What color Antifreeze?

[Lunatic250]

Im going to swap out my radiator in the next few days, so i went to Autozone got radiator, thermostat, a bottle of flush and a few gallons on antifreeze, but all they had was either the DEXCOOL Orange for GM, Or the Prestone ANTIFREEZE which is now Yellow(which according to them is the one i needed). My truck Had an Orange antifreeze in it before i flushed it out today but now this has me wondering, if it will be bad if i pour in the yellow prestone antifreeze? Can anyone give me some advice?

[tdeal823]

Go to your local CAT dealer and get some of their coolant.

I will look for a product number when I get home.

I think it said EC1 and 100,000,000 hours of use on the 1 gal jugs. It is Red. and needs no additive.

I run it in everything I have.

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by Lunatic250

Im going to swap out my radiator in the next few days, so i went to Autozone got radiator, thermostat, a bottle of flush and a few gallons on antifreeze, but all they had was either the DEXCOOL Orange for GM, Or the Prestone ANTIFREEZE which is now Yellow(which according to them is the one i needed). My truck Had an Orange antifreeze in it before i flushed it out today but now this has me wondering, if it will be bad if i pour in the yellow prestone antifreeze? Can anyone give me some advice?

Color is not the best way to designate coolant anymore. For example, Toyota, Dodge and some Cummins coolants are all pinkish...three totally different chemical make ups, one is Propylene glycol, one is HOAT and is OAT with SCAs.

You can run green with an additive, MC gold (which is the same as Zerex G-05 and Mopar pink) or ELC. IMHO your best bet is the ELC, an ELC is defined as a coolant meeting Cat EC-1, Navistar B-1 and/or Cummins 14603...if it doesn't meet any of those specs it is not an ELC. For example Dex-Cool is listed as an extended life coolant but doesn't meet any of those specs and thus is not the ELCs typically referred to on this forum.

More info on coolant than you will EVER want...

Gooch's Radiator/Engine Backflush Procedure and Coolant Information - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by Lunatic250

so once i flush out the system properly You can change over to a diffrent type? or is that oem compatible?

Yes if you do a complete flush, you can change type. I would highly recommend an ELC, G-05 coolants (MC gold, Zerex g-05 and Mopar Pink) aren't as good against cavitation. Mine with be getting ELC in the spring.

[Lunatic250]

Thank you, That Link you provided was Great! Thanks definetly a sticky..

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by Lunatic250

Thank you, That Link you provided was Great! Thanks definetly a sticky..

No problem man, coolant has to be the most confusing fluid we dump in our trucks. When I was changing mine I was so confused I was ready to dump koolaid in there.

[firemediceric]

Originally Posted by Lunatic250

Im going to swap out my radiator in the next few days, so i went to Autozone got radiator, thermostat, a bottle of flush and a few gallons on antifreeze, but all they had was either the DEXCOOL Orange for GM, Or the Prestone ANTIFREEZE which is now Yellow(which according to them is the one i needed). My truck Had an Orange antifreeze in it before i flushed it out today but now this has me wondering, if it will be bad if i pour in the yellow prestone antifreeze? Can anyone give me some advice?

What year is your truck? I would have liked to have put an ELC in my early '99 like I have put into my '04 Excursion. In the Excursion I used the Zerex ELC which is Cat-1 rated. In my early '99 I used FleetCharge from NAPA based on Gooch's recommendation. I maintain the SCA's with a pre-charged coolant filter. It's worked well for me.