Coolant - Orange or Green

[Waiter21]

I'm setting up to change my waterpump and thermostat. I'm pretty sure my 1999 F53 currently has orange coolant in it, I just looked at the manual and this is what it says:

Use Ford Premium Engine Coolant (green in color). DO NOT USE Ford
Extended Life Engine Coolant (orange in color). Refer to Adding engine coolant, in the Maintenance and Care chapter.

(This is from my 2001 manual, which should be similar to my 1999 chassis)

Whatever it has in it now is probably what I'll stay with. I plan on draining the system, flush with water, add 4 gallons of whatever color, then top it off with water. This should give me about 50/50 mix.

Thoughts????

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

I'm setting up to change my waterpump and thermostat. I'm pretty sure my 1999 F53 currently has orange coolant in it, I just looked at the manual and this is what it says:

Use Ford Premium Engine Coolant (green in color). DO NOT USE Ford
Extended Life Engine Coolant (orange in color). Refer to Adding engine coolant, in the Maintenance and Care chapter.

(This is from my 2001 manual, which should be similar to my 1999 chassis)

Whatever it has in it now is probably what I'll stay with. I plan on draining the system, flush with water, add 4 gallons of whatever color, then top it off with water. This should give me about 50/50 mix.

Thoughts????

I was the guy that posted several months about the manual says ONLY use green coolant. This is correct EXCEPT Ford has issued a TSB saying it is now OK to use the Ford extended life coolant. Just flush the coolant system completly and add the new coolant.

[Kahoona]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

I'm setting up to change my waterpump and thermostat. I'm pretty sure my 1999 F53 currently has orange coolant in it, I just looked at the manual and this is what it says:

Use Ford Premium Engine Coolant (green in color). DO NOT USE Ford
Extended Life Engine Coolant (orange in color). Refer to Adding engine coolant, in the Maintenance and Care chapter.

(This is from my 2001 manual, which should be similar to my 1999 chassis)

Whatever it has in it now is probably what I'll stay with. I plan on draining the system, flush with water, add 4 gallons of whatever color, then top it off with water. This should give me about 50/50 mix.

Thoughts????

Same manual as mine. Mine uses green. Wasn't the reason for the orange that it has stop leak in it to cut down on having to seal leaks before sending it out? I understand that mixing them can cause clogs.
I don't envy you that water pump job. Can't be much clearance up there.

[mrt_1111]

Originally Posted by ga traveler

I was the guy that posted several months about the manual says ONLY use green coolant. This is correct EXCEPT Ford has issued a TSB saying it is now OK to use the Ford extended life coolant. Just flush the coolant system completly and add the new coolant.

Can you post the tsb? Thanks

[TeJay]

Just a word to the wise. I remember the first time I bought some coolant (good price) and when I got it home was when I realized why the price was so good. It was already mixed 50/50. Never understood why they decided to sell it that way.

First of all unless you know what you're doing draining what you can get out of the system then adding a 50/50 mixture is not accurate. You don't know how much you got out, how much is still in the heater core, lines, and block so adding a 50/50 mix is kind of silly.

Some over the years I've head used straight antifreeze. That's not correct either. More than a 50/50 mix is not correct and I did hear that it would actually freeze if stronger than 50/50 but I never tested that thought. What was true was the fact that having it stronger than 50/50 was of no benefit.

About the most correct way of determining the 50/50 mixture is to add enough antifreeze to get the 50/50 mixtures freeze point (I think it's -32-F) with a hydrometer. Then you know it's actually at a 50/50 mix. The lower the freeze point also raises the boiling point.

[Waiter21]

My Mirada (2001) had orange in it.

I stopped by the house and checked it (1999 Southwind). I siphoned some out of the overflow bottle, I see green and I can also see orange. It also has a slight "gell" consistency. I think this is the orange and green do not readily mix, or they separate if left standing. I wonder if PO added orange and it was originally green.???


