Hi. Can anyone offer me some advice on how to determine the color of the coolant my 2003 GM came equipped with? I bought it used in NY and I had the coolant changed by Maroone Ford at home without first looking at the color of the coolant. Maroone put in green. Another mechanic told me it should be gold and now I don't trust Maroone. The manual's no help and I read somewhere switching colors causes corrosion. There has to be a label or something on the car that tells me, no?[img]smileys/smiley6.gif[/img]

 

I'm sure Ford put in the proper coolant. There are only 2 colors of coolant. Green and red. Red is called Dexcool and is only made for newer GMcars and would be clearly stated under your hood as well as in the owners manual. I'm sure your owners manual will tell you about your coolant. Look in the index for coolant or fluids, etc. Edited by: conan312

 

It's not so easy. The mechanic who said it should be yellow is a World Ford Mechanic. I do not know the mechanic at Maroone Ford who changed my coolant, but I do know the coolant is green and it was not filled up to the "cold fill' line. I cannot be certain I can trust any dealer nowto provide the correct info. This has to come from someone at the manufacturer level. Now here's thekicker, the manual states my car came with either a greencoolant or a gold coolant and to determine the color the car came with, to check the reservoir orwith my dealer.Well, I didn't see anything on the reservoir, and two different dealerseach told me a different opinion. I'd call Mercury customerservice, but they'll just tell me to see the dealer like they've doneall the times I've called them. Edited by: AngelD

 

Correct color used by Ford for all vehicles is green. Only General Motors uses the Dex-cool coolant-- looks reddish to orangish. As long as the coolant is silicate free and compatable with material in the engine, no problems should result.

 

Hi, 1breaux.
Thank you for your response. It was informative and helpful. Since I posted the question, I went to yet another dealer who told me that the coolant should be yellow but green is perfectly ok to use in its place and will not cause corrosion, the same thing told to me by the mechanic at World Ford. Since that's the second time that was said, I feel better about the green coolant. It seems Ford decided to change the color of the coolant to yellow specifically for the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis but they didn't want people trying to use the red coolant. My theory is theywanted to avoid liability by scaring people to death with all that talk of corrosion and engine damage just in case someone decided to use the red color (which by the way, Toyota uses it too). With the second mechanic I found that what the two mechanicswere lookingat all along was a little icon of a coolant reservoir colored yellow and a checkmark next to it. I believe Ford should be more kind to it's customers and make things a whole lot simpler by killing the yellow icon and just printing a label on the damned thing simply stating in clear words "Use Motorcraft Gold Premium Coolant Only". How much more would it have cost to do that? 3 cents tops maybe???? Maybe it wasn't cost, maybe they just like to taunt their customers after their car's value goes down by $ 25 grand in just three years.[img]smileys/smiley7.gif[/img]

 

I have a 96 gm and I could not find what the correct colour should be either. So I consulted my owners manual and itgave me a part number for the proper anti-freeze to use.I guess they want me to buy it from the dealer.Anyway I went to advance auto parts and asked them if they had the correct anti-freeze for my car and they gave anti-freeze that was compatable with either color and that is what I have been using and everything is just fine.

 

Of course it is fine, for right now. But once something is happening years from now, you wont track it down tothe wrongcoolant.


The 4.6 engine should get the green coolant Why? Pretty simple, it's designed for engines with different material (cast iron block/aluminum heads).


The red coolant isfor all-aluminum engines.


The gold/yellow coolant is for modern engines on which the cast iron material is special treated.


The worse thing you can do to an engine with cast iron parts: Using de-mineralized water. It will withdraw minerals from the cast iron parts, which will result in lots of debris in the cooling system.


It's like drinking salt water, it will draw salt out of your body.

 

As much as I appreciate the responses, I've got a whole other problem entirely now that made me completely forget about the coolant. My wipers and washer fluid pump turn on all by themselves at random times. This time I tried Gus Machado Ford since my experiences were not good at World Ford and Maroone Ford. Seems this third dealer is not the charm..........they had the car seven days and could not find the problem.There's a TSB # 549 describing a problem with the wiper motor getting corroded but it says nothing about the washer fluid pump. The dealer couldn't find anything wrong with the wiper motor. Someone there suggested a leak in the windsheild that wets an "electrical box in the firewall". Yet another said it was a leak in the keyless entry button pad. And yes, another thought it might be the "wiper control module". Basically all were grasping at straws because they couldn't find the snake on the ground that bit them.I suppose I'll have to eventually replace the windshield when the wipers get done scratching the hell out of it. Or..........I could take the fuses out andsell it back to the dealer who sold me this child of Christine's (keeping quite about the problems with the car like they did, of course). Either way, Thanks to all of you, from a future former Mercury/Ford owner.

 

The only time things can turn on by themself is, if they get power. No power, no movement.


The washer pump and wiper motor have an electrical connection. When you press on your turning lever, the washer pump, well, pumps water on the windshield, and the wipers start moving.


So this is the logical place to start looking. There is a spring inside the turn lever, if it is weak, it might be engaged. Simple to test, if you press it, is it firm? Can you pull it out further than it is comming out by itself?


Assuming this isn't the issue, the relais would be the next item to look at. It distributes the power from the main supply to the pump/wiper motor.


Greetings.

 

Thank you 92Mercury. I am going to try taking the car to a Lincoln Mercury dealer this time. I've been taking it to Ford dealers all this time because I thought the GM was mechanically identical to the Crown Vics. Two people have told me to take it to a Mercury dealer because they are not the same. That may explain why this last Ford dealer was not aware of TSB 549. I'm also going to try getting rid of the car if and when this problem is fixed. It doesn't even have 35,000 miles on it and considering the problems it has had so far (torque converter, A/C condensor, headlights and wipers), I don't want to wait to see what happens when it reaches 50,000 miles.Ok, so who's interested in a nice silver 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis LS Ultimate with 34,000 miles on it for only $ 12,000.00???? Any takers??