Okay folks. Today I did a coolant flush and fill on my F150. It's a 2015, came with Motorcraft orange, basically a Dex-Cool clone, coolant from the factory. Ford has now discontinued that coolant in favor of a "yellow" Mountain Dew colored, P-OAT coolant that replaces and supercedes the old orange. It is supposed to be a better coolant and somehow completely compatible (but not really?). Now I can remember from when I was at the dealer that Ford had 4 different coolants for different vehicles- green, gold, dark green, and orange. Now this makes 5. Asian makes use their own coolants. European makes use their own coolants. GM has stuck to Dex-Cool for pretty long, so I gotta give them props. Mopar has an OAT and a HOAT, one purple and one orange.
But why are there so many different types and colors of coolant and why has this not become color-coded and standardized yet? At minimum, there are IAT, OAT, HOAT, P-HOAT, and P-OAT coolants. I'm not enough of a chemist to understand what all that means, but I know that I don't want to star5 practicing chemistry experiments in my cooling system.
And if there are all of these specialized application-specific coolants, what the hell is Prestone All-Vehicles Coolant that claims to be compatible with everything?
Just to illustrate this ridiculousness, I went and found a few coolant compatability charts online. Zerex even contradicts themselves.
But why are there so many different types and colors of coolant and why has this not become color-coded and standardized yet? At minimum, there are IAT, OAT, HOAT, P-HOAT, and P-OAT coolants. I'm not enough of a chemist to understand what all that means, but I know that I don't want to star5 practicing chemistry experiments in my cooling system.
And if there are all of these specialized application-specific coolants, what the hell is Prestone All-Vehicles Coolant that claims to be compatible with everything?
Just to illustrate this ridiculousness, I went and found a few coolant compatability charts online. Zerex even contradicts themselves.