# Messed up my question about coolant **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [January 4, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734 "2026-01-04T02:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kennedy1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f17d59/32.png) [@Kennedy1963](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Kennedy1963)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/1 "2026-01-04T02:26:40Z")
Been a long day. Im not good at putting pictures on here. So ill try again. This is on my 89 year old moms ford explorer.its a 2012 she bought new. 3.5 engine. All work has been done at the local Ford dealer. 75k miles. I looked it over and decided to check the air filters and a few other things. I noticed the coolant looks pink, it should be orange. She has ever receipt from the dealer service. Its never had any work done involving coolant. Just tire rotation and oil changes. Sad to say she’s never even had them change the air filters. So im wondering why does the coolant look pink? ![20260102_104510](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/8/b8932cc83bd9070a119e9cee95f8ed3f2ff4900e.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Kennedy1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f17d59/32.png) [@Kennedy1963](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Kennedy1963)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/2 "2026-01-04T02:45:28Z")
If its a blend of pink and orange, there’s no telling how long its been this way. Her last service was in March of 25. Im wondering if someone topped of the original orange with pink. Maybe at the dealer. The only other people who would ever lift the hood would be my nephew or brother in law. Both said they haven’t touched it. I guess its time to schedule a flush to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/3 "2026-01-04T02:57:57Z")
The coolant was scheduled to be replaced after 6 years, then every 3 years. The dye used to color the coolant will fade after 14.5 years. ---
**Author:** ![Kennedy1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f17d59/32.png) [@Kennedy1963](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Kennedy1963)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/4 "2026-01-04T03:08:04Z")
Interesting thought…I hadn’t considered that. It apparently hasn’t had a weird chemical reaction. My grandpa once added the old style green coolant with dexcool because he just didn’t know better. It more or less turned to sludge ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 3:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/5 "2026-01-04T03:21:52Z")
I d have it drained, flushed, and filled with the factory spec coolant. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 9:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/6 "2026-01-04T09:40:15Z")
Ford sats the original coolant is good for 10 years or 125000 miles so just have it changed/ ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/7 "2026-01-04T16:09:55Z")
Also here… > [@What color is this coolant](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-color-is-this-coolant/204733): > ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/8 "2026-01-09T22:41:42Z")
Hard to tell, but I don’t see any cloudiness in the coolant, it looks pretty clear. For this reason, I would NOT flush the system, just drain and refill with the correct coolant, premix 50/50 or mix your own with the correct concentrate and distilled or purified water. If you use purified, make sure it is not purified drinking water as after the purification, they add minerals back in. This will refresh the the system with enough new corrosion inhibitors to last at least another 5 years/50k miles. See the owners manual for the second and subsequent coolant change schedule. It is typically shorter than the first change. Doing a flush has a chance of introducing contaminants to the system. If you do opt for a flush, it would be best to do it at the dealer where their flush (coolant exchange) machines typically only do Fords so are less likely to have had non Ford spec coolant in them. Since you coolant color is not what you suspect, someone may have added the wrong coolant to top it off at some time and than might be reason enough to justify the flush. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/9 "2026-01-09T22:45:52Z")
> [@keith](#): > > Doing a flush has a chance of introducing contaminants to the system. How is that possible? Tester ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/10 "2026-01-09T23:07:44Z")
Ford has used many different coolant over the years, so any coolant flush machine at a Ford dealer will probably have been used with old school Ford green, Ford gold, Ford orange, etc. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/11 "2026-01-13T19:20:20Z")
> [@Tester](#): > > How is that possible? That depends on the integrity of the shop owner or mechanic that owns the machine. > [@db4690](#): > > Ford has used many different coolant over the years, so any coolant flush machine at a Ford dealer will probably have been used with old school Ford green, Ford gold, Ford orange, etc. Again, one reason I prefer to not flush. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/12 "2026-01-13T19:26:55Z")
Every shop I know fills the machine with the proper coolant for the vehicle and adds an extra 10% over the cooling system capacity. The machine is then turned on and allowed to flush the system until the new coolant in the flush machine is gone. This is SOP. Here’s the one I use. ![COOLANT FLUSH MACHINE](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/f/1/f1bba8c9fe8bf9f6de6f3006d6204cb97a3f15f1.jpeg) Tester ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/messed-up-my-question-about-coolant/204734/13 "2026-01-13T19:55:19Z")
Anything left in a flush machine (coolant or trans) is 1st sent out of the machine and just like the fluid in the vehicle is flushed out of the system… The remaining fluid left in the machine is the 1st fluid to leave the machine and therefore the 1st to get flushed out followed by new fluid and as Tester mentioned, the extra makes sure no wrong or old coolant is in the vehicle… As long as it is done correctly…