AU3 coolant: use motorcraft branded product ONLY, or a better aftermarket prod?

rowan194 · 13-08-2011, 10:00 AM

I'm replacing welch plugs this weekend which means I'll be flushing my cooling system. Should I refill with the motorcraft premixed coolant from ford, and only that, or is there something else that works the same/better?

Thanks.

FTe342 · 13-08-2011, 10:16 AM

You can use any of the green ones to the coolant manufacturers specs - some are pre-mixed & some are concentrated
Just remember to change every few yrs

falconhell74 · 13-08-2011, 10:30 AM

yep as FTe342 said , I personally use NULON coolant/oils there top shelf without the price tag

rowan194 · 13-08-2011, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falconhell74

yep as FTe342 said , I personally use NULON coolant/oils there top shelf without the price tag

I buy Nulon oils, haven't looked at their coolants yet though.

http://www.nulon.com.au/product_group/Cooling_Systems/

Which one do you use?

Mr Hardware · 13-08-2011, 11:09 AM

is it green? use it then.
a decade old car don't care what brand coolant you use.

sneaky · 13-08-2011, 11:35 AM

slightly off topic, but what is the difference between the green ones and other colours?

rowan194 · 13-08-2011, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

is it green? use it then.
a decade old car don't care what brand coolant you use.

It's been running on demineralised water for at least a couple of years due to a slow leak, one of the welch plugs has corroded through and there's probably others that are close to that too, so even though it's a 9 year old car I'd rather do it right. I'm planning to keep this car for at least a couple more years so spending an extra $20 for the right stuff won't hurt.

FGII-XR6 · 13-08-2011, 01:46 PM

I don't know about other pre mixes but I know motorcraft coolant is pre mixed with demineralised water

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowan194

I'm replacing welch plugs this weekend which means I'll be flushing my cooling system. Should I refill with the motorcraft premixed coolant from ford, and only that, or is there something else that works the same/better?

Thanks.

burnz · 13-08-2011, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneaky

slightly off topic, but what is the difference between the green ones and other colours?

typicly the green is for iron block's, the red is for alloy block's.

mik · 13-08-2011, 03:20 PM

if it has green in it before put green back in it, as long as it has corrosion inhibitors it should be ok, i read an article on cooling systems and they went into great detail that you should`nt put green in after red unless it has a very very very thorough flush and flush and a chemical clean, from what i can remember, the red stuff leaves some residue that reduces the performance of the green stuff.

speedzter · 14-08-2011, 01:17 AM

And never use tap water !

Mr Hardware · 14-08-2011, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowan194

spending an extra $20 for the right stuff won't ~~hurt~~ make a difference

fixed for you

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedzter

And never use tap water !

I've seen cabs run for 800,000klms with nothing but quarter strength Prolube coolant and tap water.

WannabeXP · 15-08-2011, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

typicly the green is for iron block's, the red is for alloy block's.

We had a tectaloy rep in at work(SCA) and in there range it is just a colour, so kids are less likely to drink it.
And the effects of using tap water is that the coolant is fighting the impurities in the water rather then corrosion in your cooling system. so basically reducing the effective life of the coolant.
Hope this helps
Cheers Jason

b2tf · 15-08-2011, 11:19 PM

Tectaloy gold in my xr8 and very happy with it.

rowan194 · 17-08-2011, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

if it has green in it before put green back in it, as long as it has corrosion inhibitors it should be ok, i read an article on cooling systems and they went into great detail that you should`nt put green in after red unless it has a very very very thorough flush and flush and a chemical clean, from what i can remember, the red stuff leaves some residue that reduces the performance of the green stuff.

To be honest I don't recall what was in there when I bought it, I have seen it but with my memory I'd probably be getting confused between this car and my last one.

The stuff that leaked onto my driveway was reddish-brownish but that may just be rust... there's a fair bit of "mud" that came out when I flushed it.

Nulon's web page recommends to use a radiator flush to help remove all traces of the old coolant, but I'm concerned that the flush may work too well, and dislodge a spec of rust here, a bit of gunk there, and start leaking... I can replace the radiator if need be, but given I've spent about $1400 in maint & repairs on this car recently I'd rather not!

