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Proper antifreeze to use

20K views 38 replies 21 participants last post by  theterminator93 
#1 · (Edited)
I went to the Ford parts counter today to get the correct antifreeze for the car. The owner's manual suggests using ESFZ-19549-AA but the parts clerk said "any green coolant" will do. I have a hard time buying that because I've read that any antifreeze based on 2-EHA (which is the majority of what you'll find at parts stores) contains silicates and borates that break down the plastics and silicone in the cooling system. Motorcraft Specialty Green is one that is silicate-free and over time it has made a visible difference to the lower intake manifold gaskets over the 2-EHA/dexcool type for some guys at a Mazda forum.

I understand that all this is futile if the previous owners of my car have been using Autozone brand green coolant, but I want to flush the system while I replace my heater core this weekend and prevent any more unnecessary wear from happening.

So what type of coolant is in your car and how long have you had it? Any problems or impressions?
 
#3 ·
As the guy at Ford said, any green coolant will work. Thereare always sales pitches and studies on this is better than that, but the simple answer is that coolant only starts breaking down gaskets from electrolysis when it starts getting old, so change your coolant every 2 years, and it will never be an issue.
 
#4 ·
I wish I had known this before I sent my car off for almost 6 months. My filling system might have messed everything up by now.
 
#5 ·
Any green coolant is fine, the local Ford dealer sold me a jug of no-name generic green stuff, that's what they use on older vehicles.
 
#7 ·
I also use the green stuff, and recommend it to all of my Ford driving customers.
 
#8 ·
I run the gold stuff Zerex G-05. Equivalent to ford premium gold. Switched to it when I did my swap. No reason not to, readily available, cheap, compatable, etc. It's what is used in the new vehicles. However IIRC it is not green compatable. Which didn't concern me when I did my swap since I drained the block, heater core, radiator, etc..
 
#15 ·
Ditto... G05 is far superior to the green junk. I wont touch the green junk. period.

Acid technology eh? That sounds like deathcool alright
I dont know why everyone hates on dexcool. My cougar has eaten through more heater cores over almost 10 years (at least 3) with the green junk (until I replaced it with G05) than my truck (0), which is now 10 years old. When i had the engine apart a few years ago, the coolant passages were spotless. There was WAY more sludge and crud in my cougars engine and surge tank from the green junk than there was in my truck from dexcool (there was NONE)... I do plan on switching my truck to G05, but frankly, if properly cared for and NOT MIXED there's nothing wrong with dexcool.
 
#9 ·
Gold is not incompatible with green, you just can't follow the extended life for it, and have to consider it green and follow that schedule.

I flush all my 4.6 cars and run G-05/Ford premium Gold, and follow a 5 year schedule, not 10 yrs like the original fill is (but once you change it at 100k/10yrs it is only good for 3 years ::shrug::)
 
#10 ·
I worked on the implementation of the G-05 coolant at Ford. It is compatible with the old "green" (conventional silicated) coolant, although as noted you lose the longer life benefit if they are mixed. Neither G-05 nor the green coolants are compatible with the "orange" (organic acid technology) coolants like Ford Specialty Orange or DEXCOOL. The Owner Guides all say "do not mix coolants", but the combination you really want to avoid is orange + green.

I have run G-05 in my MN12 for several years with no issues.
 
#11 ·
The dealership I got my 97 Cougar from filled it with the Ford Specialty Orange coolant (99 Cougar used it, so that means a 97 did too?)

It created a cream of wheat textured goop that clogged the bottom half of the radiator.

And the reason that the subsequent fill of G-05 is only rated for 3 year life is due to the type of water used when refilling it is an unknown.
 
#18 ·
And the reason that the subsequent fill of G-05 is only rated for 3 year life is due to the type of water used when refilling it is an unknown.
I thought the life was reduced because a simple drain and fill still leaves old coolant in the block & heater core. If you do a full flush with distilled water I'm sure you can go 8 years without changing it. Though I would still do a drain and fill every 2-3 years regardless just to keep things fresh.
 
