Hello Everyone!
For starters, I greatly appreciate any wisdom that can be shed on the following subject matter and hope it may also help others with the the same question.
To give context to this matter, I bought my 2015 Wrangler JK used from a dealership back in October of 2020 with approximately 63,000 miles on it. I noticed after putting about 8000 miles on it and doing some regular maintenance that the coolant reservoir tank level was far below below the minimum line. After consulting my vehicle manual and a few online sources, I proceeded to buy a bottle of the appropriate Engine Coolant, MOPAR 10 year, 150,000 OAT, pre-diluted formula that is purple in color to top off my reservoir tank. Fast forward to it arriving today, being well aware of the predicament of adding the wrong (HOAT) coolant with OAT, I aspirated some coolant from the radiator and the reservoir tank to ensure the colors were at minimum similar to the new coolant I bought. To my surprise, the coolant that I aspirated from the Jeep was a notable pink color, however under different lights the color would vary to being more orange to more pink/purple in hue. Where the confusion set in is when I aspirated some coolant from the new bottle and it was without a doubt purple. When comparing the two samples, side by side in the same glasses, under the same light conditions I just could not convince myself that they were equivalent. So naturally, I hesitated to mix the two and fill my reservoir tank.
I spent an hour perusing various forums on the matter and found a lot of great information but NONE that could help me answer this question:
Being 95% sure this is the original factory coolant in my Jeep, can I top off my reservoir tank, that consists of pink colored coolant, with the new recommended OAT coolant that is purple and be confident that it is appropriate for my engine's (and wallet) sake?
Now, with that said, I have read multiple forums that discussed how the purple coolant loses it color over time and turns pink. Can anyone with experience with this verify that? From my minimal knowledge of chemistry, I suppose I could see how the purple dye in the coolant could denature over time with heat and wear and make a pink-like color, however I am by no means a mechanic and do not work with these chemicals regularly.
Im sure many will just say flush the system for peace of mind, which is something I can do but would rather not have to do prematurely if possible.
Again, thank you for any wisdom on this matter!
For starters, I greatly appreciate any wisdom that can be shed on the following subject matter and hope it may also help others with the the same question.
To give context to this matter, I bought my 2015 Wrangler JK used from a dealership back in October of 2020 with approximately 63,000 miles on it. I noticed after putting about 8000 miles on it and doing some regular maintenance that the coolant reservoir tank level was far below below the minimum line. After consulting my vehicle manual and a few online sources, I proceeded to buy a bottle of the appropriate Engine Coolant, MOPAR 10 year, 150,000 OAT, pre-diluted formula that is purple in color to top off my reservoir tank. Fast forward to it arriving today, being well aware of the predicament of adding the wrong (HOAT) coolant with OAT, I aspirated some coolant from the radiator and the reservoir tank to ensure the colors were at minimum similar to the new coolant I bought. To my surprise, the coolant that I aspirated from the Jeep was a notable pink color, however under different lights the color would vary to being more orange to more pink/purple in hue. Where the confusion set in is when I aspirated some coolant from the new bottle and it was without a doubt purple. When comparing the two samples, side by side in the same glasses, under the same light conditions I just could not convince myself that they were equivalent. So naturally, I hesitated to mix the two and fill my reservoir tank.
I spent an hour perusing various forums on the matter and found a lot of great information but NONE that could help me answer this question:
Being 95% sure this is the original factory coolant in my Jeep, can I top off my reservoir tank, that consists of pink colored coolant, with the new recommended OAT coolant that is purple and be confident that it is appropriate for my engine's (and wallet) sake?
Now, with that said, I have read multiple forums that discussed how the purple coolant loses it color over time and turns pink. Can anyone with experience with this verify that? From my minimal knowledge of chemistry, I suppose I could see how the purple dye in the coolant could denature over time with heat and wear and make a pink-like color, however I am by no means a mechanic and do not work with these chemicals regularly.
Im sure many will just say flush the system for peace of mind, which is something I can do but would rather not have to do prematurely if possible.
Again, thank you for any wisdom on this matter!
