fee.

You can use water out of the tap but there's a lot more minerals and crap in it. The distilled you know you're putting pure stuff into the system.

Dale

 

Edit

 

Isn't annual refresh a bit much without considering miles driven? The last few years, I haven't been able to drive all that much. Probably 2,500 miles per year at most. Seems a bit overkill to do a drain and fill....

My coolant system is probably cleaner than most given my major flush from a few years ago
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...lushes-977577/

 

Another thing to remember is that the long-life more modern coolants do not work well (corrosion will occur) if there is any air in the cooling system except for the sealed reservoir tank present on modern vehicles, so unless you have a system that is certain to keep the cooling system totally air-free, the IAT (Green Ethylene-Glycol) coolant is the safe way to go.

 

My recollection was that it’s as much a function of time as use. But yeah, annually was probably a bit much. That and being a little lazy in my old age is why I just drain the radiator annually these days.

 

You are correct. And I do it the same way you do for the same reason.

 

Mazda designed all the components of the system around plain ol' green coolant - water pump seals, o-rings, etc. I would be concerned with alternate coolants not being compatible with some of the internal seals. I know that is a legit concern I've read about in a trade publication or the like in the past.

As far as changing every year, IMHO time is more important than mileage on coolant. It's also easier to remember so it actually gets done.

Really, once a year is probably overkill but it's easy to remember, it's not super time consuming and it doesn't cost much to do. The long term benefits are truly worth it, I've seen the evidence of cars that had regular coolant changes and ones that haven't. Did a rebuild on a friend's '90 convertible that he bought in '92 or so and did a great job on all maintenance. 150,000 miles on the original engine and the coolant passages were SPOTLESS, bright clean aluminum and no rust or corrosion in the irons. I've also been through neglected engines with the rotor housing coolant passages yellowed and pitted, obvious corrosion in the irons, and the walls supporting the coolant seals thinned out.

IMHO there's no need to reinvent the wheel here. Run 50/50 Prestone coolant, use a Mazda thermostat, keep your fans running when they should and aim for 82-88 deg. C water temps. Do once a year coolant changes. You'll never have a problem with bad water seals, internal corrosion, etc. This is a simple, inexpensive, easy to source (every parts store has green Prestone) and dead reliable setup.

Dale

 

Mazda actually sells coolant, 0000-77-501E-02 is the normal green stuff, and 0000-77-508E-20 is the pre mixed FL22 which is a long life coolant.

the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for the thermostat is NTC, its stamped on the part. the thermostat has 2 very important functions.
1. there is an internal bypass port on these engines, and the thermostat covers that as it opens. if it is not blocked, coolant can just circulate in the engine, and not go to the radiator.
2. i always end up throwing a bunch of thermostats in a pot of water and boil em, the spec in the manual is the minimum, a new NTC is about double the spec, a new gates is at the spec. the NTC is more responsive to temp changes as well.

so in short, if you can find the NTC part, use it. if not, test!