#13 · (Edited)
i thought about doing the GO5 when i last flushed but i just put the green back in, perhaps next year when my bianual flush comes around.

i just thought the piss yellow stuff was HOATs and wouldn't mix well without a complete flush and drain. i even put green in my mothers 06 taurus because its what i had at the time and she had 8 years 100K+ on it >.> started to turn brownish...

i like to flush my coolant regularly anyway. just to keep it from turning acidic and eating up stuff. but if the yellow is compatible with old systems i guess ill just start keeping it on hand in the garage instead of the old green. that and distilled water :p

got prestone clean in the 93 ranger right now, maybe ill try it on that when i flush her out :)
 
#17 ·
DEXCOOL and similar coolants work fine in engines that were designed for use with them. One problem with using them in older Ford engines is that some of the gasket materials are not chemically compatible with the organic acids in the coolant. There have also been incompatibility issues with the flux used to braze the tubes to the headers in the radiator. G-05 avoids both of these issues in the MN12.
 
#20 ·
i grounded mine with a dorman ground strap tied to a jubilee clamp around one of the outlet tubes. just too be safe, i mean the core is hanging in plastic with nothing touching metal to naturally ground, and acidic fluid flows through it all the time, sounds like a battery too me.

otherwise i still remember the original deathcool (which has been reformulated) seeing enough of that penutbutter floating in hundreds of reservoirs and under radiator caps... mixed or not.... turned me off to that stuff pretty quick.

not to mention supposedly a lot of the intake gasket failures in the 3.8 and 3.1s were caused by incompatible gasket materials getting eaten away. plenty of GM guys i talk too about it just say they swapped over to green and haven't had problems since.

never had a clogged core yet, or seen someone that had, most leak on the passenger side floorboards.

and the plastic intakes are just... plastic... i mean theirs not much you can do to prolong the life of something already brittle, that sits on a hot engine its whole life with boiling hot fluids flowing through each corner. its going to warp or crack eventually no matter what. that being said, the FRPP PI intake looked a whole heck of a lot thinker and more robust around the intake and coolant ports then the old NPIs ive seen. suppose more plastic might help :)
 
#22 ·
and the plastic intakes are just... plastic... i mean theirs not much you can do to prolong the life of something already brittle, that sits on a hot engine its whole life with boiling hot fluids flowing through each corner. its going to warp or crack eventually no matter what. that being said, the FRPP PI intake looked a whole heck of a lot thinker and more robust around the intake and coolant ports then the old NPIs ive seen. suppose more plastic might help :)
Thanks. Do you know if the FRPP intakes have aluminum crossovers?
 
#21 ·
I've been around enough 90s/early 00s GM products to call that vomit in the coolant reservoir whatever I want. Seems like the biggest success stories I've ever heard with that Dexcool is that it doesn't suck as bad as everyone says, not that it's benefited them or anything, just that it hasn't eaten through their gaskets just yet. Woah, do I stand corrected...

My Cougar's heater core is STOCK btw :)
 
#23 ·
Yes, all FRPP PI intakes have the aluminum crossover. All available new stock Motorcraft nPI and PI intakes have the aluminum crossover. All aftermarket Dorman nPI and PI have the aluminum crossover.
 
#24 ·
Anybody use Evans Cooling? Supposedly, lasts for life, no corrosion, ever...

evanscooling.com

I'm thinking of trying it myself. I wanna keep my car(s) as long as possible.
 
#25 ·
i herd about something like that on wheelerDealers. i think it was evans, supposedly a waterless coolant, lasts forever. expensive as heck though.

sure enough here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQk_X33B2iQ

pretty interesting stuff.
 
#26 ·
#28 ·
yeah, i hear its essential to have a brand new, or spotless clean old system for it to stay rust free. if theirs existing corrosion it discolors quickly.

i couldn't help but notice the color of that prep fluid from that TR6 in WD. i'm sure the coolant in that turned a horrible brown color after a few months too. probably still works perfectly fine though, just a lot of floating particles in it.

if i ever tried the stuff i would probably spend a summer running my car on prestone clean and distilled a couple times before the prep fluid and evans went in, then hope for the best :D
 
#29 ·
At this stage in its service life, might as well put in a new water pump and tstat. $40 from the 'Zone and an easy way to remove a significant amount of coolant is well worth it!

I used to use the premixed 50/50 stuff in my car as it made filling quite easy.
 
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