I was told by Ford in Canada antifreeze/coolant orange part #CVC-3-B2 (Canada) has been discontinued by Ford earlier this year and replaced with CVC-13-G colour yellow. Does anyone know why?

I am not sure if is the same for the USA orange part # VC-3-B (USA) discontinued and replaced with VC-13-G (USA) yellow?

Ford could not tell me why because they were not given any reason and told me that the new CVC-13-G Canada/VC-13-G USA yellow is 100% compatible with orange for mixing/replacement.

 

I flushed my Mustang and our 2014 Edge last week. Both have orange coolant. I called my local ford dealer and he told me they have stopped making the orange and changing to yellow just as your dealer told you. I asked the Ford parts guy, what would be the harm if I used a different color coolant bought from a local auto parts store? He told me "the color doesn't matter if it is approved to be use in a Ford". I called Advanced auto and asked them if they had orange coolant. They said yes. I went down and bought 2 100% none mixed gallons of Zerex (Valvoline) G05, then went down to my local grocery store and bought 2 gallon of distilled water. The guy at the auto parts store assured me it was orange coolant, much to my surprise, it was a light green color . I figured what the hell, green color is better than yellow . I didn't do full flushes on my two cars but undid the bottom radiator hose. Each vehicle (the Mustang and the Edge) had around a gallon and a half come out. I had 2 empty gallon coolant jugs, so I mixed the coolant to 50/50 with the distilled water I had bought. I had 4 gallons of 50/50 coolant to work with. I put the bottom radiator hose back on both vehicles and filled them back up. After driving both vehicles for several miles and making sure the coolant level was perfect, the coolant is a beautiful, factory looking orange. I don't know why or how but, orange. I would have thought the coolant had enough green in it to change the color but it didn't. Maybe the guy at the parts store didn't lie and the green turns to orange when it get warm? I don't know.

 

Yeah. I'm not buying the green turns orange thing. I'm sure it happened, but that just doesn't sound right. Coolant shouldn't change colors unless there's something wrong or the system is seriously dirty. That's either a rust issue going on (although in an all/mostly aluminum system, probably not) or the glycol is turning on you...

IMO, you need to dump, flush and refill those coolant systems *pronto* with the correct, absolute OEM stuff. And since you can't get the Motorcraft Orange, the Motorcraft Gold is the right answer. Accept no substitutes. After dumping out the Gold that was in Awesome when I did the timing, and as old as it was (seriously, I think it was 14 years old, 'cause it wasn't having any issues... I know, I'm dumb sometimes, but she was still happy!), it was nearly new-looking, really clean, and definitely the correct faded gold/yellow in color. It was a no brainer to put Motorcraft Gold back in. And it still looks gold/yellow today.

I fear something's amiss with what you're experiencing, and if it were me, I'd be doing the flush/swap *four yesterdays* ago.

That said... you do you, and I hope I'm wrong in my apprehensiveness.

 

Tried to take pictures of how nice and orange the coolant is. They didn't come out very good . I would have thought with it being about 50% green coolant and 50% orange, it would be a crap color. It isn't. I don't know why or how...…...

The 2014 Edge

The 2011 Mustang

The 2011 Mustang

 

Thanks,

I just did some more research and found a link about orange to yellow:
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums...imited.486566/

I guess I will get some bottles of yellow from Ford soon.

Thanks again.

 

I have another 'orange' question and I'll take the chance to add another question to this thread:

My dealer accidentially (?) put in Motorcraft Gold antifreeze instead of Orange (2011 GT). Not just a fill up but a complete exchange.
From several sources I learned that you shouldn't use Gold antifreeze in an all-aluminum engine like the Coyote.
Now I'm a bit worried - do you know if it's dangerous (corrosion) to have Gold antifreeze in a 2011 GT or is it just as good as Orange?
Should I get is exchanged asap or can I use it for a year or two till the next exchange?

Thanks,
Ben

 

(EDIT: NOTE TO SELF: GOLD<>YELLOW. GRAINS OF SALT TO BE TAKEN WITHIN, Y'ALL BEEN WARNED... but the info's still good for the Gold in aluminum blocks... just... keep readin' the thread... sorry for the confusion, not sure how to otherwise fix/warn/advise... Why there are 30 different kinds of coolant is beyond me at this point anyway... and why stop making one if you used it... )

Take a chance? That reminds me of something... Ah.


