imurdaddytoo sport
Veteran CEG'er
On colder days, the coolant light stays on for about 2 minutes on both my svt and the se, any idea what this is?
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Coolant light
- Thread starter imurdaddytoo sport
- Start date
Big Jim
Hard-core CEG'er
Ford messed up on the calibration of the coolant level sensor. If the coolant is even slightly low, it will turn on the light. When the coolant warms up, it expands, raising the level enough to turn off the light.
As Tony pointed out, raising the level about 1/2" above the max line is usually enough to solve the problem.
As Tony pointed out, raising the level about 1/2" above the max line is usually enough to solve the problem.
jtour
CEG'er
Not to jack the post but......what coolant brand do most of you use? Is there a better/recommended brand we should use in our contiques (4 cylinder/ 6 cylinder) Thanks.
Big Jim
Hard-core CEG'er
This is a much more complex question than you can imagine.
The color of the coolant is only a matter of the dye used. The closest green coolant to what the car came with is Havoline (Texaco), which was factory fill, if you can still find it. The second closest is Peak. Both are old chemistry.
Most all coolant (everything except for the environment friendly stuff) is mostly ethelyne glycol with an additive package to help calm it down as it is chemically very active. The additive package also provides a thin layer of protection on the metal to prevent cavatation damage.
Cavatation happens when there is sudden temperature changes, usually in nearly pinpoint spots. It can result from normal combustion chamber activity transmitting heat to the water jacket of the engine. It can also happen from cool coolant hitting warm spots. Waterpumps generally generate some cavatation. It is sort of like a little steam pocket on the metal. Where the cavatation starts, the metal is unprotected from corrosion until it heals over.
The old chemistry additive package used a dose of phosphate and silicate to coat the metal. Phosphate makes a rapid seal on the metal, but it settles out quickly in the presence of hard water (reacts with the calcium). Silicate is a little slower, but very effective. Eventually silicate settles out of suspension. When silicate does settle out, it cause a sandy material that is tough on bearings and it tends to clog up passages and the like. Thus the term for the old green chemistry "green snot of death".
Another part of the additive package is buffering agents to keep the acidic ethelyne glycol from eating up the inside of the cooling system.
When the additive package is depleted, you will have crud in the system, it will corrode the system, and will not protect against cavatation.
And then came Dexcool. Dexcool is dyed orange (but so are some others). Dexcool was developed by Texaco with General Motors. Dexcool uses OAT technology for the additive package. It does not drop out of suspension or turn sandy. It holds it's PH much longer. OAT does not protect the metal quite as well as it takes longer to seal over after cavatation. It works fine unless the cooling system is permitted to run low and then cavatation is not controlled. It works fine as long as coolant is kept in contact with the metal. It will last much longer that the old fashoned stuff and thus the reason for claiming it is good for 5 years and ????? (100,000 or more) miles.
Prestone has two products. Both are OAT chemistry. One is labeled as Dexcool and licensed as such by General Motors. It is dyed orange. The actual OAT chemistry is slightly different from Texaco's, and reported to not be as prone to problems if the system is allowed to run low on coolant.
Prestone's second product is "all makes all colors". It is identical to the other one except for the dye. It is dyed green (or really yellowish green).
Still another type of coolant is now coming on the sceen. It is HOAT or Hybrid OAT. It is OAT with a very mild dose of silicate. It started life with Mercedes and is now used by Ford and Chrysler, but with different color dyes. Similar chemistry is also used by all the european makes with various colors.
The Japanese (except for Mazda, who uses Ford's coolant) have taken a different approach. They stopped using silicate a long time ago, prefering a heavy dose of phosphate. Their current long life stuff is OAT with a strong dose of phosphate.
Any of the modern formulas work great. There really isn't even an issue about mixing them other than the ugly colors some mixes produce.
I have used Dexcool in my SVT since the first time I changed coolant when it was a year old. The first few years it was Havoline. Receintly Havoline has been hard to find, so now I use Prestone Dexcool. It works great and I wouldn't dream of using something different. The system stays absolutely pristine.
My Escape came with the new Ford coolant. It was gold in color. When I service it, I use Zerox G05. Zerox is a Valvoline brand. Valvoline is the supplier for Ford. Zerox G05 is light amber in color. It is modern chemistry and I see no need to change to another type.
