Which coolant to use?
#17
NEVER ever use green coolant in gold fill.
Why?
The radiator type is made from different materials! When you put the green coolant in the radiator it literally acts as an acid to the radiator and it will leak. Plus if there is any bit of residue from the gold coolant, it will cause even more damage.
Here's more info on why NOT to use green:
The Motorcraft Premimum Gold Engine Coolant is Zerex G-05, I am told. Acording to Valvoline's Zerex G-05 product page, The G-05 "Utilizes hybrid Organic Acid Technology to minimize inhibitor depletion" and is a "Low-Silicate, Low-pH and phosphate-free formula" it is virgin ethylene glycol based, it comes in concentrate and Ready-to-use (premixed) packages. It meets Ford WSS-M97B51-A1 spec. Behind the MSDS/Product Info section menu, there are GREAT detail specs for this product.
An extended life coolant will cause injector and water pump seal deterioration, by reacting with some brass compounds and some silicon-based seal materials. Coolant must meet ESE-M99B44-A spec ON V8 MOTORS BUILT BEFORE Feb. 2, 1999. After that date, Texaco ELC Ethylene Glycol colored raspbery red (Organic Acid Technology) is OK for up to 150k miles, 30 months, then add extender to get another 150k, 30 months.
Ford also does not recommend nor endorse Propylene glycol based coolants, although it says warranty is not automatically voided upon the use of a coolant made with propylene glycol, if such use results in damage to the vehicle or its components, the cost of repair will not be covered by warranty. TSB 01-23-06
Why?
The radiator type is made from different materials! When you put the green coolant in the radiator it literally acts as an acid to the radiator and it will leak. Plus if there is any bit of residue from the gold coolant, it will cause even more damage.
Here's more info on why NOT to use green:
The Motorcraft Premimum Gold Engine Coolant is Zerex G-05, I am told. Acording to Valvoline's Zerex G-05 product page, The G-05 "Utilizes hybrid Organic Acid Technology to minimize inhibitor depletion" and is a "Low-Silicate, Low-pH and phosphate-free formula" it is virgin ethylene glycol based, it comes in concentrate and Ready-to-use (premixed) packages. It meets Ford WSS-M97B51-A1 spec. Behind the MSDS/Product Info section menu, there are GREAT detail specs for this product.
An extended life coolant will cause injector and water pump seal deterioration, by reacting with some brass compounds and some silicon-based seal materials. Coolant must meet ESE-M99B44-A spec ON V8 MOTORS BUILT BEFORE Feb. 2, 1999. After that date, Texaco ELC Ethylene Glycol colored raspbery red (Organic Acid Technology) is OK for up to 150k miles, 30 months, then add extender to get another 150k, 30 months.
Ford also does not recommend nor endorse Propylene glycol based coolants, although it says warranty is not automatically voided upon the use of a coolant made with propylene glycol, if such use results in damage to the vehicle or its components, the cost of repair will not be covered by warranty. TSB 01-23-06
i only recently got this truck but i am a late model mustang enthusiast and have an 04 cobra, and a few years ago i was researching heavily into replacement coolants for my car.
here was my understanding:
the green and gold are both essentially the same - they are both ethylene glycol based coolants. the gold has additional additives that make it "long life", meaning ok until 100k according to ford.
neither will have any adverse effects for a modern cooling system components by themselves or mixed. problems do arise however, when propylene glycol (orange, or gm dexcool) is mixed with the ethylene glycol. these problems include "clumping" of the coolant, etc.
one example i can give is that my own version mustang cobra had a 2 year model run from ford, broken down into 3 approximately 6 month build runs. all radiator part numbers from ford are the same for both 03 and 04 terminator cobras. however, the first 6 month run cars came with green coolant from the factory, in both the radiator and intercooler. the second and third runs came with only gold coolant from the factory. however, the radiator and other cooling system components for both model year cobras do not differ in any way.
fwiw
#18
Who do you think Fram, Prestone, and Autolite are? Yep, Honeywell Consumer Products. I'd believe that he's the tech manager for all of them. It's just too bad he won't provide us with enough data to substantiate his claims.
#19
Honeywagon... er.. Honeywell's Flim-Flam machine is broken for right now (had a Fram filter on it and blew it up), but when they figure out how to fix it, they'll be back with newer and better Flim-Flam. But don't hold your breath because after building tens of millions of OCOD (Fram filters), they still don't know how to build a filter, and the F-F machine is a lot more complicated than that...Stay tuned, but meantime take a nap, go on vacation, heck, die and come back from the dead, maybe by then they'll be back, better than ever in (drum roll)... THE FLIM-FLAM bidness!
#20
My ford ranger does not like coolant
I partially agree, distilled water costs a dollar or two and is what you should be using, not tap water. Either way, 50/50 mix should only be bought be those who need it in an emergency with no access to water, or those who don't have the proper equipment to test the antifreeze to determine the mixture.
#21
#22
The information is out there. After over a decade of these trucks being on the road, guys like that can do whatever they want to, and put whatever they want into their cooling system. If they suffer catastrophic failure, then they can reconsider the $1 that they saved by using "universal" antifreeze. Same way people use "multi-vehicle" ATF instead of Mercon V. Or some guy who believes that 20W-50 oil is better in his engine than 5W-20.
#23
Load of BS. The 92 Ford Ranger came from the factory with coolant, and the majority of the late 80's to early 90's Rangers driving around today are using coolant. If you aren't running coolant, you aren't living in any area where the temp gets around freezing or below. Rangers REALLY don't like freezing temps with nothing but water in the block/radiator. Your water pump will last longer with coolant as well, since coolant has better lubrication properties than water does.