Pink engine coolant - all the same thing?

[funkyrobot]

I have a 2005 MK1 Focus 1.6 petrol. It has pink coolant in. I need to top it up so went to the local Ford dealer to see if they have some.

They told me the car is supposed to have orange coolant in and they don't sell pink. I asked if I could top the car up with some OAT pink we have in the garage for our Polo. The technician said that should be ok as the top up will be pink.

Is it ok to top up the current pink with the Halfords OAT pink we have in the garage? Thought I'd check on here before doing so.

I have some orange now and intend to do a flush sometime soon anyway as it hasn't been done for years. Just needs a topup for now.

Thanks all.

[codenamecueball]

Top up with plain old water until you do the flush?

[funkyrobot]

It's a good point.

I guess that will do for now.

Only needs a bit just to bring the expansion tank level up to the middle point between min and max.

[Saudade]

Should be fine as the tech said, especially if you're flushing it.

Generally, you don't mix IAT and OAT. The colours are supposed to matter, but I've had no issue mixing different OAT colours.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks.

I will be flushing it at some point. Attempting to learn spannering so will see how that goes. Won't be done for at least a month though.

I'll probably pop some of the pink in for now. Water is ok, but obviously dilutes things.

I guess the colours designate the type of coolant?

What's IAT? Thanks.

[cuprabob]

funkyrobot said:

What's IAT? Thanks.

Inorganic Additive Technology

OAT - Organic Additive Technology
HAT - Hybrid Additive Technology

Edited by cuprabob on Monday 1st April 11:48

[drjdog]

funkyrobot said:

What's IAT? Thanks.

OAT is organic additive technology - something like ethylhexanoic acid plus other anti-corrosion additives.

IAT is inorganic additive technology - not entirely sure what they use.

You shouldn't mix (or even swap between) the two, but topping up with water in both cases is perfectly OK.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks.

Jeez.

Hopefully I'm ok topping up with pink and flushing with orange then.

[anonymous-user]

Rather than just relying on colour I'd make sure it meets the standards you car wants, same as engine oil. For your Focus it'll be a Ford standard like WSS-M97B44-D but you can check in your handbook (or with google).

[Ninja59]

drjdog said:

OAT is organic additive technology - something like ethylhexanoic acid plus other anti-corrosion additives.

IAT is inorganic additive technology - not entirely sure what they use.

You shouldn't mix (or even swap between) the two, but topping up with water in both cases is perfectly OK.

IAT generally uses silicates.

you also have HOAT essentially a hybrid version but even these fall into phosphate free or non-phosphate free ones, to split these even further you can have P-HOAT (phosphated ones generally Jap and asian vehicles) and Si-OAT....

to confuse matter even further and as said in other posts the colour is not always a good guide as Mazda's "FL22" is green but is not an IAT silicate based one...

[funkyrobot]

dme123 said:

Rather than just relying on colour I'd make sure it meets the standards you car wants, same as engine oil. For your Focus it'll be a Ford standard like WSS-M97B44-D but you can check in your handbook (or with google).

Thanks.

I'll double check. The orange stuff I have is Ford stuff, so that will be ok. Just need to get a flush done before I add that.

[Evoluzione]

It's unlikely to need flushing as it isn't the 1960s anymore.
Drain it, if it looks ok re-fill with new.

[Evoluzione]

Ninja59 said:

IAT generally uses silicates.

you also have HOAT essentially a hybrid version but even these fall into phosphate free or non-phosphate free ones, to split these even further you can have P-HOAT (phosphated ones generally Jap and asian vehicles) and Si-OAT....

to confuse matter even further and as said in other posts the colour is not always a good guide as Mazda's "FL22" is green but is not an IAT silicate based one...

I think FL22 is HOAT, whatever it is though it's damned good stuff and generally good for the life of the engine.

[funkyrobot]

Evoluzione said:

It's unlikely to need flushing as it isn't the 1960s anymore.
Drain it, if it looks ok re-fill with new.

Thanks. Will only be a drain. Not sure why I keep calling it a flush.

Apparently, the 1.6 can be a pain with airlocks. Will see how it goes. Will do it again I need the car for holiday.

Think I'll just do a water top up for now.

[zsdom]

Ford replaced the pink stuff hence why they dont have it anymore.

I use Euros pink coolant in my ST170 & Puma costs a shed load less than Fords stuff & had zero problems.

When you come to bleed it there’ll be a bugger of an airlock in the stat housing, heaters on full, cap off & let it run whilst regularly squeezing all coolant pipes, took me 45 mins to do my puma

[Evoluzione]

A cheap coolant pressure tester can help with bleeding. Hook it up with the engine running, pressurise the system up to a bar and it squeezes the air out.

[funkyrobot]

zsdom said:

Ford replaced the pink stuff hence why they dont have it anymore.

I use Euros pink coolant in my ST170 & Puma costs a shed load less than Fords stuff & had zero problems.

When you come to bleed it there’ll be a bugger of an airlock in the stat housing, heaters on full, cap off & let it run whilst regularly squeezing all coolant pipes, took me 45 mins to do my puma

Thanks.

I wonder if the pink you mention is the stuff already in the car.

Thanks for the bleeding tips. If the engine is just running, can you still run a risk of overheating if there is an airlock?

Also, how do you know when the airlock is gone? Should all the pipes be warm?

One final question. To drain, do I just take off the big fat pipe that seems to go to the bottom of the radiator?

[funkyrobot]

Evoluzione said:

A cheap coolant pressure tester can help with bleeding. Hook it up with the engine running, pressurise the system up to a bar and it squeezes the air out.

Good idea. Thanks.