Mixing OEM coolant with aftermarket

btw, Mazda recently changed their coolant to be a 55/45 mix instead of 50/50. This was done because of (expensive) heater core problems due to internal corrosion. Just spent the extra $4 and get the OEM coolant.
I really doubt it was changed to address the corrosion issues, but to increase boiling point and freezing points (the canadian FL22 was always 55/45)... corrosion inhibitors can always be changed without altering the mix ratio
 
Last edited:
I absolutely REFUSE to buy premixed coolant. Sorry, not paying $10+/gallon for literal water.

And because FL22 only comes premix (that I've seen), and because Mazda themselves specifically said that FL22 is completely compatible with good old fashioned green (which is $12/gallon for the concentrate when on sale), the answer is obvious for me.

Even though it's rated for 5 years instead of 10, the regular green is so much cheaper I'm still way ahead of the game.
then buy Motorcraft VC-10-A2... it's real FL22 under a different name, concentrated and cheaper by the ounce once used

"regular green" is the old prestone coolant, which is a 2 year coolant, not 5... if you like spending your time under your car more, producing more waste, and spending about the same money in the long run, go for it
 
btw, Mazda recently changed their coolant to be a 55/45 mix instead of 50/50. This was done because of (expensive) heater core problems due to internal corrosion. Just spent the extra $4 and get the OEM coolant.
Are you sure that's the reason? Might it not be for a lower freezing and high boiling point? The same can be achieved with an aftermarket brand with a 55/45 mix. For example, compare and contrast Mazda FL-22 with Peak 50/50 and Peak 60/40. Mazda's 55/45 sits in the middle:


...The cool part is the Peak with Yellow capped (All Vehicles) bottle is compatible with either one. I noticed Peak played it safe and made their Peak Asian Blue/Green as well as the Yellow capped (All Vehicles) to be (an OAT coolant free of 2-EHA, silicate, nitrite, borate, and amines). So now I can top off as needed easily. Peak Yellow capped (All Vehicles) bottles can be found at Autozone, Target, WM, Harbor Freight, ect.
Judging from the Peak web site they no longer make an all-vehicles coolant. It is interesting that the Peak Asian Blue and Asian Green descriptions and specs are identical. The only difference may be the dye.

Frankly, the more I look at this the more I'm skeptical of any benefit with Mazda FL-22. Now, when the time comes for a flush and fill, a dealer will be doing it. If they want to use the Mazda coolant, great. If the want to use Peak Asian Green or a comparable, I'm fine with that too.

I'm reminded of those who swear by the Mazda branded moly motor oil which is non-synthetic and GF-5 spec. Would you better off with a synthetic GF-6, particularly with a turbo, given GF-6 was designed for improved protection in turbos? I think so.
 
Are you sure that's the reason? Might it not be for a lower freezing and high boiling point? The same can be achieved with an aftermarket brand with a 55/45 mix. For example, compare and contrast Mazda FL-22 with Peak 50/50 and Peak 60/40. Mazda's 55/45 sits in the middle:



Judging from the Peak web site they no longer make an all-vehicles coolant. It is interesting that the Peak Asian Blue and Asian Green descriptions and specs are identical. The only difference may be the dye.

Frankly, the more I look at this the more I'm skeptical of any benefit with Mazda FL-22. Now, when the time comes for a flush and fill, a dealer will be doing it. If they want to use the Mazda coolant, great. If the want to use Peak Asian Green or a comparable, I'm fine with that too.

I'm reminded of those who swear by the Mazda branded moly motor oil which is non-synthetic and GF-5 spec. Would you better off with a synthetic GF-6, particularly with a turbo, given GF-6 was designed for improved protection in turbos? I think so.
The bottle with yellow cap. Its sold everywhere.
 
Are you sure that's the reason? Might it not be for a lower freezing and high boiling point? The same can be achieved with an aftermarket brand with a 55/45 mix. For example, compare and contrast Mazda FL-22 with Peak 50/50 and Peak 60/40. Mazda's 55/45 sits in the middle:



Judging from the Peak web site they no longer make an all-vehicles coolant. It is interesting that the Peak Asian Blue and Asian Green descriptions and specs are identical. The only difference may be the dye.

Frankly, the more I look at this the more I'm skeptical of any benefit with Mazda FL-22. Now, when the time comes for a flush and fill, a dealer will be doing it. If they want to use the Mazda coolant, great. If the want to use Peak Asian Green or a comparable, I'm fine with that too.

