patt3rson Posted July 5, 2020 Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 Hey all, I have a 2011 Edge with the 3.5L sitting at about 120k miles. The vehicle has been outstanding since I bought it new back in 2011. I started changing my own oil back around 80k miles, and have just realized I forgot the coolant change............. yeah i'm dumb. So I've researched the change a bit, but I'm a tad confused. I've seen some videos where people use those no spill funnels (ChrisFix does it) and they fill the coolant the whole way to the top of the reservoir. This does not seem to be good for the Edge as it has a cold fill line, and no overflow hose/valve that I'm aware of. Is this accurate? I should fill to the cold fill line and stop? That said the OEM coolant is looking fine, all things considered, but definitely needs swapped. It's a dark green. Coolants I've found are orange or dark green. The orange is north american, while green is labeled as Asian brand. Is it safe to use that Asian brand green coolant (advance auto parts website says it's fine), or should I fully flush the system with distilled water until the coolant coming out is clear/water and then fill with the orange coolant? Otherwise, are there any big pitfalls to look out for when swapping coolant? I appreciate the details. I've already gained some insight from other posts on here, but the above are my more specific questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMiFo Posted July 6, 2020 Report Share Posted July 6, 2020 Green is the older coolant that Ford used. Take a look at this chart: https://parts.ford.com/content/dam/ford-parts/resources/motorcraftpdf/Antifreeze_Coolant_Usage_Chart.pdf You either drain & fill with green, or you have to flush all the green out and then can re-fill with orange. Just do not mix the two. Flushing and switching to orange would be the smartest idea. If you choose, Ford has their VC-1 cooling system flush fluid that you could use for this purpose. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patt3rson Posted July 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2020 Perfect! Thanks for the response! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishx65 Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 I just drain and refill the radiator about every 20,000 or so. I'm sure a total flush and refill would be better but a quick radiator drain and refill is all I've been doing. I remember reading that Ford's Dark Green coolant was fine and it was either the orange or gold that was suspected of not having enough lubricity for the water pump bearings. I just hit 112.000 on my 3.5 SEL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patt3rson Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 (edited) So I actually crawled underneath my Ford Edge and there’s black gunk/crud all over the front of the oil pan and surrounding area. Right beneath the weep hole area of the water pump. My understanding is the engine is giving me a warning that the water pump is nearly shot. Sigh. Edited August 15, 2020 by patt3rson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted August 17, 2020 Report Share Posted August 17, 2020 Ugh that sucks. Motorcraft Specialty Green or Peak universal (now Peak 10x) are best to fill the engine with once repairs are complete. Clean up the area with CFC free brake cleaner if you want and monitor so you can see if this is an active situation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy1 Posted September 13, 2021 Report Share Posted September 13, 2021 Having just finished replacing the old orange coolant in my wife's 2018 edge 3.5na i can say that it was a pain in the butt to access the draincock, first had the car up on ramps so i could try and locate the drain valve,couldn't see anything so i started removing the lower air dam and put that aside and started searching for it with no luck so next up was the lower rad cradle 2 bolts on each end then pry carefully to remove the rubber isolators from the cradle tray and finally there it is on the Drivers side,with the cradle removed the rad does slip down some and is kind of sketchy. i attached a piece of drain hose to the draincock and with some pliers was able to open up the valve and drain the rad of the old Orange coolant, drained and filled with distilled water 3 times and ran the engine to let it flush out the old coolant from the block after which i filled with the latest rendition of gold vc-13g coolant. really glad i got this done and hopefully preserve the internal waterpump. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted October 13, 2021 Report Share Posted October 13, 2021 On 8/15/2020 at 4:39 PM, patt3rson said: So I actually crawled underneath my Ford Edge and there’s black gunk/crud all over the front of the oil pan and surrounding area. Do you have All Wheel Drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booger_2021_03_03 Posted November 10, 2021 Report Share Posted November 10, 2021 On 8/17/2020 at 6:57 PM, WWWPerfA_ZN0W said: Ugh that sucks. Motorcraft Specialty Green or Peak universal (now Peak 10x) are best to fill the engine with once repairs are complete. Clean up the area with CFC free brake cleaner if you want and monitor so you can see if this is an active situation. I also recommend cleaning the area thoroughly and re-evaluating the leak. I'm also switching all 4 vehicles that I maintain to Peak 10X. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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