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Re: What Kind Of Coolant?
I am not sure if your vehicle came with traditional green or with yellow / gold G-05 coolant.
Ford says to put in what it came with.....however, they do say that if you add a long life coolant to the traditional green, that it will still have the service life of the non-long life coolant.
I converted my '96 3.8L, which came from the factory with traditional green to the G-05 coolant.
Motorcraft "Gold" is G-05, and Zerex makes a G-05.
Most coolant that you will find, including the Prestone yellow jug is a Dexcool type of coolant.....which has NO silicates.
I prefer the low silicate G-05 coolant, which costs more, but give you the instant protection that the silicates provide, and the long life properties of the coolant.
That said, I change the coolant far more often than the 5 years 150K miles that the long life coolants claim.
Dexcool, and other Non Silicate and Non Phosphate coolants are known as OAT (Organic Acid Technology) coolants.
They are long life and do not have the silicate fallout that the traditional high silicate coolants had.
The downside is that they take 1K miles or so to build up the protective layer on the metal surfaces. This protective layer is removed when hit with particles or air bubbles.
This is were the "cavitation damage" comes in to play.....as air bubbles in a system with a OAT type coolant can cause pitting of metal surfaces.....particularly the water pump impeller.
G-05 is a HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) type of coolant.
It has the advantages of the OAT coolant, plus a low level of silicates to provide instant protection.....but will not settle out of the solution.
Of course, all 3 types, Traditional High Silicate, OAT, and HOAT are elthyline Glycol base coolants.
I have found that the OAT coolants are the most common in stores.....some carry ONLY OAT coolants.
Traditional green and G-05 coolants are harder to find.
I have read that some stores are starting to carry the Zerex G-05 again.
I have had several different auto part store clerks try to sell me a OAT coolant as a G-05 coolant.......it is pretty clear......labeling states "Silicate Free"......then it is NOT G-05.
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