Coolant Color

[grigr]

Hey y'all,

I got my FiST a few months back and while under the hood, I noticed that my coolant level was right at the Min point (the engine had cooled off for 3 hrs at this point). Per Ford, I should use Motorcraft Orange.

However, the coolant inside the reservoir is very clearly pink. I have no idea which brand of coolant this is. How should I proceed in refilling the resovoir if the coolant in it potentially isn't Motorcraft?

Thanks!
grigr

 

[Zeille]

Hey y'all,

I got my FiST a few months back and while under the hood, I noticed that my coolant level was right at the Min point (the engine had cooled off for 3 hrs at this point). Per Ford, I should use Motorcraft Orange.

However, the coolant inside the reservoir is very clearly pink. I have no idea which brand of coolant this is. How should I proceed in refilling the resovoir if the coolant in it potentially isn't Motorcraft?

Thanks!
grigr

in my opinion, i would probably flush it out and fill the system with motorcraft coolant. doesn't hurt to give the car a nice flush

 

[SteveS]

Pink is "universal" coolant and does have the same organic acid technology for anticorrosion, but is missing several of the things Ford requires for protection of the plastic parts in the engine. The Fiesta (and all Ford products since about 2012 or so) should use Motorcraft orange coolant.

Flush and refill with Motorcraft orange.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Unless you can find some new old stock, the Motorcraft 'orange' does not exist anymore.

The new Motorcraft coolant is a yellowish green color, but almost the same exact chemistry (with maybe some slight improvements?) as the older orange coolant.

 

[SteveS]

Yes, I forgot that, even though a couple of years ago when they made the change there were several long threads about it on the forum. The new yellow Motorcraft can apparently be mixed with the orange too, though I probably wouldn't do it.

https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.com/quickref/FCSD Motorcraft Yellow Antifreeze-Coolant Backward Compatability.pdf

Service Information for using Motorcraft® Yellow Antifreeze/Coolant with/in place
of Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant and Motorcraft® Specialty Green
Engine Coolant with Bittering Agent
Topping off, Draining and Refilling:
• Motorcraft® Yellow Antifreeze/Coolant can be used to top-off or entirely replace (drain and
refill) antifreeze/coolant in vehicles factory-filled with Motorcraft® Orange
Antifreeze/Coolant and Motorcraft® Specialty Green Engine Coolant.
Flushing:
• Flushing the cooling system is not required prior to entirely replacing (draining and
refilling) Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant or Motorcraft® Specialty Green Engine
Coolant with Bittering Agent with Motorcraft® Yellow Antifreeze/Coolant if the cooling
system is not contaminated.

 

[Dialcaliper]

Unless you can find some new old stock, the Motorcraft 'orange' does not exist anymore.

The new Motorcraft coolant is a yellowish green color, but almost the same exact chemistry (with maybe some slight improvements?) as the older orange coolant.

Can confirm. The new coolant is just called “Motorcraft Yellow”, and is theoretically supposed to be 100% compatible with systems that were previously filled with the Orange coolant, even mixing them.

If your coolant is “pink” it could be one of two things - either old orange coolant that turns pinkish over time, or “pink” coolant that’s kinda sorta compatible. Either way, your coolant is probably old and you should do a full flush anyway.

The big No-No is mixing traditional (inorganic) green/red coolant with modern “OAT/HOAT” organic acid coolants (every other color including orange and yellow), as the two additive chemistries with react and start forming sludge that will build up in the system.

 

[TDavis]

Its not pink. The orange looks pink when inside the reservoir. New Ford coolant that replaces the Orange is Yellow and is fine to mix. You wont be able to get orange anymore.

Ford came out with a message that yellow is compatible with orange.

 

[Intuit]

On a coolant exchange, you'll only get about half out. The system has a multi-stage process for warm-up and full circulation isn't allowed until the final stage.
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threa...-on-cooling-system-resolved.28344/post-474677

.

 

[FlordPerformance]

we use the orange Prestone 50/50 coolant. But yes if it's bene 4 years you need to flush. Also, if you've just bought used should be flushed.. the issue is, one would not know what the other owner has done to he system or the shops they took the car to, to have the system topped off etc.. 9 out of 10, one can bet at some point.. someone has mixed coolants.

 

[lemonjs]

Is it actually bad to use pink OAT coolant in the Fiesta? Mine came with it from Ford and I’ve changed it myself with the pink stuff a few times over the last 7 years.

 

[FlordPerformance]

As long as the coolant you're adding is the same OAT type coolant.. Do not mix OAT with HOAT but in some case you can or could mix POAT coolants but only in a pinch. So it's not so much the colors, but the type of coolant used.

 

[TDavis]

Is it actually bad to use pink OAT coolant in the Fiesta? Mine came with it from Ford and I’ve changed it myself with the pink stuff a few times over the last 7 years.

Ford does not have a pink coolant. I can bet you my entire career its orange but looks pink. It's just like how Fords old gold(not yellow) coolant looks damn near clear and the new yellow looks bright green coming out of the bottle. Your coolant was orange, not pink.