Back to your car. Zerox claims that G05 is suitable for any car. Ford has published that their new Gold coolant is suitable for most everything with the Ford name on it back to 1999. The exceptions are cars that Ford originally installed orange Dexcool and the Mercury Villager which is really a rebadged Nissan Quest.
There is nothing magic about 1999 except that they didn't want to pay for validation studies back any further. It is perfectly suitable for any Contique. Use Ford Gold or Zerox G05 with confidence. Use Prestone "all makes all colors" with confidence as well.
I would avoid the old chemistry "green snot of death" coolants. If you insist on using them, change it very often.
The color of the coolant is only a matter of the dye used. The closest green coolant to what the car came with is Havoline (Texaco), which was factory fill, if you can still find it. The second closest is Peak. Both are old chemistry.
Most all coolant (everything except for the environment friendly stuff) is mostly ethelyne glycol with an additive package to help calm it down as it is chemically very active. The additive package also provides a thin layer of protection on the metal to prevent cavatation damage.
Cavatation happens when there is sudden temperature changes, usually in nearly pinpoint spots. It can result from normal combustion chamber activity transmitting heat to the water jacket of the engine. It can also happen from cool coolant hitting warm spots. Waterpumps generally generate some cavatation. It is sort of like a little steam pocket on the metal. Where the cavatation starts, the metal is unprotected from corrosion until it heals over.
The old chemistry additive package used a dose of phosphate and silicate to coat the metal. Phosphate makes a rapid seal on the metal, but it settles out quickly in the presence of hard water (reacts with the calcium). Silicate is a little slower, but very effective. Eventually silicate settles out of suspension. When silicate does settle out, it cause a sandy material that is tough on bearings and it tends to clog up passages and the like. Thus the term for the old green chemistry "green snot of death".
Another part of the additive package is buffering agents to keep the acidic ethelyne glycol from eating up the inside of the cooling system.
When the additive package is depleted, you will have crud in the system, it will corrode the system, and will not protect against cavatation.
And then came Dexcool. Dexcool is dyed orange (but so are some others). Dexcool was developed by Texaco with General Motors. Dexcool uses OAT technology for the additive package. It does not drop out of suspension or turn sandy. It holds it's PH much longer. OAT does not protect the metal quite as well as it takes longer to seal over after cavatation. It works fine unless the cooling system is permitted to run low and then cavatation is not controlled. It works fine as long as coolant is kept in contact with the metal. It will last much longer that the old fashoned stuff and thus the reason for claiming it is good for 5 years and ????? (100,000 or more) miles.
Prestone has two products. Both are OAT chemistry. One is labeled as Dexcool and licensed as such by General Motors. It is dyed orange. The actual OAT chemistry is slightly different from Texaco's, and reported to not be as prone to problems if the system is allowed to run low on coolant.
Prestone's second product is "all makes all colors". It is identical to the other one except for the dye. It is dyed green (or really yellowish green).
Still another type of coolant is now coming on the sceen. It is HOAT or Hybrid OAT. It is OAT with a very mild dose of silicate. It started life with Mercedes and is now used by Ford and Chrysler, but with different color dyes. Similar chemistry is also used by all the european makes with various colors.
The Japanese (except for Mazda, who uses Ford's coolant) have taken a different approach. They stopped using silicate a long time ago, prefering a heavy dose of phosphate. Their current long life stuff is OAT with a strong dose of phosphate.
Any of the modern formulas work great. There really isn't even an issue about mixing them other than the ugly colors some mixes produce.
I have used Dexcool in my SVT since the first time I changed coolant when it was a year old. The first few years it was Havoline. Receintly Havoline has been hard to find, so now I use Prestone Dexcool. It works great and I wouldn't dream of using something different. The system stays absolutely pristine.
My Escape came with the new Ford coolant. It was gold in color. When I service it, I use Zerox G05. Zerox is a Valvoline brand. Valvoline is the supplier for Ford. Zerox G05 is light amber in color. It is modern chemistry and I see no need to change to another type.
Back to your car. Zerox claims that G05 is suitable for any car. Ford has published that their new Gold coolant is suitable for most everything with the Ford name on it back to 1999. The exceptions are cars that Ford originally installed orange Dexcool and the Mercury Villager which is really a rebadged Nissan Quest.
