quickie coolant question

[melmount]

Trying to understand the coolant differences. I know the green, yellow, and red what ever that is.(bio safe?)
My question I have an early 99. Its my wifes. I have been reading on cavitation. I have a coolant filter. new filter tofay(wix,charged filter)
I fraine about 4 gallons of coolant out.I added 2 gallons walmart super tech(ethyleneglycol based) And a bunch of other things I cant pronounce.
I am trying to understand if this coolant is ok.
I know I can gotoford and buy coolant that is right.I am trying to understand about the coolants not just what to throw at the truck.
Dieselmanspageon fords say walmart super tech is ok. but stated try to stay away from stuff thatmixes with other brands. It looked green going in. I have test strips coming and fleetguard additive. If it tests ok, is this coolant going to hurt anything?
Heres a copiedpartof the dieselmans page
Cooling system maintenance
The cooling system on any diesel has special concerns. It's possible for the coolant to cavitate--produce tiny bubbles--that can with time cause pin holes throught the cylinder walls from the water jackets. For this there is an additive; Ford P/N FW-15 or FW-16, Fleetguard P/N DCA4; that needs to be maintained in the coolant. Generally this means installing 8 to 10 oz of the additive to the cooling system every 15000 miles. Another method is to monitor the cooling system with Fleetguard's DCA4 test kit P/N CC2602 or CC2602A. This measures the level of DCA4 in the system, then you add the amount of SCA/DCA as required to reach a nitrite level of 1.2-3.0 PPM. The cooling system should be drained (and flushed if you live in an area with especialy alkiline water) and refilled with a fresh 50/50 mix of coolant/distilled or demineralized water and one pint of the additive for every two gallons of coolant/water at 30,000 miles. Use only a ethylene glycol-based coolant, preferably low-silicate.
Antifreezes I can recommend:

Ford or Motorcraft Premium Antifreeze
Texaco Antifreeze/Coolant
Texaco Antifreeze/Coolant Prediluted 50/50
Zerex 5/100 (white bottle) Antifreeze/Coolant
Zerex Ready To Use Antifreeze/Coolant (premixed 50/50 with demineralized water)
Zerex Heavy Duty Precharged Formula
Shellzone Premium Quality Antifreeze
Prestone Heavy Duty (black bottle) Antifreeze/Coolant with SCA
Fleetguard Compleat EG--precharged at 1.5 units/gallon DCA4
Also available premixed 50/50 with water with the same DCA4 level
Pyroil Heavy-Duty Antifreeze/Coolant--Low Silicate
Peak Full Force or Advance
FleetCharge Antifreeze/Coolant--precharged with Pencool
and
WALMART SUPER TECH

2002 model year trucks use any of the above if your truck came filled with green coolant. If it came from the factory with yellow coolant, only use Motorcraft Premium Gold Long Life Antifreeze, Zerex G05 (gold bottle), Peak Global Lifetime (gold bottle) or Peak Extended Life CF-EXL (silver bottle). These coolants are fully-formulated using hybrid organic acid technology (HOAT) and do not require SCA/DCA. Recommended service interval with the gold coolant is 5 years or 100,000 miles. Test the gold coolant periodically for pH balance and freeze protection.

Trucks originally filled with Gold coolant:
All 2002 F-Series built at the Kentucky Truck Plant (VIN 11th digit "E")
2002 F150-550 built in Cuautitlan (VIN "M") from 2-4-02
2002 F650/750 built in Cuautitlan from 1-28-02
All Econolines built from 7-15-02
Ford has approved using the gold HOAT coolants in their vehicles as far back as the 1999 model year, providing the cooling system has been thoroughly flushed to remove all traces of the green coolant. If regular tap water is used instead of distilled or demineralized water, the recommended service interval is only 50,000 miles.
Ford does not recommend using propylene glycol-based coolants in any of their vehicles, or "universal" coolants that claim to be a replacement for any color antifreeze. They also have not approved the use of any organic acid tecnology (OAT) extended life coolants (ELC) in the PowerStroke cooling system.

Tips

 

[Zookie400]

the coolant is fine. you need to get a test strip and check the SCA levels, if they are low you need to just get an SCA additive. being that the new filter is charged, i would bet you are fine.

dont forget that too much sca will cause hard scale fall out and/or sludge that will ruin seals and lower cooling system efficiency!

 

[JLDickmon]

what Zookie said.

Green coolant. That's all you need to remember.

Pink/Orange and Yellow/Gold are the long-life formulas, but they should only be used in a cooling system designed for them.

Ford blames DexCool (pink/orange) for a rash of head gasket failures in Escorts around 1999-2001

 

[RSG]

And...since you have a coolant filter don't fret about the slightly too high SCA readings. They'll get caught. If you drive continuous high rpm then pay more attention (use more strips).

 

[4x4grey88]

So is "rust" color coolant bad?? Even if I smell the antifreeze in the liquid.

I have read people call coolant as "black" if the cooler leaks carbon from the diesel ...Same thing???

 

[DaveBen]

My gold coolant turned to a rust color, before I changed it. It is not bad, but needs to be changed if you have more than 120,000 miles on it. And you are showing 140K.

Dave

 

[4x4grey88]

This is good news. The only thing that concerns me is that I conducted a engine flushed and and installed green antifreeze. The green color lasted for a couple weeks and faded to rust again. It is not "black" or carbon colored but brown rust color again. I am thinking about flushing it again and adding a coolant filter.

 

[MiamiPSD]

Flushed mine over to: Cat 1 ELC - Great Stuff.

 

[DaveBen]

The coolant filter is great. It will get rid of rust and sand, both things that will eat a water pump. Our sponsor www.Dieselsite.com has them as a kit.

Dave