2011 Ram Coolant question

[JStankus]

Just wanted to get confirmation on the correct coolant for a 2011 Ram 2500 (What is out thee is a little confusing). Is it correct that it is the HOAT coolant?
68048953AC is what the online parts stores are indicating, but the owners manual seems vague. This is my old truck that I gave to my father and trying to figure this out remotely is challenging.


Thanks

John

 

[User113]

Yes, that coolant is the 5-year HOAT, which is what a 2011 came with.

 

[Grumpy8811]

two things... first thing, Mopar Manuals are vague and sometimes out of date.
2nd thing. if you empty or otherwise drain the cooling system, you can use just about any coolant you want.
the plastic,iron, steel, aluminum, soft metals etc in your Mopar /Cummins cooling system does not care what coolant is in the system.

 

[Cummins12V98]

My son has ran AMZ/OIL coolant for years in his 15 3500 Limited. Mine is due now, it's 10 years old and most likely will clean the system and use the AMZ/OIL.

 

[Ozymandias]

two things... first thing, Mopar Manuals are vague and sometimes out of date.
2nd thing. if you empty or otherwise drain the cooling system, you can use just about any coolant you want.
the plastic,iron, steel, aluminum, soft metals etc in your Mopar /Cummins cooling system does not care what coolant is in the system.

I don't recommend this as long as there is anyone working on that vehicle besides you.

 

[Diesel85]

I don't recommend this as long as there is anyone working on that vehicle besides you.

I've seen some pretty wack things happen when you mix coolant types, primarily OAT and HOAT. It will quickly turn in a jello type sludge plugging up everything.

 

[Grumpy8811]

I don't recommend this as long as there is anyone working on that vehicle besides you.

Ozzy, did ya ever think that the people asking these type of question on these forums are also the guys working on their own trucks? Just saying..

 

[Grumpy8811]

I've seen some pretty wack things happen when you mix coolant types, primarily OAT and HOAT. It will quickly turn in a jello type sludge plugging up everything.

that is why they make Universal Coolants.. so you aren't tied to these proprietary blends .

I worked in a fleet all my life.. 42 years.. they can't stock different stuff or guarantee the right stuff all goes in the right place so they used one size fits all fluids for a reason.
Hence some diesel engine oils are called Multifleet oils, which can be used in diesel and gas engines.. same applies to coolants.. Universal HD coolants abound on the market , are less expensive and you don't have to worry about mixing..

 

[AH64ID]

that is why they make Universal Coolants.. so you aren't tied to these proprietary blends .

I worked in a fleet all my life.. 42 years.. they can't stock different stuff or guarantee the right stuff all goes in the right place so they used one size fits all fluids for a reason.
Hence some diesel engine oils are called Multifleet oils, which can be used in diesel and gas engines.. same applies to coolants.. Universal HD coolants abound on the market , are less expensive and you don't have to worry about mixing..

Even universal coolants are known to not play well with HOAT.

It takes a lot more cleaning than just a drain, flush, refill to switch away from HOAT. These blocks don’t drain that much coolant so you’re left with quite a bit of fluid in them.

My son has ran AMZ/OIL coolant for years in his 15 3500 Limited. Mine is due now, it's 10 years old and most likely will clean the system and use the AMZ/OIL.

Your 15’s had an OE fill with OAT, so it’s a much easier swap to other coolants unlike the OP’s truck that came with HOAT.

I run Amsoil throughout my vehicles, but I never have ran their coolant. Too expensive for it not to be a long-life coolant.

 

[Grumpy8811]

Even universal coolants are known to not play well with HOAT.

It takes a lot more cleaning than just a drain, flush, refill to switch away from HOAT. These blocks don’t drain that much coolant so you’re left with quite a bit of fluid in them.



Your 15’s had an OE fill with OAT, so it’s a much easier swap to other coolants unlike the OP’s truck that came with HOAT.

I run Amsoil throughout my vehicles, but I never have ran their coolant. Too expensive for it not to be a long-life coolant.

well, you brag about using Amsoil, so that says alot about your state of mind wheras I use whatever is cheapest that meets the specs..



my truck has had good old universal Prestone ELC in it for five years now.. apparently I must be lucky or courting disaster as all I did was remove the lower radiator hose and drain engine, then fill the sucker up with straight H20 and run it for awhile and then redrained the system and added about 3 gallons of Prestone ELC Universal and 3 gallons of distilled water..

its also worth stating that I believe Mopar specs a proprietary coolant as a way of increasing their profit margin whereas a simple purview of any Cummins 6.7 ISB manual will tell you what coolants are allowable.. and that list is far wider than Mopar's .

people make too much of the coolant story and old wves tales and prejudices just keep repeating themseles.. .. Prestone not only makes a good Universal Coolant that is affordable and available everywhere but they guarantee it is compatible.

https://www.prestone.com/product/platinumafc/

 

[AH64ID]

well, you brag about using Amsoil, so that says alot about your state of mind wheras I use whatever is cheapest that meets the specs..



my truck has had good old universal Prestone ELC in it for five years now.. apparently I must be lucky or courting disaster as all I did was remove the lower radiator hose and drain engine, then fill the sucker up with straight H20 and run it for awhile and then redrained the system and added about 3 gallons of Prestone ELC Universal and 3 gallons of distilled water..

its also worth stating that I believe Mopar specs a proprietary coolant as a way of increasing their profit margin whereas a simple purview of any Cummins 6.7 ISB manual will tell you what coolants are allowable.. and that list is far wider than Mopar's .

people make too much of the coolant story and old wves tales and prejudices just keep repeating themseles.. .. Prestone not only makes a good Universal Coolant that is affordable and available everywhere but they guarantee it is compatible.

https://www.prestone.com/product/platinumafc/

You haven’t filled out your sig, so we have no clue what your truck is… I see a 4th gen in your avatar, is that your current truck? What year?

