Coolant Colour and changing it.

[gordiea]

Hi Experts,

I have a 2007 mk7 2.4 TDCI Transit and want to change the coolant as it's not been changed since new (30000 miles over 15 years) Its a campervan but guess its overdue.

I have taken heed and people say do'nt mix different colour anti freeze.

Well the book says.... Ford Spec WSS-M97B44-D and I've bought 5lts of Ford Service Super Plus Premium antifreeze/coolant which is marked with the same spec number.

The trouble is the original is a bright pink colour but this new stuff is a greeny yellow colour ! Is that Ok to use would you experts say please ? I don't have a clue.

Also the book says it holds 10 litres but the instructions I've read say just 5 litres will drain out when doing it cold. Do I have to take out the thermostat to get the rest out ?

Any and all advice is much appreciated.

[TheCake]

i have pink in mine and works just fine iirc different colours of coolant just have different freezing values but i may be wrong.
you may as well stick with pink if its already in there.
only 5l came out of mine when i removed the small thermostat at bottom of engine.

[knobby1]

i have pink in mine and works just fine iirc different colours of coolant just have different freezing values but i may be wrong.
you may as well stick with pink if its already in there.
only 5l came out of mine when i removed the small thermostat at bottom of engine.

I use a good quality Autralian made "Nulon" green in mine since I bought the van in late 2014, no issues since...I think if you wish to change out the old stuff, a good old fashioned flush out should suffice, it shouldn't matter too much what coolant you use....most of the newer quality coolants/anti freeze are pretty good these days.

Lord Knobrot

[TheCake]

to be fair most of my coolant is quite new as when i bought her i was topping up once/twice a week the culprit was the small thermostat had fallen apart but thats all fixed, now its just little bits when i have the egr off to clean/replace it. its a nice feeling to go from a van that leaks almost every fluid and knowing everywhere you've parked to not a drip to be seen.

[ned]

I use this stuff,

97A2FE31-17E7-4644-A021-98DF4A9FD78B.png

It’s green, yellow colour, it does the job, think it took just over 5L, if your changing the coolant then your going to drain most of it out so I doubt a small about mixed will do any harm.

ATF on the other hand (pas fluid) shouldn’t be mixed, apparently.

[gordiea]

Thanks everyone for your'e replies.

I just deduce that the Ford stuff I have is correct as the spec number ties up with the handbook regardless of the fact that it is a different colour to what was delivered in it originally by Ford.

It just seems odd that as it holds 10 litres in total you can only drain out 5 litres and replace that with a new 5 litres.

Oh well I'll do that and hope for the best, at least half of it will be brand new !!

Take care and enjoy your Transits (I'd rather a Ford than a Fiat )

[knobby1]

Thanks everyone for your'e replies.

It just seems odd that as it holds 10 litres in total you can only drain out 5 litres and replace that with a new 5 litres.

Oh well I'll do that and hope for the best, at least half of it will be brand new !!

Take care and enjoy your Transits (I'd rather a Ford than a Fiat )

You'll never get all the old coolant out unless you dismantle the whole system, including the heater matrix etc. A good flush and reflush should see you sorted, some remove the thermostat to make it easier to flush with cold water...they don't hold 10 liters either unless you have a rear cabin heater system installed as well.

Lord Knobrot

[gordiea]

Thats great information Knobby1, thanks very much.

[gt_addict]

Just to add to this. I bought some of the same green/yellow the ford stuff after finding a leak and changing a hose. The parts guy at my local ford dealer said this new stuff is compatible with both colours of coolant. But i would suggest doing as knobby says and flushing it through a couple of times and then filling with your preferred colour.

[bortaf]

Not mixing colours of coolant is related to mixing the newer OAT coolant with the older blue glycol coolant, they gel into lumps when mixed

[metalworker0]

Ah that explains it

Did a core plug on a newly acquired Rover 420 back in 2006

This what i found behind it.