Best Coolant?

svtmemo · Mar 27, 2015

I am currently running gold coolant on my cobra from ford and wanted to try something different as I will be upgrading to a 170 degree thermostat soon and do some much needed maintenance to the car. I've heard if some people having certain problems with sludge build up with the gold coolant? What type/color are some of you guys running? Can I run the new ford orange coolant safely? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Blueline · Mar 27, 2015

Flush with new ford gold

JuStAkId · Mar 27, 2015

Just run Ford orange coolant. No real reason why you would switch. Just make sure you burp the system correctly

http://www.reischeperformance.com/refill.html

sneakysnake03 · Mar 27, 2015

I have been using the green antifreeze for over 5 years in mine. Both the green and the gold are ethylene glycol based antifreezes. Im not sure about the ford orange if it is propylene glycol I wouldnt use it because you arent supposed to mix them.

svtmemo · Mar 28, 2015

Thanks for the reply guys I will most likely be sticking with the gold coolant.

weaselp1 · Mar 28, 2015

My 2003 (#48) came from the factory with green - I believe some of the early 03's came with green, then ford switched to orange - whenever I flush and fill mine, I just use good old green prestone - never had any issues

SlowSVT · Mar 28, 2015

nothing to be gained switching anti-freeze. All it needs to do is carry the heat, lubricate the water pump bearing and prevent corrosion. The corrosion protection between the grades is what sets them apart. Our engines have cast iron blocks and aluminum heads, the aluminum block engines may use different grade anti-freeze because less galvanic corrosion is taking place not having all that ferris metal exposure. The chemical reaction with all the various alloys and materials the coolant is exposed to makes for a very complex chemical soup which can react to one another. I don't spend anytime thinking about this. Mine came with the Motorcraft gold anti-freeze and that's all I will put in it. I would just use what the factory recommends they know way more about this then we do.

R.D.P. · Mar 28, 2015

I want to try the Evans waterless. Need to do some searches and see if anyone has tried it already.

weaselp1 · Mar 28, 2015

R.D.P. said:
I want to try the Evans waterless. Need to do some searches and see if anyone has tried it already.

i think jimmysidecar uses evans waterless. I would shoot him a PM

timspony · Mar 28, 2015

I've always used Prestone "All Makes" antifreeze

SID297 · Mar 28, 2015

IMO, the Ford Gold coolant is junk. It precipitates out tons of solid silicate when exposed to heat. Those solids are tough on seals and can clog oil coolers. On the 6.0L Powerstroke the Gold coolant was a major killer of engines. I'd get rid of the Gold coolant as soon as possible.

I suggest running a bottle of Motorcraft Cooling System Flush then switching to Shell Rotella Ultra ELC.

http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/anti-freeze.html

R.D.P. said:
I want to try the Evans waterless. Need to do some searches and see if anyone has tried it already.

If you are starting with a dry cooling system the Evans stuff is hard to beat, but it doesn't like water contamination.

svtmemo · Mar 28, 2015

SlowSVT said:
nothing to be gained switching anti-freeze. All it needs to do is carry the heat, lubricate the water pump bearing and prevent corrosion. The corrosion protection between the grades is what sets them apart. Our engines have cast iron blocks and aluminum heads, the aluminum block engines may use different grade anti-freeze because less galvanic corrosion is taking place not having all that ferris metal exposure. The chemical reaction with all the various alloys and materials the coolant is exposed to makes for a very complex chemical soup which can react to one another. I don't spend anytime thinking about this. Mine came with the Motorcraft gold anti-freeze and that's all I will put in it. I would just use what the factory recommends they know way more about this then we do.

Thank you for sharing your point of view, you make a very good point, I will definitely be sticking to the gold coolant, thanks

svtmemo · Mar 28, 2015

SID297 said:
IMO, the Ford Gold coolant is junk. It precipitates out tons of solid silicate when exposed to heat. Those solids are tough on seals and can clog oil coolers. On the 6.0L Powerstroke the Gold coolant was a major killer of engines. I'd get rid of the Gold coolant as soon as possible.

I suggest running a bottle of Motorcraft Cooling System Flush then switching to Shell Rotella Ultra ELC.

http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/anti-freeze.html

If you are starting with a dry cooling system the Evans stuff is hard to beat, but it doesn't like water contamination.