If Motorcraft Gold is not good, then I'm (held in place by a shaft with a top on it that also has a spiral inclined plane cut into it and spun around to affix me wherever I am) because guess what's in Awesome, which has the 4.6L 3V aluminum motor.
https://themustangsource.com/forums/...4/#post7051110

But so far, it's not been a problem, and it's exactly what was called for when I had to put it back in the car after that Timing Chain Adventure of Longness and Stuff. And to verify, the shop manual:
http://iihs.net/fsm/?d=179&f=Engine%20Cooling.pdf
Right there at the top. Gold (yellow), and that spec is the VC-7-B, which is exactly what I used. It's what came out of it, and the mixed color you see in the pitcher in that post? That's pretty much the color, a little darker, what came out when I drained it. Perfectly fine, no issues.

The word on the street and/or intarwebs is that if you were using the DexCool... er, I mean, Motorcraft Orange, then the Gold/yellow is the exact replacement. Why they swapped, I dunno. But you should be able to use the Gold with no issues. AND... just to put it all to rest in your head... Straight from the horses... er, Ford's mouth:
http://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricant...patability.pdf

Heck, even says right there, for an Orange to Gold swap, you don't have to do a flush, just swap it out and motor on. Unless you have certain diesel motors, which I ain't seen in a Mustang yet. So according to that, then you're fine! Run that Gold!

/"We're all fine here now, thank you... how are you?" - Han Solo.

 

This gave me a good laugh Mr. Solo
I followed your chainssss thread when I bought my first Mustang last year - well done Sir! Bringing the Falcon back to service would have been comparatively little effort I guess.

Thanks for the detailed explanation and the (very helpful) links! The FCSD bulletin refers to the backward compatibility of the Yellow antifreeze (WSS-M97B51-A1 or A2) for all vehicles factory-filled with Orange (WSS-M97B44-D2) coolant.
The Gold coolant, however, is referred to as WSS-M97B57-A1.

On the same page I found another quick reference chart for engine coolants:

https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubrican...coolantsUS.pdf => p.2, explanation on bottom of p.3

The chart indicates Y for MY2010 and DY / O for MY2011. For some reason, they draw the line between MY 2010 (4.6L, Yellow factory fill) and MY 2011 (5.0L, Orange factory fill, but Yellow also OK). The Yellow clearly is the one that has the backward compatibility you mentioned, but Gold appears to be yet another For sure is that there is no clear connection between the label and the color of the fluid.

 

Wait what?

*reads stuff more...*

Ok, these engineers...

Ok... ok... I may have been lying/miscombobulated up there. Gold=Yellow, because it looks yellow to me... gah. I'm sorry. Always learning... It's just so confusing, all these colors and specs and... why... Anyway...

Yellow/orange is ok. Gold/orange is... not...? Probably to be sure, that'll need a flush. The gold is fine for aluminum though. It's the mix that's bad for any engine is the thing. It makes it glob up and stuff and may even promote a corrosive situation... definitely not cool correctly... BUT I'm also reading there's a problem with some gaskets that may not like certain coolants, so there's that...

So... Now I'm unsure as to whether that other post is worth having in the thread? Do I delete that post? Or leave it and keep this 'well, I'm an idiot' post?... I think I'm gonna do the latter, but stick an edit up there...

/I feel bad. My brain is messed up sometimes, but I admit when it is! Thanks for pointing out my stupid... Sorry 'bout that.

//Maybe I stick to '05-09s... Even then...

 

Well honestly.. Who could have known? I would not have found out without this thread!
Even at Ford they don't always know which coolant to use.
I called them to ask and to confirm if Gold was okay to use. The service technician on the phone had to check this, called me back shortly afterwards, asking me to bring in the car as soon as possible for a flush and a refill with Orange.

I don't know how to embed, but this sums it up:

 

Howdy. Hadda find this one, because new, definitive information regarding this subject, and I wanted to give it to y'all in case it matters.

This here is FordTechMakuLoco, and he is the inspiration what got me to rebuild the timing on Awesome's engine. Silly as that adventure wound up being. The dude is an amazing Ford technician, doing his own thing in Chicago. (Not that other dudes aren't also amazing Ford techs, but you get what I'm sayin'.) I follow him because I want to know all the Ford things, because some apply to Awesome, and some are just good generic stuff. I highly recommend subbing to his channel, he's a great resource. And this exact thread regarding Ford coolant is covered head to toe in this new video today:

There we go. Regular Green is it's own thing, don't mix it. Gold is it's own thing, don't mix it. Orange is gone. Dark Green is... weird. But the new Yellow is completely compatible with Orange and Dark Green, and can be topped off/mixed or you can fully flush and replace, which is recommended to get the full properties of the Yellow. And *ALWAYS USE DISTILLED WATER TO MIX* or buy it already premixed 50/50. And don't let it get in the sun. And don't feed it after midni... oh, wait, that's a mogwai, nevermind.