I'm reminded of those who swear by the Mazda branded moly motor oil which is non-synthetic and GF-5 spec. Would you better off with a synthetic GF-6, particularly with a turbo, given GF-6 was designed for improved protection in turbos? I think so.
hard to say if the Peak Asian Blue and Asian Green are the same.... MSDS might reveal something, but it's better to just ask them directly for confirmation (just simple yes/no answers is all that should be expected, since no one should be expecting trade secret details from them anyway)

Mazda 0W20 with moly is synthetic... just group III base stocks... it's made by idemitsu and is a great price point for something with a lot of moly, has low LSPI (good protection), while meeting all requirements mazda has.... if you don't like buying it, then by the idemitsu branded jugs off amazon, which has an updated formulation and newer API certification anyway... it's much better than the 0W20 castrol edge in every way

and no 0W20 oil is ever non-synthetic... there's no way to blend a dino 0W20... 5W20 dino is the lowest viscosity possible based on current mass production technologies

the mazda 5W30 (for the turbo and older engines) is dino, and made by a different company though
 
Last edited:
people rant and rave over the mazda 0W20 with moly and highly recommend it... not that mediocre 5W30 junk... you clearly misunderstood
Then the point becomes there's picking and choosing over Mazda branded products. What tells you that Mazda FL-22 is a superior option if Mazda 0W-30 is junk?
 

Right exactly. I went down the coolant rabbit hole 1 year ago. At any rate JDM manufacturers in particular Toyota have very stringent standards for antifreeze/coolant. The U.S. manufacturers like Ford were like...umm we're just gonna follow/copy those JDM guys. The rest is history. So when PEAK created the All Vehicles formulation it was patterned to meet said Asian OEM standards which is as good or better than the U.S. makes....hence the All Vehicles label.

That said......you cannot go wrong with sticking to OEM Mazda coolant.
 
I really doubt it was changed to address the corrosion issues, but to increase boiling point and freezing points (the canadian FL22 was always 55/45)... corrosion inhibitors can always be changed without altering the mix ratio

"To solve this concern, two mass production changes have been implemented.
a) The concentration of the coolant has been increased so that the amount of the contained anti-rust additive is higher.
b) The composition of the coolant has been changed (the ratio of the anti-rust additive has increased)."
 
Water pump seal material and other seal material is matched with coolant additives. If you get the wrong additive it can shorten the life of the seals and you will be repalcing the water pump and it might affect the head gasket...
 
Then the point becomes there's picking and choosing over Mazda branded products. What tells you that Mazda FL-22 is a superior option if Mazda 0W-30 is junk?
because it follows the same exact formulation that mazda engineers in japan developed... their millions of dollars in R&D budget determined the right cost/benefit ratio, meeting design goals of long service life and protection for the type of gaskets and metals their cooling systems use... the 5W30 oil is just simply something branded/sold for convenience which simply meets standard industry specs... their 0W20 oil was simply formulated under their requirements and similar determination from their R&D to suit most of the engines they're selling today (by comparison, not many turbo skyactiv engines are sold)... a good 0W20 oil needed for a highly tuned/engineered engine like the skyactiv-g is harder to make

why don't you get your "hard right" head out and understand that smart buyers like me, don't blindly buy/follow one brand only... smart buyers research and know what they're buying, and understand that not every single product sold under a brand is good or have the same quality across the board

as far as chemicals are concerned, mazda branded coolant is good, mazda 0W20 with moly oil is good, mazda RTV silicone sealant is way better than permatex, mazda ATF-FZ is "acceptable" only because it's specifically formulated for our transmissions and nothing aftermarket provides the same shift quality in different conditions as the mazda one... most of everything else are mediocre junk
 
Water pump seal material and other seal material is matched with coolant additives. If you get the wrong additive it can shorten the life of the seals and you will be repalcing the water pump and it might affect the head gasket...
Surely, but what evidence do you have that Mazda seal materials (or radiator materials for that matter) are proprietary? Or are these third-party parts with the same materials used in a number of different manufacturer vehicles?
because it follows the same exact formulation that mazda engineers in japan developed...
Where is it said exactly that the formula is proprietary to Mazda and not a third party product that Mazda found satisfactory and rebranded? Further muddying the water, Ravenol got permission from Mazda to use the FL-22 designation but their formulation is different, given Ravenol's higher freezing temp even it that happens to be a result of a higher concentration of water. Who know's what else might be different while still getting Mazda's imprimatur.

I'll get my "hard right" (which doesn't mean what you might think) head out when you show me this isn't some branding exercise or a case of Mazda designating FL-22 after finding too many cooling systems trashed by DIYer screw up.

