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simple coolant question here

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Old Oct 28, 2012 | 05:31 PM
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simple coolant question here

ok guys got a 2002 with the 4.2l v6... checking everything out in my freetime and decided its definately time for a rad/system flush.. problem comes down to is so broken down that color is a guess, looked in the book and it says green or gold/yellow, my question to everybody is what is ur recomendations here, NOT BRAND NAMES,JUST COLORS... i dont want to start a war with people over preferring certain brands lol..

anyways i was debating between green and red extended life, reason is because i work at a semi garage and they both are available at good prices to me, just dont know if the red does good in the 4.2 vs the gold and also how bad green would tear up any/all aluminum parts in the engine.. open to all recommendations other than "get it from ford dealership" i dont want to have to run to ford if i am a little low on coolant
 
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Old Oct 28, 2012 | 09:55 PM
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I went through this same ridiculous headache about 2 weeks ago. And, probably like you, I searched here and elsewhere and found about a half dozen conflicting answers and no real definitive answers. So I ended up standing at Autozone and Walmart just looking at my options. I kept standing there reading labels, etc. And, like you, I dang sure wasn't gonna take time off work and drive way out of my way to a Ford dealership which is almost 40 miles away. I finally just realized that the stuff in the yellow bottle (Prestone) had a guarantee written all over it saying stuff like ANY engine, ANY vehicle, ANY year, and ANY other antifreeze will be okay with it, yada yada. I also realized that the other brands didn't make that claim. So I finally just said life is too short and bought the green Prestone. I just didn't feel the need to go looking for that Motorcraft gold stuff or whatever that is just simply ethylene glycol as well. I hope this helped. I'm sure that somebody might jump all over my answer, and so be it if they do.
 
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Old Oct 28, 2012 | 10:02 PM
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That would be my rec if you think you have something other than green. IT definitely would NOT take the new gold that the trucks in the last few years get as well as the GM Orange.
 
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Old Oct 28, 2012 | 10:17 PM
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I always ran regular green in my 97 4.6 liter. Traded that truck off with 230,000 miles and no issues.
 
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Old Oct 28, 2012 | 10:23 PM
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the green is standard, the yellow is extended life. Both will work. Dont buy anything that says GM oe DEXCOOL, etc on it. That does not mix with the others.
 
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Old Oct 29, 2012 | 04:21 AM
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Actually the extended life i was looking at is rotella extended life coolant.. nor no dexcool crap lol
 
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