Mixed coolants

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23sonthetahoe

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Hi I did something dumb after truck threw the low coolant light. Pulled over immediately asked the guy at service station who said the coolant i got would work. But I was dumb and put the wrong green coolant in the resevoir it was very close to empty and I topped it off. So fluid wise that would be approx 1 quart I think . The fluid now looks dex colored orange though. Question is should I get it flushed like immediately and have to buy fluid twice or can I replace my leaky water pump and then flush the system afterwards?
Thanks, James.
 

Rocket Man

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I would flush that out right away. You can run straight distilled water for a short term if there’s no danger of freezing if you don’t want to spend the money for Dex until you replace the water pump.
 
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23sonthetahoe

23sonthetahoe

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I would flush that out right away. You can run straight distilled water for a short term if there’s no danger of freezing if you don’t want to spend the money for Dex until you replace the water pump.

If it was me I'd flush it immediately!
When the 2 mix it turns into a disgusting mess, and will destroy/clog your cooling system.

Will a flush get it all out.of the system or do you think ive caused damage its been in there 2 days but trucks only ran for a few minutes ?
 
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23sonthetahoe

23sonthetahoe

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I would flush that out right away. You can run straight distilled water for a short term if there’s no danger of freezing if you don’t want to spend the money for Dex until you replace the water pump.

Very cold here freezing would occur quickly.
 

Rocket Man

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Will a flush get it all out.of the system or do you think ive caused damage its been in there 2 days but trucks only ran for a few minutes ?
I do not know. I’ve never mixed the 2 so not sure how long it takes to gel.
 
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23sonthetahoe

23sonthetahoe

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Totally good call ! Thanks for everyone's feedback !! I appreciate it ! Prestone slime neon green is what I added in the system and ya good call I went and looked it says comparable with any color..

So left it in going to drain rad , hoses, and what ever is in watetpump when I change the pump tomorrow and just fill with dex and di water.
 

SnowDrifter

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Anything is better than nothing if you're in a time of need

But I'd definitely clean it out, flush the system with distilled water, then fill 'er up with the good stuff. Just take note of how much you add and reference your system capacity so you can get the desired dilution.

Personally, I run gen II honda coolant in mine. The PHOAT stuff.
 

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