klc317 Posted December 20, 2009 Report Share Posted December 20, 2009 (edited) Found a local place to recycle it so.... Since the MKX is an '07 and it is a simple job it's time to do a coolant change/flush. Way under mileage I know (33,000) but I prefer to change it out every couple years or so and don't want to pay the dealer to do it and be without our vehicle for 3 days for a simple job (see my wheel bearing thread...grrr). To me it's one of those things that are like 100,000 mile spark plug changes...lifetime coolant? Yeah, right! My questions are: 1: What is the cheapest place to get the real Ford Motorcraft Orange Coolant? Obviously not the dealer. Online retailers would be fine but I would think there would be a hazardous materials shipping premium. Wonder if Napa or somebody like that could get it for me? I want to stick with the Motorcraft orange coolant, not the "works with any color" universal antifreeze from the parts store. 2: Does anyone suggest using a flush (i.e. Prestone) or just flush it with clean water? We have a 50 gallon plastic barrel in a garage closet of reverse osmosis/deionized filtered water running off a filter that we use for our saltwater/reef aquarium so I can easily use that for flushing and filling. Beats buying jugs of distilled water and is even more pure. 3: I don't think they would go for it but I wonder what the "special" additive Ford is adding due to the heater core corrosion issue? I wonder if I could get some of that to throw in with the fresh coolant? Edited December 20, 2009 by klc317 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
druck52 Posted December 20, 2009 Report Share Posted December 20, 2009 (edited) Found a local place to recycle it so.... Since the MKX is an '07 and it is a simple job it's time to do a coolant change/flush. Way under mileage I know (33,000) but I prefer to change it out every couple years or so and don't want to pay the dealer to do it and be without our vehicle for 3 days for a simple job (see my wheel bearing thread...grrr). To me it's one of those things that are like 100,000 mile spark plug changes...lifetime coolant? Yeah, right! My questions are: 1: What is the cheapest place to get the real Ford Motorcraft Orange Coolant? Obviously not the dealer. Online retailers would be fine but I would think there would be a hazardous materials shipping premium. Wonder if Napa or somebody like that could get it for me? I want to stick with the Motorcraft orange coolant, not the "works with any color" universal antifreeze from the parts store. 2: Does anyone suggest using a flush (i.e. Prestone) or just flush it with clean water? We have a 50 gallon plastic barrel in a garage closet of reverse osmosis/deionized filtered water running off a filter that we use for our saltwater/reef aquarium so I can easily use that for flushing and filling. Beats buying jugs of distilled water and is even more pure. 3: I don't think they would go for it but I wonder what the "special" additive Ford is adding due to the heater core corrosion issue? I wonder if I could get some of that to throw in with the fresh coolant? The edge/mkx does not come with orange coolant, it comes with gold coolant. They are not adding a special additive. they are using a special flush chemical and refilling the system with green coolant. Edited December 20, 2009 by druck52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum White Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 The edge/mkx does not come with orange coolant, it comes with gold coolant. They are not adding a special additive. they are using a special flush chemical and refilling the system with green coolant. Do you mean that Ford is using Ethylene Glycol (green stuff)? I heard that this stuff is not too friendly with aluminum and some gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyedwardsmith Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Does your Dealer have the special tool yet needed to do the flush? Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABITEDGY Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 It is my understanding that Ford uses Zerex G-05 anti-freeze. Chrysler uses the same. It is less corrosive to aluminum than standard green anti-freeze. I used G-05 in my 03 Dodge truck (with 531k miles) until I sold it last June with no cooling system problems whatsoever. It only cost about $1 more per gallon than Prestone at NAPA. If anyone has more info on the heater core corrosion issue and if it suggests changing types of anti-freeze, I would sure like to learn more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyedwardsmith Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 The "Golden Flush Tool" is coming on Tuesday and I'm scheduled for Friday. Hope this does the trick! Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmy999 Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 The "Golden Flush Tool" is coming on Tuesday and I'm scheduled for Friday. Hope this does the trick! Gary so what is this special flush tool? Since when do you need a special tool to flush the cooling system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richh001 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 so what is this special flush tool? Since when do you need a special tool to flush the cooling system? They are referring to an issue with the heater core clogging that Ford has developed fix for. It involves a flush of just the heater core with a chemical strong enough to dissolve the clog. Check out some of the threads on the subject. They are not referring to a normal coolant change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmy999 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 They are referring to an issue with the heater core clogging that Ford has developed fix for. It involves a flush of just the heater core with a chemical strong enough to dissolve the clog. Check out some of the threads on the subject. They are not referring to a normal coolant change. Ya, I had read some about it. I was just wondering why they have to wait on a special tool to do it. Is it the special chemical they are waiting on? My girlfriend just got a 2007 so the coolant is probably 2 years old. I may replace it, flush out the system (including the heater core) and put in new coolant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Westfield Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 So instead of refilling the system with the Gold coolant, can you fill the system with distilled water, flush it out, then add the new Ford Green coolant? This may be a way to prevent the heater core issue in the first place. Does anybody know if this is a valid alternative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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