Correct type of coolant, early model 3.8

[Jae 'Bird]

I have some questions about coolant, for context, the last time I delt with the cooling system was when I took it to a mechanic to have a new block heater installed and the cooling system pressure tested, it passed and everything was fine, then I discovered that he had left a half inch deep puddle of coolant in the battery tray so I never went back to that mechanic as I was pissed he would leave his work like that. I think the coolant in the system is green iirc and have had no issues but I have topped it off with this Prestone universal premixed (see below) and it was fine. But the other day I thought about doing a coolant flush in the summer (car is still parked rn) as I think its probably time and I looked up the OEM fluids (made by reco chem) and it says that this gold coolant is the correct stuff to use

I used this brand of coolant in my Honda and it works great so I trust the quality of it and its readily available at Canadian tire however, I need to know if this gold stuff is the right kind to use in the early model 3.8L's as I currently have some type of green in there that I did not put there. Now for a couple related questions,
- Do I need to flush ALL the old stuff out to put this type in, I assume yes
- If I do flush, can I do several flushes with clean hose water or do I HAVE to use distilled (I know to use distilled for mixing concentrate for the final fill)
- Is there a different/better alternative coolant to use that we have found (dumb question I know but I might as well get all the info)
Thanks for all the help

 

[KevinVarnes]

Green was original. You can use the universal, but I don't like to. Gold stuff is later model long life as far as I know. Your car was built when there was one type of coolant and a handful of different transmission fluids. Nowadays you have to know the year/make/model/paint color/interior color and whether it has rear defrost to get the right stuff.

 

[Jae 'Bird]

Green was original. You can use the universal, but I don't like to. Gold stuff is later model long life as far as I know. Your car was built when there was one type of coolant and a handful of different transmission fluids. Nowadays you have to know the year/make/model/paint color/interior color and whether it has rear defrost to get the right stuff.

hmm... that's a good point, what's funny is it seems to be very hard to find just normal green coolant here, the only green coolant at Canadian tire is the Asian vehicle green coolant and Prestone doesn't even make green coolant their website just specs the universal for my car. I think more digging will be required.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Prestone does make green. It's called Prime. But they don't advertise it.

 

[Jae 'Bird]

Now I gotta figure out if I can find it here, although does coolant go bad from just sitting because the prime is only listed as guaranteed for 2 years which is not very confidence inspiring, I just don't want it to start rusting my cooling system when its stored for the winter. I know it wont happen immediately but I almost feel like switching to the modern all vehicle with the longer guarantee wouldn't be a bad thing as its newer technology that might be better for the cooling system. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong its just something I thought of

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I'm asking myself the exact same questions as my green is coming up on two years. Will follow the thread, but don't have answers for you.

Ford published a document a while back regarding their opinion about universal coolants; they advised against them. But that may just have been liability talk.

 

[Jae 'Bird]

I'm asking myself the exact same questions as my green is coming up on two years. Will follow the thread, but don't have answers for you.

Ford published a document a while back regarding their opinion about universal coolants; they advised against them. But that may just have been liability talk.

Good deal, but yours is a late model so wouldn't your car actually spec the gold stuff? Also I wonder if the document was more for the modern cars because I KNOW that ford does not car about these cars now that they are so old, as in, the number of times I phoned the dealer to ask about parts even just for the number and got laughed at is hilarious, they just assume that no one uses these cars anymore, which is understandable at this point. I think we collectively now know more about what's best for our cars than ford, most tech at the dealers didn't exist when my car rolled off the line so I wouldn't expect them to know anything about it