proper antifreeze

[JR]

Just purchased an 08 mountaineer with the 4. 6 with just over 40k miles. I am looking into flushing the coolant in the near future as the vehicle is 5 yrs old now. I have always owned older vehicles and am not very familiar with the newer spec coolant being used now. Ive been doing some researching and it appears the gen3's are using G-05 HOAT spec. Is this an acceptable coolant to run or is it similar to the DexCool crap in GM vehicles that I have always flushed and replaced with traditional antifreeze? Will regular antifreeze be detrimental to the cooling system? I dont know if Im sold on extended life antifreeze or not, and I would not be above flushing the system every 2 years as opposed to 5 yrs. Just looking for some suggesstions I know there are some great mechanics on this forum. Thanks for your time,



JR

 

[Bob4x4]

Personally I would stick to the oem spec coolant. Our engineers claim compatibility issues with the alloys used in the system when incorrect types are used. Who wants to risk taking out a heater core any sooner than necesesary

 

[JR]

How do you feel about the reccomended service intervals, Bob? The only reason that got me to thinking about changing coolant spec is the crud starting to develop in the overflow bottle. Im sure if its in the bottle its gotta be in the rest of the system. Its just coming up on 5 yrs, but its not exactly something I would expect to see on a 40k mile engine. So should I flush and refill with the factory coolant and shorten the change intervals? Thanks for replying, yours was one of the responses I was hoping for.

 

[BIGNASTY]

D4L
If the antifreeze is the same stuff that my Dodge uses I got mine at Napa auto. (I tried to find it but cant online) got it for around 12 bucks a gal concentrate and mixed it with distilled water hope it helps out Pard! If it were me I would take Bobs advice he's see's more of this stuff in a day than most of us do in a year

BIG

 

[JR]

Thanks BIG. Like I was saying the biggest concern I had was the crud building up in the expansion tank with so few miles on it. Ive seen a few GMs with the DexCool and the cooling systems looked like snot, I really wasnt sure if the G-05 was similar or not. Ive been reading up on the stuff and havent found any similar problems, and Bobs comment is reassuring. Im going to flush the system out real well and probably change it out at 3 - 4 year intervals in the future, depending on how it looks. It seems like 5 yrs is too long. I didnt realize Cummins uses the same spec either like you mentioned. Its fair to say Im more than a little out of touch with anything new. By new Im talkin the last 10 years . I like the simplicity of the older vehicles, thats more on my competence level. But the wife has been wanting a newer car for a while now, so time to move up into the modern world a bit. I have alot of learning to do