Dam I guess my buddy was right about the sludge build up...hmmmm

SID297 · Mar 29, 2015

svtmemo said:
Dam I guess my buddy was right about the sludge build up...hmmmm

See my posts in this thread:

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?925012-Aluminum-Block-which-coolant

Woody6799 · Mar 29, 2015

Prestone 50/50 :shrug: never had an issue.

SID297 · Mar 29, 2015

Woody6799 said:
Prestone 50/50 :shrug: never had an issue.

I look at it like the difference between running cheap dino oil and a premium synthetic. You'll probably never have an issue issue with the cheap stuff, but the premium product will offer much more protection.

SlowSVT · Mar 29, 2015

SID297 said:
IMO, the Ford Gold coolant is junk. It precipitates out tons of solid silicate when exposed to heat. Those solids are tough on seals and can clog oil coolers. On the 6.0L Powerstroke the Gold coolant was a major killer of engines. I'd get rid of the Gold coolant as soon as possible.

I suggest running a bottle of Motorcraft Cooling System Flush then switching to Shell Rotella Ultra ELC.

http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/anti-freeze.html

If you are starting with a dry cooling system the Evans stuff is hard to beat, but it doesn't like water contamination.

Sid

Diesel engines don't like high silicate anti-freeze and have had lots of problems as you pointed out (something about the shockwave that propagates thru the water jacket of a diesel that helps form the solids). The silicate is for corrosion protection of the aluminum which is important as well. I haven't heard too many mod motors having problems with sludge build-up in the cooling system I don't think gasoline engines have as much of an issue here. Replacing the coolant periodically would address this.

All the various anti-freeze types have "good & bad" aspects with trade-offs no matter which one you use. After hearing: "don't use green anti-freeze" and hearing: "don't use Prestone" or "don't use gold" then looking into the merits only made my head spin even more. Having said that I've decided the engineers at Ford know a lot more about what anti-freeze to use in my engine than I do so I follow their recommendation and have one less thing to think about.

Woody6799 · Mar 29, 2015

SID297 said:
I look at it like the difference between running cheap dino oil and a premium synthetic. You'll probably never have an issue issue with the cheap stuff, but the premium product will offer much more protection.

I would probably agree if I knew anything about anti freeze. I figured they were all pretty similar.

SID297 · Mar 29, 2015

SlowSVT said:
Sid

Diesel engines don't like high silicate anti-freeze and have had lots of problems as you pointed out (something about the shockwave that propagates thru the water jacket of a diesel that helps form the solids). The silicate is for corrosion protection of the aluminum which is important as well. I haven't heard too many mod motors having problems with sludge build-up in the cooling system I don't think gasoline engines have as much of an issue here. Replacing the coolant periodically would address this.

All the various anti-freeze types have "good & bad" aspects with trade-offs no matter which one you use. After hearing: "don't use green anti-freeze" and hearing: "don't use Prestone" or "don't use gold" then looking into the merits only made my head spin even more. Having said that I've decided the engineers at Ford know a lot more about what anti-freeze to use in my engine than I do so I follow their recommendation and have one less thing to think about.

I have seen many modular engines with sludged up cooling systems from the Ford Gold coolant (Green too but not as bad). Silicates are an old technology that have been surpassed by modern additive packages. Since you mentioned Ford engineers, take a look at their newest recommendation. It's the new Motorcraft Orange coolant. It is essentially a less robust version of the Shell coolants I recommended. The reason I prefer the Shell (or any number of other quality ELCs) is due to the fact that for most people they never have to change the coolant again. It's good for 600,000 miles. However, it you're more comfortable with a Ford product you should use the new Orange formulation. I would choose it over the Gold stuff any day of the week.

Woody6799 said:
I would probably agree if I knew anything about anti freeze. I figured they were all pretty similar.

You're not alone. Most people don't have a clue about how any of the additives work and their pros and cons.

SlowSVT · Mar 30, 2015

SID297 said:
I have seen many modular engines with sludged up cooling systems from the Ford Gold coolant (Green too but not as bad). Silicates are an old technology that have been surpassed by modern additive packages. Since you mentioned Ford engineers, take a look at their newest recommendation. It's the new Motorcraft Orange coolant. It is essentially a less robust version of the Shell coolants I recommended. The reason I prefer the Shell (or any number of other quality ELCs) is due to the fact that for most people they never have to change the coolant again. It's good for 600,000 miles. However, it you're more comfortable with a Ford product you should use the new Orange formulation. I would choose it over the Gold stuff any day of the week.

I will look into the Orange Sid thanks for the "heads up!"

:beer:

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