Going "Nutter"

[Shorty Cox]

Why the world is going nuts.
Several months ago, I noticed my vehicle was low of coolant, so I proceeded to purchase coolant. That was when I discovered we now have coolant in several colors. Upon completing my research, I discovered that it really doesn’t make any difference which color one uses.
Now, I discovered the power steering fluid reservoir is low. Guess what? I discovered we now have several colors of that stuff as well. GM gives one a part number. Upon research, discover the part number only differentiates between container size. The product is all the same. It is a ploy to get one to purchase GM products.
Do we really need life to be this cluttered?

Just random thoughts of an old country boy.

Shorty

[marbles]

My research indicates that the coolant is different for Ford VS GM. I suspect the same is for power steering fluid. This is not something I mess with. Autozone or O'Reilly carry it all and the price is similar.

[norty1]

I get mine at auto supplies. Convenience mostly.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Shorty Cox

Do we really need life to be this cluttered?

Just random thoughts of an old country boy.

Shorty

It's interesting that you bring this up. I was just thinking the same thing recently.

A little back story, back in about 1986-1987, my uncle who is in his 80's now was driving a 1978 Chevy Suburban. He was getting ready to replace it with a new one and that was when the primitive EFI systems from GM appeared on the market in the trucks. Well, after months of searching, he decided to completely restore that '78 and keep driving it instead. He said, "there is no way I'm going to depend on some dumb computer to control what I can adjust with a screwdriver". He drove that thing until there was literally nothing left to weld to (road salt just destroys things here in PA). When he finally had to give that thing up in the late 90's.....guess what he came home with....A 1979 Chevy K20 from out west. I know he's moved on now, but he still cant come to terms with modern technology.

Fast forward to the last month or so. My wife drives a 2010 Ram 1500 that is starting to nickle and dime us a little. So, we have started looking for a new replacement. Now, her truck has pretty much the standard options for 2010, Air, Cruise, Sirius radio, etc. Looking at various trucks over the last month I realize that I'm starting to sound just like my uncle did 30 years ago. We were out on a test drive a couple of Saturdays ago in a new F150. My wife was driving, I was in the back seat, and the salesman was demonstrating the Sync System while we were driving. The first thought that came through my mind was "What the heck do I need to pay for all of this crap for". Now I realize that these modern things are well liked by people now and my daughters tell me that I need to get with it. But seriously, it's no wonder why people drive like they do now. There is just too much other than just driving going on in these vehicles today.

Anyway, I long for the day when I used to be able to go in to the local NAPA and pick up a gallon of Zerex of Prestone, a quart of Valvoline and call it a day. Now it is euro spec this and special that. Maybe my uncle was right all along.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Shorty Cox

Why the world is going nuts.
Several months ago, I noticed my vehicle was low of coolant, so I proceeded to purchase coolant. That was when I discovered we now have coolant in several colors. Upon completing my research, I discovered that it really doesn’t make any difference which color one uses....snip

That may be true, but what you DON'T do is MIX them!

Mixing them will create a world of grief for your cooling system... or worse!

You can research various methods online, but (at a minimum) when changing coolant types, you need to first flush your cooling system THOROUGHLY with distilled water.

[culleokapapa]

But there is a difference and if you mix to much of one our the outher it will gel on you and your truck will over heat, and will cost you more to have your system flushed out and refilled. just saying , if it was me I would check again.

[Cranetech]

Check your manual and go with what it says. Not all coolants are the same. Same either other fluids. It's not like the good old days when everything took 10w-30 and atf.

[Roux 'b Doux]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

That may be true, but what you DON'T do is MIX them!

Mixing them will create a world of grief for your cooling system... or worse!
snip

Besides mixing them will give you a horrible grayish brownish color and that's just not attractive. If it leaks what will people think your car is doing? Picture it in your mind.

Further, or more so, you mean we don't just go buy 10w 30 anymore? Damn no wonder...

[bdreinv]

Big difference in coolants especially for diesels! Zerex had a pretty good web page on the differences. Sorry about spelling!Thanks