Coolant is a substance designed to regulate your engine temperatures and is made of a 50/50 mixture of water and ethylene glycol which can be purchased in ready-made mixtures or your can mix yourself.
Nissan tends to use either a green or blue color coolant in their vehicles. They encourage the use of their proprietary Genuine Nissan Coolant, but you can just as easily use a high-quality alternative like Valvoline Zerex Blue for Asian vehicles.
The different colors distinguish what type of coolant it is so Organic Acid Technology coolants would usually be orange, red, yellow, or purple.
Hybrid Organic Acid Technology coolants are orange or yellow and Inorganic Acid Technology coolants are green, but some manufacturers sell them in blue.
✓ PRO TIP: You are likely overpaying for car insurance.
Compare rates to get a better deal.
Please enter your zip.
ZIP CODE:
Two of the most popular coolant colors you can find Nissan using are green and blue and they generally haven’t got much difference in terms of improved performance.
You can use either of these mixtures in your Nissan and can even mix them together as long as you make sure to follow the proper dilution ratios if it is a concentrated mix.
Let’s take a closer look at the difference between Nissan’s green and blue coolant mixtures that are most commonly found in use across their vehicles.
Nissan Blue Coolant
Nissan’s luxury brand of vehicles known as Infiniti started using the blue Nissan Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant (LLC) in 2009 and by 2011 they had made a full transition to all their Infiniti vehicles using this mixture.
They made this transition as it is designed to create a much longer service interval and should last 10 years or 135,000 miles from the factory and then every 5 years or 75,000 miles from there onwards.
The pre-mixed variation is found in newer Nissan vehicles and is ready to use from the bottle.
However, the concentrated mixture of this formula is not designed to be mixed with water and states that it’s for dealer use only so we only recommend you use the pre-mixed formula as the concentrated variety is only to be used as a top-up for lowering freezing temperature protection.
Nissan Green Coolant
Nissan green coolant is designed to provide long-lasting protection for aluminum, cast iron, and all other engine components but doesn’t last as long as the blue mixture.
It is designed to last around 4 years or 60,000 miles and can also be mixed in with Nissan’s blue coolant. If you were to mix the two coolants together then your mixture would still only last you 4 years or 60,000 miles.
If you were to mix coolants then you may want to perform a coolant flush to get rid of rust or corrosion left in the system to make sure you can refill with a carefully measured dilution mixture.
What Type of Coolant Does Nissan Use?
There is a large variety of coolants used by Nissan and they are often distinguished by the mixture’s coloring. As a general guideline, you will find;
- Organic Acid Technology coolants are usually orange, red, yellow, or purple
- Hybrid Organic Acid Technology coolants are orange or yellow
- Inorganic Acid Technology coolants are green, but some manufacturers sell them in blue.#
However, the color doesn’t really matter and you should read the bottle to distinguish if the coolant is the right mixture for your vehicle. Nissan uses this variety of organic, hybrid, and inorganic coolants to meet the individual needs and performance abilities of each Nissan model.
One color of coolant doesn’t always mean it will do the same job and although the general rule is to have your coolant flushed every 30,000 miles or two years sometimes your coolant can last a longer period of time such as when it is fresh from the factory.
When Should I Get My Coolant Flushed?
For the best results, you should check your coolant every 15,000 miles to make sure the dilution levels haven’t fluctuated and started to cause rust or damage to your engine parts or even run out as this could cause an engine block or compromise the gaskets and pistons.
You can usually spot signs that your coolant needs flushing before it gets too late, here are some of the most common signs that you need a coolant flush.
- Grinding noises in the engine
- Heater not working
- Steam coming from the radiator
- Check engine light
- The temperature gauge will be high
- Rust in your coolant
- Coolant leaking from the engine when running
FAQs
Does Nissan use a special coolant?
Every vehicle manufacturer will use their own variety of coolants and they will be unique to certain models or years of their vehicles. There is a large variety of coolant colors from blue, green, red, purple, orange, and yellow.
Does it matter what color of coolant you use?
It is suggested you don’t use color as an indicator of which coolant you should use in your vehicle as this is not a reliable indicator. You should check your vehicle handbook for information on which coolant your engine needs and read the labels to get the most reliable coolant.
What coolant does Nissan use?
Most newer Nissan and Infiniti vehicles use a blue long-life antifreeze 50/50 mixture in their engines that can be purchased online or through a Nissan dealership.
Can I use blue coolant instead of green?
Because there is no internationally recognized standard covering coolant colors you should not use the color as a reliable indicator of whether or not your coolants can be mixed.
If you end up mixing a NOAT and OAT coolant then you could end up with a gel instead of liquid and this would ruin your engine.
Conclusion
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Without engine coolant, your vehicle is prone to overheating at a much quicker rate as well as a variety of other issues that can arise. Nissan’s mixture of engine coolant has its own variety of distinguishable colors, but that doesn’t mean they would be the same across all vehicle makes and models.
For the most accurate way to discover what coolant your Nissan needs you should check the owner’s manual for the most precise information as color is not a safe indicator of which coolant you have as there are no internationally recognized standards.
For more related Nissan topics, here are our other posts:
Are Nissans Good Cars?
10 Best Nissan Power Steering Fluid Equivalents
Why Does My Nissan Say Key ID Incorrect?