POELWYK · 17-08-2011, 11:20 PM

get a bottle of the GREEN NULON concentrated stuff 5L one poor 1/4 of the bottle in and top up with water (i juse tap water) always worked for me and never had a issue Fingers crossed

rowan194 · 18-08-2011, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by POELWYK

get a bottle of the GREEN NULON concentrated stuff 5L one poor 1/4 of the bottle in and top up with water (i juse tap water) always worked for me and never had a issue Fingers crossed

Yeah that's what I ended up getting, except you'd need more than a quarter of a 5L bottle? 16L capacity x 33% = 5.28L of concentrate (I'm just going with a single 5L bottle). A quarter bottle would only be 7.8% concentration which sounds too low?

There's plain tap water in there momentarily but I'll be flushing the system today (twice) then using the nulon concentrate mixed with demineralised water.

rowan194 · 18-08-2011, 09:54 AM

I replaced the thermostat and gasket too, I've noticed the engine gets to operating temp more quickly... eg when I used to drive from home (cold) to my daughter's school, the needle had barely moved into range by the time I arrived... now it's sitting at "O" in NORMAL halfway into the trip. That's got to be better for the engine since most of my trips are short.

The old thermostat had flaky black stuff on it, I'm not sure if that's hardened coolant gunk or failing paint? The new one was bare metal.

POELWYK · 18-08-2011, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowan194

Yeah that's what I ended up getting, except you'd need more than a quarter of a 5L bottle? 16L capacity x 33% = 5.28L of concentrate (I'm just going with a single 5L bottle). A quarter bottle would only be 7.8% concentration which sounds too low?

There's plain tap water in there momentarily but I'll be flushing the system today (twice) then using the nulon concentrate mixed with demineralised water.

sorry spelling error 3/4 well jsut a tad over

rowan194 · 18-08-2011, 05:28 PM

3/4 still sounds too low if you want the recommended 33% concentration... in a 16L capacity system that's only 23%. Even the entire 5L container is a touch below the recommended level (31.2%)

Flushing doesn't completely empty the system so maybe you're thinking the capacity is less?

rowan194 · 07-09-2011, 06:52 PM

I read yesterday that EA-EF use the red coolant, while the AU uses green. Judging by a couple of stains that remain from long term minor leaks I'm starting to think that my AU may have had the red stuff in it, which isn't the correct type...

Unless the Motorcraft stuff is red?

SirHenry · 07-09-2011, 07:54 PM

I'm using the Nulon Red, from what I've read the Nulon Red is specifically for cars with an Aluminium radiator which my AU1 has.

/shrug had no issues so far with it,but eh it's Nulon of course it's gonna do the job well.

Chris

Mr Hardware · 07-09-2011, 09:24 PM

i've never seen a falcon with red coolant, e-series/au or otherwise

this is the question i ask myself when i think about coolant.
is there rust in it? no.
does it say on the O for NORMAL all day long? yes.

therefore? DO NOTHING.

BHDOGS · 08-09-2011, 12:53 AM

when i checked the coolant chart at motor mate recently it said to use the red coolant for an au series 2 fairmont v8

LukeyST · 08-09-2011, 01:15 PM

Whilst we are talking about coolant, how are you supposed to dispose of the old stuff?

After changing the coolant in my bike a few weeks ago i realised i didn't know what to do with the old stuff, which is now sitting in a bottle in the shed. Oil has never been an issue as we have an old 44gal drum at home to collect it.

I plan to drop the coolant out of the AU soon but obviously it holds quite a bit more than the bike does and i'll need to dispose of it.

Cheers.

TheSly1 · 08-09-2011, 02:45 PM

never leave coolant out where your pets can get to it, im not sure about cats but its deadly to dogs very bad stuff.. i know its common sense but never can be to careful

Mr Hardware · 09-09-2011, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeyST

Whilst we are talking about coolant, how are you supposed to dispose of the old stuff?

After changing the coolant in my bike a few weeks ago i realised i didn't know what to do with the old stuff, which is now sitting in a bottle in the shed. Oil has never been an issue as we have an old 44gal drum at home to collect it.

I plan to drop the coolant out of the AU soon but obviously it holds quite a bit more than the bike does and i'll need to dispose of it.

Cheers.

Just tip it on a part of your garden you don't care about
i don't think it'll kill anything
especially not if you dilute it by hosing it afterwards

Bushbasher · 09-09-2011, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Just tip it on a part of your garden you don't care about
i don't think it'll kill anything
especially not if you dilute it by hosing it afterwards

Um, I don't think that's quite right. I changed my coolant one day on a patch of grass where I used to live in NSW and the grass died. The patch was still dead 12 months later.

Bushbasher