engine coolant
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 807
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From: Prince George, BC
engine coolant
i am wondering what color the engine coolant is from the factory? i am used to seeing the green stuff all my life and today i wanted to check the coolant for the anticavitate/electrolisis stuff with the fleetguard test strips, and my coolant is a yellow color. is that right? also when i did the test it said that my overall rating was .8, and it should be at least 1.2, now i bought some stuff from ford to put in the radiator and i put about 1/4 of the bottle in, is that enough. im gonna do another test in a couple days but if any of you figure i should add a little more let me know, but i dont want to overcharge the radiator.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2003
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I use a half bottle of FW-15 every 6-9 months in each truck. But my results do not matter to you- The best thing you can do is run another test and see what your system needs. The test should tell you exactly how much to add.
-Mike
-Mike
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 807
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From: Prince George, BC
yeah the color looks gold, but now i did the test with the strips and it said i needed some of that additive, so i add about 3-4 oz, will that hurt anything for me??? one more quick question, why did the stips say to add some aditive if the gold stuff doesnt need it, shouldnt have the strips showed ok? thanks for the help.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 807
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From: Prince George, BC
Farmerphil, so you are saying even though my truck has the gold coolant , and that coolant has all the additives in it, it will need recharging sometime down the road? i just wanna be sure cause i heard guys talking about you dont need to check the gold coolant and stuff like that, so i dont wanna wreck my truck by adding this additive stuff when i dont need it, but i guess if i check it with the strips and it says it need recharging i should do it? i added around 4 oz of it last night, thats when i saw the gold.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 278
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From: Louisville, KY
you will be fine. supplemental coolant additives are in this type of coolant but as all others they break down. You do not want to mix Extended Life Ethylene Glycol (yellow) and Ethylene Glycol (green) coolants just because there has not been enough research one the two being mixed. It may be fine but I wouldn't recommend it. What I would do is drain the coolant that you have currently and replace it with the cheaper Ethylene Glycol (green) when you have about 30,000 more miles on the coolant with additive. Both coolants will work but one is cheaper and then the other is less time consuming. Whatever works for you is the best to go with.
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Louisville, KY
Ford says that the "yellow" coolant does not need SCA's if it is properly maintained--I guess maintained means changing the coolant every 25,000 miles OR adding SCA's
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 807
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From: Prince George, BC
farmerphil, thanks for you help, i apprieciate it, yeah i guess the yellow coolant must have broken down a little like you said or else those test strips would have read fine, so i will add some of the diesel coolant additive until it reads good with the strips, it souldnt hurt anything just make things better right , and then when i get around to it i will flush the system. thanks again.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 278
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From: Louisville, KY
You want to stay with the green coolant; the engines prior to '02 have gaskets that are not able to be used with the extended life gold coolant.
Also, you should stay with the green (it goes good with the John Deere green, which is the best color of all!)
Also, you should stay with the green (it goes good with the John Deere green, which is the best color of all!)