I think I'm going green...

As for 50/50 guestimate!. The book says it uses 31 quarts. If I flush it good with water, drain it, then fill with 4 gallons (16 qts) of straight green, and then top it off with water, that should get me very close to 50/50. i.e. 16 qts of green, 15 qts of water. I can verify with hydrometer.

The pump is actually fairly easy to replace. I did it on my Mirada.

• bust the four pulley screws loose
• remove the belt
• put a couple pieces of cardboard up against the radiator on the fan side to protect the radiator
• unscrew the fan/clutch and lay them up against the cardboard / radiator
• remove the pulley screws and the pulley
• remove the pump
• clean the cavity with 200 paper so the new pump has a nice clean surface
• put a tiny bit of soap on the cavity and the o-ring
• reinstall

..

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

My Mirada (2001) had orange in it.

I stopped by the house and checked it (1999 Southwind). I siphoned some out of the overflow bottle, I see green and I can also see orange. It also has a slight "gell" consistency. I think this is the orange and green do not readily mix, or they separate if left standing. I wonder if PO added orange and it was originally green.???


I think I'm going green...

As for 50/50 guestimate!. The book says it uses 31 quarts. If I flush it good with water, drain it, then fill with 4 gallons (16 qts) of straight green, and then top it off with water, that should get me very close to 50/50. i.e. 16 qts of green, 15 qts of water. I can verify with hydrometer.

The pump is actually fairly easy to replace. I did it on my Mirada.

• bust the four pulley screws loose
• remove the belt
• put a couple pieces of cardboard up against the radiator on the fan side to protect the radiator
• unscrew the fan/clutch and lay them up against the cardboard / radiator
• remove the pulley screws and the pulley
• remove the pump
• clean the cavity with 200 paper so the new pump has a nice clean surface
• put a tiny bit of soap on the cavity and the o-ring
• reinstall

..

Your coach came with Green, for sure. According to Ford, the two MUST NOT be mixed. I would go with the Ford long life fluid (orange) The old green fluid is old school tech. It has to be changed much more often and is easier to get acidic. One other thought, since everything is going to long life and the old stuff may not be available when you need more.

[ga traveler]

[QUOTE=TeJay;3668481]Just a word to the wise. I remember the first time I bought some coolant (good price) and when I got it home was when I realized why the price was so good. It was already mixed 50/50. Never understood why they decided to sell it that way.

This one I can answer. Straight from Ford head engineer. The Ford manual says to change the original coolant at so much mileage. After that the mileage is about half the original. WHY? Because Ford does not know what quality water you are using in the coolant. The manufacturers of coolant decided to make premixed coolant to make sure the water is good quality. (distilled) When you change coolant, You should ALWAYS use distilled water. The chemicals in water will affect the coolant and the radiator and cooling system.

[TeJay]

I do understand the idea behind the use of distilled water. This was some of the discussion that I always had with my students.

Did you ever wonder why when you accidentally insert a fork or spoon into your mouth and touch a metal filling you get this awful feeling??? What you just did was create a battery and what you felt was current (very small) passing through your mouth.

Three things are needed to create a battery: Any two dissimilar metals like silver, mercury, gold, steel, stainless,copper, aluminum, tin then add an acid which is almost always present in your saliva. You just created a battery.

The tap water may have small amounts of minerals or metals, present which could provide or add to what is needed to create that battery.

Here's something else one can try and it really does work. Using a digital volt meter ground one lead and insert the positive lead into the coolant but not touching any metal inside the radiator. Depending on how much acid is present it will make a battery and you will and can read a voltage. The stronger the acid present in the coolant the higher the voltage created. The stronger the acid content the more corrosive the coolant will be to the inside of your cooling system. The corrosive action will effect metal parts as well as the rubber hoses.

