Correct antifreeze for a diesel engine

[mighty mac]

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for my question but please forgive me if not.

Here's the question: What is the correct antifreeze for a 1983 ranger diesel?
The Chilton's manual is very vague and doesn't specify gas or diesel. I also called the ford dealership who told me to use the green stuff. When I ask if I should add an additive, they said "sure" but didn't specify what additive. Finally, I looked in my owner's manual. But it said was to not not to use any antifreeze that had alcohol or a metalcohol (?) or something. I'm sure most folks probably use Prestone; however, after doing a little research on the internet, it appears that diesel engines use a different anti-freeze than gas engines. It also appears that specific manufacturer's engines only take specific kinds of antifreeze (i.e. diesel cummins take fleet guard antifreeze, etc).

Any suggestion or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Chuck

 

[hank857]

I beleive that the old engines used the green of the day. Today they recommend diesel specific antifreeze. MOTORCRAFT GOLD is what is used as oem about $25 a gal at the dealer. I use catapillar ELC about $20/gal and supposedly a better coolant. There are diesel specific but it will be up to you but yes I would do a complete flush of the system and go with the latest type used in diesels. You can do a search and find good/better prices I am sure. The gold is supposed to cause many of the issues with the new engines but you do not have the enviro controls that are problematic.

 

[PanamaExpat]

Prestone... That's all you need. Mercedes and BMW recommend the orange stuff in their engines but I just use the good old green Prestone in my Mercedes diesel. That orange stuff is about $35 or $40 a gallon and is supposed to be less corrosive on the aluminum engine parts. I have yet to witness any appreciable difference caused by corrosion in the Volkswagen, Toyota, Mercedes, or GM small diesels that I have worked with. One thing to note.... Don't mix the orange coolant with the green coolant as they don't get along and have been known to form a clumpy goo in your cooling system. If you are changing make sure you flush the system at least two times with clean water to remove the old coolant. (Flush until nothing but clear clean water comes out.)

 

[adsm08]

Pretty much every Ford of the era, gas or diesel, used an ethylene-glycol based coolant. That is what I would put in it, although I do have any personal experience with these particular engines.

 

[holyford86]

they take the green stuff

 

[snake]

If it has liners (and I seriously doubt it does) you'll need an SCA additive to reduce or eliminate liner cavitation. I think it's SCA, been a long time since I needed any...