Dexcool..

[Iceman8.6]

Car-- 1997 Cougar / 4.6l all stock.

Recently bought a 97 Mercury Cougar. Noticed it has the orange Dexcool in the radiator system..have read some bad things about Dexcool. Do I need to get it all out and use the green radiator fluid?

Will I need to flush it all out using something like this.. https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze...il-radiator-flush-32oz/848324_0_0?spps.s=1033

 

[Grog6]

Depending on what state, that may be the best option. Being in tn. I'd get all of it out, then flush it with a hose for a bit. Then drain that, and do new prestone.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

and do new prestone.

Which?

 

[Grog6]

Here, the cost of the 5050 is the same as the concentrate, so 1 gallon of concentrate, or 100%, and fill the rest with distilled water. ends up with 1:2.5 ratio, which ends up about 30%. Water cools better, so as long as you don't get too cold, that's best, imho. Check your local needs.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

@Grog6
I meant which Prestone. See the four different types posted above.

 

[Jim3inVirginia]

I've always used traditional green coolant in my '95.

You sure it's Dexcool? Ford used to prescribe use of their orange coolant in my Fusion before they switched over to yellow. Or was Ford repackaging Dexcool as a Motorcraft product?

 

[dDUBb]

I only use Dex Cool ( in my GMs )

Ford orange is the same as Dexcool .. same organic acid formula. Green = ethylene glycol.

 

[Grog6]

Branding is your choice, any of those will work.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Branding is your choice, any of those will work.

Ok, but three out of four Prestone coolants posted above are "universal" while the forth is conventional green.

 

[Grog6]

Conventional green is what you want. And regardless of the labeling, change it every 3 years.

 

[bowez]

In our cars Green only, but Ford Gold is a good option too.

For the most part it doesn't matter in the US market; just make sure you DO NOT mix coolant flavors.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

In our cars Green only,

I keep reading this...but why?

Assuming you do a full flush with distilled water, all the old green is out, what would be wrong with the universal Prestone?

 

[bowez]

Price for one, and extended life coolant isn't a thing anyway.

IAT (green) is what our systems were designed for and there is no extended life coolant in the real world.

OAT (Dex-cool) incompatible, more expensive and less contamination compliant.

OAT (pink/blue) for European water sources has no real function in North America.

HOAT (Ford Gold) more expensive and designed for Aluminum systems.

The main selling point originally was 100k miles and 10 year changes that has now been dialed back to every 3-4 years no matter the flavor. So unless you have a all aluminum system or are in Europe/Japan, there is no benefit. Personally I call BS on a Universal coolant (besides Water only) as all the chemistries are incompatible; some more so than others (Dex-cool mud).

 

[KevinVarnes]

I think Dex-Cool is just fine. I refill many cars with it. I run conventional green in all of our rigs. I have a gallon of the pale yellow universal coolant on the shelf in case somebody comes in with a car in an emergency and I don't have the right stuff, but I can't bring myself to put it in any of our cars. I am personally tired of all of the different coolant formulations (last count I had 6 different types of coolant in my pole barn) and transmission fluids (probably 5-6 different versions of that too) which I think is why I refuse to switch from just regular green stuff.