BUT it is not to be used as extended 10 year/200,000 mile protection in the Orange/Dark Green systems, you MUST adhere to the intervals for those particular systems. Orange is 5/100,000, so don't go extending it because you went Yellow. (Which by the way is actually gold where Gold is actually pale yellow...way to go, Ford... Just read the bottle, you'll be ok.)

Also, Gold is the best, he says so. But if your system doesn't come with Gold, it probably won't like Gold if you try it, gaskets and such will object.

I hope that helps y'all'n's who were wringing hands over the Orange disappearing! Laters!

 

just don't mix the orange with the green, that comes out a nasty brown color . . . orange and yellow makes a nice orangy-yellow; yellow and green makes chartreuse
:-)

 

ok this is a little strange, i went to start the car yesterday Jan 7,2021 i let it run for about 35 minutes as it has been parked all winter so far and when i got in the car to shut it off it felt like the a/c was on which it wasn't as i had the heat on hot and directed at the vents and floors just to take the dampness out of it well that didn't work i brought the rpm's up to 1000 usually idles at 750 or lower depending on the tune and low and behold i had heat coming out of the vents checked the gauges and cyl.heads were approx 98-100f and temp gauge was a little below half. so i popped the hood and checked the coolant level and it was near the bottom of the coolant tank so i shut the car off and waited forever for it to cool off but the coolant levet was about an inch below the coolant cold fill line called ford asked wht the cost of the orange coolant was and it was 30dollars for a jug so off i went to get some coolant, parts guy said it was concentrated and had to be mixed 50/50 so 1 jug should equal 2. so ioff i went home mixed up .5liter to .5 liter water and what i mixed up was NOT orange but yellow reading the paper i got the orange was discontinued so i started the car level dropped and i slowly added the liter i made up and it started blowing heat again... it there a reason i lost a liter of coolant maybe it's time to change it out it is 6 years old and i am the 2nd owner of it. oil is still prestine clean,plugs were normal for 80,000 miles and i have not seen or smelled and thing that looks like coolant on the ground or in the air.i am thinking about putting insurance on it this weekend and taking it for a drive just to see but i don't want to cause catastrophic failure either

My question is, is it normal to lose about 1 liter of coolant in 80000 miles or should i take it in and have it diagnosed by a mechanic. i own a 2001 windstar and have had that for 6 years and it has about 115000 miles on it and i have never lost any coolant from it the only difference is one has the green coolant and the other orange coolant

 

https://motoiq.com/silicone-radiator...or-the-street/

So if you have the silicone hoses, sure, that's probably to be expected, the silicone hoses will seep water, and you'll have to add water. Not coolant, that'll mess up the mix.

If that's not the issue...

To me a sealed system probably shouldn't lose coolant, but then Awesome didn't lose any to speak of in 170K. (Yes, I know, I'm a bad person, sorry, I've learned and will do better.) And it looked as new coming out as the new Gold going in after the timing repair. The tank was full as it should be, the heater always worked, no issues, 13+ years and 170K. So I'm not thinking that loss should be happening. A whole litre? A 32oz drink cup worth? Yeah, that's not normal in my book.

Things to look for the leak are the lower hose at the oil cooler on the right side. Probably a small seepage over time. Ditto the hoses under the intake in the engine valley, behind the water pump and alternator. It'll have crusties around either of those areas. I'm lucky they weren't huge, as again, my tank looked perfectly full, or near enough to it... And it's possible the heater core is leaking a little bit, and you won't see that, and if it's small enough, it's possible you don't smell it either. It'll just leak out of the condensation drain just like the A/C does, slowly seeping out... Although I admit that's probably not likely.

I might go see about getting it pressure tested. Whatever's leaking will rather quickly be found when the coolant shows up on the shop floor while the engine and A/C is not running... Or it will wind up in a piston or the oil, then you'll know for sure... I sincerely hope that's not it of course.

Hope that helps in some way, and good luck!

 

My question was this...is yellow and gold the same coolants?? THEY ARE NOT so make sure you use GOLD if that is what your manual stated. Yellow is not a substitute for GOLD from what I have read on the Ford site.

 

in the beginning of my last post Ford changed a few things so it might be worth while to go to the parts department or give them a call and be safe.

In MY car i have orange coolant and it's a '14 5.0L i needed a little bit of coolant and checked the local stores and was told that the orange coolant was discontinued so i called the parts department and they said yes they have it and i purchased a 4L jug but it's concentrated so it has to be diluted 1:1
when i looked at my receipt it said the orange coolant was discontinued and that the the yellow coolant was compatible so i mixed it up 1:1 and added what i needed called the parts department and they said it will NOT harm anything and they are compatible as i would have just drained it all and put yellow in
just because you have one type of fluid in your car doesn't mean that the dealer or manufacturer can change things up on you without notice.
just wanted to clarify a few things and so far i have not had to add any more coolant