There is nothing magic about 1999 except that they didn't want to pay for validation studies back any further. It is perfectly suitable for any Contique. Use Ford Gold or Zerox G05 with confidence. Use Prestone "all makes all colors" with confidence as well.
I would avoid the old chemistry "green snot of death" coolants. If you insist on using them, change it very often.
Last edited:
jtour
CEG'er
This is a much more complex question than you can imagine.
The color of the coolant is only a matter of the dye used. The closest green coolant to what the car came with is Havoline (Texaco), which was factory fill, if you can still find it. The second closest is Peak. Both are old chemistry.
Most all coolant (everything except for the environment friendly stuff) is mostly ethelyne glycol with an additive package to help calm it down as it is chemically very active. The additive package also provides a thin layer of protection on the metal to prevent cavatation damage.
Cavatation happens when there is sudden temperature changes, usually in nearly pinpoint spots. It can result from normal combustion chamber activity transmitting heat to the water jacket of the engine. It can also happen from cool coolant hitting warm spots. Waterpumps generally generate some cavatation. It is sort of like a little steam pocket on the metal. Where the cavatation starts, the metal is unprotected from corrosion until it heals over.
The old chemistry additive package used a dose of phosphate and silicate to coat the metal. Phosphate makes a rapid seal on the metal, but it settles out quickly in the presence of hard water (reacts with the calcium). Silicate is a little slower, but very effective. Eventually silicate settles out of suspension. When silicate does settle out, it cause a sandy material that is tough on bearings and it tends to clog up passages and the like. Thus the term for the old green chemistry "green snot of death".
Another part of the additive package is buffering agents to keep the acidic ethelyne glycol from eating up the inside of the cooling system.
When the additive package is depleted, you will have crud in the system, it will corrode the system, and will not protect against cavatation.
And then came Dexcool. Dexcool is dyed orange (but so are some others). Dexcool was developed by Texaco with General Motors. Dexcool uses OAT technology for the additive package. It does not drop out of suspension or turn sandy. It holds it's PH much longer. OAT does not protect the metal quite as well as it takes longer to seal over after cavatation. It works fine unless the cooling system is permitted to run low and then cavatation is not controlled. It works fine as long as coolant is kept in contact with the metal. It will last much longer that the old fashoned stuff and thus the reason for claiming it is good for 5 years and ????? (100,000 or more) miles.
Prestone has two products. Both are OAT chemistry. One is labeled as Dexcool and licensed as such by General Motors. It is dyed orange. The actual OAT chemistry is slightly different from Texaco's, and reported to not be as prone to problems if the system is allowed to run low on coolant.
Prestone's second product is "all makes all colors". It is identical to the other one except for the dye. It is dyed green (or really yellowish green).
Still another type of coolant is now coming on the sceen. It is HOAT or Hybrid OAT. It is OAT with a very mild dose of silicate. It started life with Mercedes and is now used by Ford and Chrysler, but with different color dyes. Similar chemistry is also used by all the european makes with various colors.
The Japanese (except for Mazda, who uses Ford's coolant) have taken a different approach. They stopped using silicate a long time ago, prefering a heavy dose of phosphate. Their current long life stuff is OAT with a strong dose of phosphate.
Any of the modern formulas work great. There really isn't even an issue about mixing them other than the ugly colors some mixes produce.
I have used Dexcool in my SVT since the first time I changed coolant when it was a year old. The first few years it was Havoline. Receintly Havoline has been hard to find, so now I use Prestone Dexcool. It works great and I wouldn't dream of using something different. The system stays absolutely pristine.
My Escape came with the new Ford coolant. It was gold in color. When I service it, I use Zerox G05. Zerox is a Valvoline brand. Valvoline is the supplier for Ford. Zerox G05 is light amber in color. It is modern chemistry and I see no need to change to another type.
Back to your car. Zerox claims that G05 is suitable for any car. Ford has published that their new Gold coolant is suitable for most everything with the Ford name on it back to 1999. The exceptions are cars that Ford originally installed orange Dexcool and the Mercury Villager which is really a rebadged Nissan Quest.
There is nothing magic about 1999 except that they didn't want to pay for validation studies back any further. It is perfectly suitable for any Contique. Use Ford Gold or Zerox G05 with confidence. Use Prestone "all makes all colors" with confidence as well.
I would avoid the old chemistry "green snot of death" coolants. If you insist on using them, change it very often.
WOW! Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it!