I have two Ford vans.

A 1997 E350 V10 and a 2003 E450 V10. Both vans ironically have about 185,xxx miles on them.

Pop the hood and look at the coolant bottle on the 97 and it is nice and clean, looks clear and has Green coolant.

Pop the hood on the 2003 and OMG, what a mess. The coolant bottle is caked on the inside with this rusty residue. Looks like an old car where someone ran straight tap water for two years.

We know all about Ford Gold coolant in the 6.0 diesel, but the mess does not stop there.

I am going to flush that crap out of there and replace the coolant tank, hoses, and thermostat. There are no leaks and it does not overheat.

So here is the thing. I am NOT putting Ford Gold back in this 2003 E450. I am looking for alternatives. Here are the candidates:

Old green formula. I can get it fo $9 a gallon.
BMW blue coolant. $30 a gallon.
Prestone All Makes. (I heard it is really Dexcool) Not excited about that.

What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

What is wrong with the Ford Gold? Are you sure it isn't from lack of maintenance?

 

Someone has most likely dumped coolant that isn't supposed to be in there in to the original coolant at some point in it's history, I personally haven't seen what you're describing on any gas Ford vehicle with the correct coolant..... GM's dexcool, yes I have.

 

Same here on the Gold coolant.......have never seen any problems with it except for somebody who did not maintain the system

 

It is likely true that it was not maintained.

Here is another theory. The 2003 E450 is a cutaway van with rear heat. It has a copper solder heater core in the back. The aftermarket body company that put the shuttle bus body on the back (Also added this heater core) may have added coolant that was not compatible with the Ford Gold when the van was new.

 

That was my guess too.

 

After reading your original post I was going to suggest that maybe some other type of coolant was mixed with the gold at some point, then you added the above info and theory. Mixing coolant types can lead to a muddy situation like you described.

 

The mixing of coolant theory is likely the cause. I saw this from time to time in college when we did car care clinics where people from the general public came to get free labor on maint. and learn about basic maint. (which always drew in a crowd that were rather cheap *******s) and people had either mixed coolants because they did not know any better or they had a vehicle with "long life" coolant in it that had turned acidic from leaving it in there for 150,000+ miles. By the way, there is nothing wrong with using extended life coolant, just don't actually leave it in the cooling system for 150,000 miles. Your idea of changing out all of the hoses and overflow tank is a good idea, cheap insurance

 

Thanks for your help guys.

**UPDATE**

I bought a gallon of Fleetguard Restore Plus and ran it through the system. Flushed it for hours with no thermostat. I installed a new Motorcraft thermostat and coolant bottle cap and filled it with original formula green coolant.

Very next morning. Green coolant on the ground. Suddenly out of the blue, the radiator is bad.

I drained all the coolant, put in a new FVP brand radiator. Part number RAD1995. Filled it again with green coolant. Two days later I ran the engine to operating temp to get any air pockets out of the cooling system. After 25 minutes of idling, BAM. Coolant on the ground AGAIN. New radiator is bad.

Both radiators leaked from the lower tank. I don't know if this is bad luck or what.

 

The new radiator was defective as there was a bad crimp on the lower tank. I installed the replacement and it's good to go. Thanks all.

 

LOL, so my X with a few miles short of 200,000 miles is due for a coolant change? Dunno if it was changed before I bought it, but I've had it since it had 75K on it.