Here's my problem with the idea behind what the Ford engineer reported to you. Just how can anybody easily and completely empty the entire cooling system: radiator, reservoir, heater core, lines valves, etc of the coolant that is in it when it is filled from the factory??? If a technician can't remove all the old coolant how can they add a premixed solution and end up with the correct 50/50 mix?? That just won't work.

I'm sure you are familiar with the flushing "T" method?? Insert the plastic "T" in a coolant 5/8" line and using a garden hose run water through the system until it is running clear. Then knowing the total volume pour the correct amount of anti-freeze to make the mix 50/50 and the water will be displaced. Works pretty well.

I agree with you that distilled water would be the best. It is my educated guess that I doubt you'll find many shops (if any) who actually do use distilled water for the same reason I mentioned earlier.

Just how will they drain and fill the system using distilled water?? They may have a special system full of distilled water and are able to flush the old coolant out then run the distilled water through then add the anti-freeze. I really doubt that any shop is going to go to that extent and expense for the customer to change coolant.

Maybe using low pressure air to blow the old coolant out would work but I'm not sure if that would really work or not. There may be some low places in some vehicles and some amount of old dirty coolant would still remain.

[Kahoona]

So much going on here.

1- Hungry water, fact or fiction. I say fiction.

2- For most RV's some benefits of coolant is are corrosion inhibitors and pump lubricant. I use 100% because it's cheaper once mixed and takes up less room. . I add 50% of the capacity of full strength then finish with tap water. Take it for a drive then cool and opp off with tap.

3- When changing antifreeze types or just wanting to completely clean out the old you fill with water, run for only a few minutes then drain again and blow it out if you want.

4- There are stories that mixing the Green and Orange can cause blockages because of the leak stopping stuff. I also heard that the Orange needs to use a pressurized overflow tank to limit air contact. My 2001 '53 chassis does have that.

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by TeJay

I do understand the idea behind the use of distilled water. This was some of the discussion that I always had with my students.


Here's my problem with the idea behind what the Ford engineer reported to you. Just how can anybody easily and completely empty the entire cooling system: radiator, reservoir, heater core, lines valves, etc of the coolant that is in it when it is filled from the factory??? If a technician can't remove all the old coolant how can they add a premixed solution and end up with the correct 50/50 mix?? That just won't work.

.

At our lot, we always drained the system. We then ran a water hose in the recovery tank. (on a V10) turned on the water and ran it at barely on. Shut it off and drained several times. We then poured out half the antifreeze and added a half gallon of distilled water. we made up all the antifreeze we needed by
using half a gallon antifreeze and half distilled water. The V10 has aluminum heads and MUST be kept cool. So Ford elected to use a LOT of coolant. If memory serves me it is about seven gallons. If there is a quart or so of water left in engine that not a lot of chemical contamination.

[twinboat]

Just did my E450 V10. Start with 1 gallon, full strength anti freeze. Next, add 1 gallon of water ( what ever water you think it needs ). Now add the next gallon of anti freeze.

If you keep alternating this way you will never and up with a less than a 50/50 mix.

[Waiter21]

To flush out the system, a couple days ago I removed the old thermostat and reinstalled the housing. I then filled it up with fresh water, ran the engine and heater for a few moments to circulate everything, then drained it at the radiator drain. I did this three or four times. When I was finished, I left the radiator drain open.

Yesterday I installed a new water pump and thermostat (195 deg). When I removed the old water pump, the water level in the block was below the pump, nothing ran out.

When I refilled with new antifreeze. It took just under 4 gallons of green (full strength) .

If the Ford book is correct, the system capacity should be just under 8 gallons. This tells me I still had just under 4 gallons of water remaining in the system after I drained it from the radiator.

With 4 gallons of pure antifreeze added after the water flushing, I should be very close to a ideal 50/50 mix.

[Kahoona]

"1999 Fleetwood Southwind 35S (Ford F53 6.8L V10) - Toad 2003 Saturn Vue.
It won't do MACH 2, but I can get a sandwich and take a pee."