I think Amsoil makes some excellent products, but the cost of their coolant isn’t worth it to me. There aren’t any discernible short or long term benefits to it, even at dealer cost. Nothing more, nothing less.

The mopar spec isn’t the concern, it’s what coolants are compatible with what’s currently in the block. There are many things that the OE spec in the Dodge/Ram is different than the same component in another application, that’s nothing new and nothing about the Dodge/Ram application is special (aside from potential warranty issues).

My first coolant change in my 05 was with HOAT, even with multiple flushes it just wasn’t worth the well known risk of coolant issues. The second change was after the engine was rebuilt so I went with a better OAT coolant than the OE G05.

 

[Grumpy8811]

You haven’t filled out your sig, so we have no clue what your truck is… I see a 4th gen in your avatar, is that your current truck? What year?

I think Amsoil makes some excellent products, but the cost of their coolant isn’t worth it to me. There aren’t any discernible short or long term benefits to it, even at dealer cost. Nothing more, nothing less.

The mopar spec isn’t the concern, it’s what coolants are compatible with what’s currently in the block. There are many things that the OE spec in the Dodge/Ram is different than the same component in another application, that’s nothing new and nothing about the Dodge/Ram application is special (aside from potential warranty issues).

My first coolant change in my 05 was with HOAT, even with multiple flushes it just wasn’t worth the well known risk of coolant issues. The second change was after the engine was rebuilt so I went with a better OAT coolant than the OE G05.

not much for the signature line stuff.. but its a 2016 Ram Tradesman 3500 DRWCC with SO engine, 68RFe tran and the 410 axle not going to badmouth Amsoil
except to say it is overpriced for the result it achieves.. but it does have a very vocal cultlike following. Amsoil Coolant sounds like fools gold.

back when the recall for the water pumps was going on in 2017 I just swapped in my own water pump and topped off the Mopar Coolant with Prestone Universal.. so it mixed fine with Mopar Coolant as it was that way right up until last year when I did a flush and fill with Prestone Universal.

As far as my other mechanical background goes, 2 years Trade School, 60 credit hours in automotive at a Community College,Triple Master ASE,plus all the ongoing OEM training over the 40ish years I worked in a large fleet as either a mechanic or on the technical administrative side of things. anyway, we had to use Universal coolants.. and they work fine no matter what the hobgoblins have to say..

 

[AH64ID]

not much for the signature line stuff.. but its a 2016 Ram Tradesman 3500 DRWCC with SO engine, 68RFe tran and the 410 axle not going to badmouth Amsoil
except to say it is overpriced for the result it achieves.. but it does have a very vocal cultlike following. Amsoil Coolant sounds like fools gold.

back when the recall for the water pumps was going on in 2017 I just swapped in my own water pump and topped off the Mopar Coolant with Prestone Universal.. so it mixed fine with Mopar Coolant as it was that way right up until last year when I did a flush and fill with Prestone Universal.

As far as my other mechanical background goes, 2 years Trade School, 60 credit hours in automotive at a Community College,Triple Master ASE,plus all the ongoing OEM training over the 40ish years I worked in a large fleet as either a mechanic or on the technical administrative side of things. anyway, we had to use Universal coolants.. and they work fine no matter what the hobgoblins have to say..

Not filling our your signature can detract from the applicability and usefulness when you make comments about your experiences on your truck when they don't apply to the conversation at hand. The sig lets forum members see if what your correlating applies. Your 2016 came with OAT, which is not relevant to the HOAT conversation in this thread.

OAT is not known to have any issues with universal coolants, HOAT is.

Dig thru the archives on here and you'll find instances of HOAT not playing well with others, to include universal coolants. The universal coolant may not have issues with other coolants, but that's immaterial if the HOAT has an issue with them.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Radiator shop owner years ago told me Prestone kept him in business.

 

[Grumpy8811]

Radiator shop owner years ago told me Prestone kept him in business.

I bet he did... of course you can be sure he had an objective non biased scientific based reason for his professional opinions based on his own chemical analysis and testing of thousands of samples of ethylene glycol product that qualified that opinion .. right?

in other words you asked a plumber for mechanical advice enough to trust it or are you just trying to be sarcastic.. LOL.

 

[johnmyster]

G-05 HOAT is "correct" for your truck, assuming nobody has changed to something else in the 13 years since new.

There are other/better coolants available and no reason not to migrate if you are flushing and have the opportunity. I migrated to Peak Final Charge Pro based on chemistry/performance, cost, and availability (even Walmart carries it.) I have noted the change in two places under the hood, so it should be obvious in the unlikely event someone else touches the truck.

 

[Grumpy8811]

I think the most appropriate regarding any fluids used in maintenance is that word " recommended"... aka Mopar recommends Mopar coolant..
which is quite a bit difference than saying it it " required".

also worth saying you need to define what " best" means to you before going down that rabbit hole.

other than that, carry on.