Anti Freeze

[4.0 ranger]

Does anyone know what type of antifreeze Ford used in the 2004 Ford Ranger 4.0? Mine looks orange.

 

[exbass94]

It is Ford/Motorcraft "Premium Gold" antifreeze. Zerex G-05 is the same stuff, which you can get at Napa. Remember, when shopping for antifreeze, color means NOTHING! Just because two coolants are the same color, it does NOT necessarily mean they're the same chemically. Likewise, two coolants can be different colors and still be exactly the same chemically. Buy according to chemical make-up, not color. Buy either the Motorcraft stuff or use G-05. I wouldn't use anything else. (and I'm not a fan of "universal all makes/models" coolants)

 

[AngryLepercon]

I use green its what ford recommends. Maybe the universal goldish color coolant but I have heard good and bad about it. The red will cause issues.

 

[exbass94]

I use green its what ford recommends. Maybe the universal goldish color coolant but I have heard good and bad about it. The red will cause issues.

Older trucks use "regular green" stuff. 2001+ trucks use Premium Gold like I said in my previous post. And it's not universal stuff. And saying things like "green stuff," "gold stuff," and "red stuff" doesn't mean anything. Like I said, color means nothing. You need to go by the type (chemical make-up) of the coolant.

 

[AngryLepercon]

I see your point but I also see that causing a lot of problems. The STUFF is color coded for a reason. Example. yellow = kerosene. red = gas. green = oil. blue = diesel. If they didn't stick to a color code we would all be screwed. So the green coolant with this spec from Napa is the same as the green from auto zone which is the same from ma and pa's shop. IMO color has a lot to do with it.

 

[exbass94]

I see your point but I also see that causing a lot of problems. The STUFF is color coded for a reason. Example. yellow = kerosene. red = gas. green = oil. blue = diesel. If they didn't stick to a color code we would all be screwed. So the green coolant with this spec from Napa is the same as the green from auto zone which is the same from ma and pa's shop. IMO color has a lot to do with it.

Antifreeze is NOT color coded the same way fuel containers are. A coolant manufacturer can make their coolant any damn color they want. Mopar uses the exact same coolant as Ford, but their's is more of an orange color, whereas Ford's is a yellow-gold. The two are still perfectly mixable since the ingredients are the same. GM uses Dexcool which is also orange. But it sure as hell is NOT the same as the Mopar orange stuff. You simply cannot select antifreeze based on what color it is.

 

[AngryLepercon]

I understand as stated before. Ask Toyota fellas about their red coolant lol. Always starts an argument. Anyway. I went through the coolant BS a few weeks ago. I put in it what came out of it.


My point is I'm not going to the store to buy coolant and stand there for an hour reading the labels and doing math to match a spec. When clearly the green says recommended for fords. The dexcool is recommended for GM and the yellow clearly states safe for all makes and models.