I remain skeptical pending some evidence of the proprietary nature of the materials and coolant. Putting FL-22 on the radiator cap may be just be by way of warning not to put in some incompatible product that contains silicates or some other problematic material and/or get a few bucks out Ravenol.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
then buy Motorcraft VC-10-A2... it's real FL22 under a different name, concentrated and cheaper by the ounce once used

Hey, now that's not bad! $25/gallon concentrate! That makes it literally 1/4th the cost of the stuff everyone else is talking about.

Thanks for the tip, big time. I'm going this route.
 
Surely, but what evidence do you have that Mazda seal materials (or radiator materials for that matter) are proprietary? Or are these third-party parts with the same materials used in a number of different manufacturer vehicles?

Where is it said exactly that the formula is proprietary to Mazda and not a third party product that Mazda found satisfactory and rebranded? Further muddying the water, Ravenol got permission from Mazda to use the FL-22 designation but their formulation is different, given Ravenol's higher freezing temp even it that happens to be a result of a higher concentration of water. Who know's what else might be different while still getting Mazda's imprimatur.

I'll get my "hard right" (which doesn't mean what you might think) head out when you show me this isn't some branding exercise or a case of Mazda designating FL-22 after finding too many cooling systems trashed by DIYer screw up.

I remain skeptical pending some evidence of the proprietary nature of the materials and coolant. Putting FL-22 on the radiator cap may be just be by way of warning not to put in some incompatible product that contains silicates or some other problematic material and/or get a few bucks out Ravenol.
stop with the conspiracy theory nonsense that the "stealership" is out to get you... while it's true that there's lots of dealers out there that have outrageous markups to rip off many people, each manufacturer have their own internal engineering standards that were determined by their engineers on what works best for them under their own design goals... the automaker's goal is to design/engineer a car that is reliable and not have enough issues that causes them legal liability issues... what happens as "profit" in the service field is secondary/not priority... coolants are not just coolants... each coolant type uses different corrosion inhibibtors and other additive packages to ensure desired specific gravity, lubricity, metal reactivity (the lack thereof), and seal compatibility

for example the Scion/Toyota iA still uses FL22, which means there is likely some differences enough from Toyota "pink" coolant that even Toyota engineers decided not to mess with, for liability, reliability, and serviceability reasons in the field

 
then buy Motorcraft VC-10-A2... it's real FL22 under a different name, concentrated and cheaper by the ounce once used
That VC-10-A2 "model number" predates the TSB post #31 by a number of years. Has Motorcraft altered their formula to remain Mazda FL-22 "compliant"? Or was it rebranded Motorcraft coolant that resulted in the TSB in the first place?
stop with the conspiracy theory nonsense that the "stealership" is out to get you.
You missed where I said I'll have the dealer do my flush and fill when the time comes. With a few exceptions I've had positive dealer service experiences across multiple brands over many years. I'll be OK if they choose to use a non-FL-22 designated product if it checks the right boxes. Or maybe instead I should burn the place down since their default is Peak 0W20 synthetic instead of Mazda branded oil.

My concern is what to buy for top offs and whether this FL-22 business is just DIY OCD. The one top off I've done with 13,000 miles on the OD was with Peak Asian Green. I'm unconvinced that I should not use it again if needed because nobody seems to be able to demonstrate that Mazda coolant or cooling system components are in fact proprietary.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
then buy Motorcraft VC-10-A2... it's real FL22 under a different name, concentrated and cheaper by the ounce once used
That VC-10-A2 "model number" predates the TSB post #31 by a number of years. Has Motorcraft altered their formula to remain Mazda FL-22 "compliant"? Or was it rebranded Motorcraft coolant that resulted in the TSB in the first place?
stop with the conspiracy theory nonsense that the "stealership" is out to get you.
You missed where I said I'll have the dealer do my flush and fill when the time comes. With a few exceptions I've had positive dealer service experiences across multiple brands over many years. I'll be OK if they choose to use a non-FL-22 designated product if it checks the right boxes. Or maybe instead I should burn the place down since their default is Peak 0W20 synthetic instead of Mazda branded oil.

My concern is what to buy for top offs and whether this FL-22 business is just DIY OCD. The one top off I've done with 13,000 miles on the OD was with Peak Asian Green. I'm unconvinced that I should not use it again if needed because nobody seems to be able to demonstrate that Mazda coolant or cooling system components are in fact proprietary.

Sometimes people read stuff into things that isn't there. For example, in that TSB in post #33 says:

"The composition of the coolant has been changed (the ratio of the anti-rust additive has increased)."

Some seem to assume that's a propriety change when in fact they just went with a different existing third party product.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back