Engine coolant

[jdhicks]

Is there a way to tell what kind of antifreeze is in my 2000-2.5 engine. My tester shows an orange colored liquid, weak at only 0 degrees. The manual says to use ethylene glycol such as Prestone or Zerex, the green stuff. I hate to do a complete flush and refill if it is unnecessary.

[rangergambler]

Just suk it out of the plastic container using a huge hose filled with water and lower it to ground and it will suck it. Refill with distilled water. Drive and repeat like 6 times. Once it is all clear, drain tank and refill with green conventional concentrate antifreeze. It should mix with the remaining water to about a 45 to 50 perzent antifreeze to water ratio. Dont mixed unknown coolants...

[StarFox]

Orange usually means DEX-COOL, though that is a GM product and finding it in a ford is a bit concerning since it can congeal with other coolants and is certainly not the original. It could also mean a lot of rust... If I were you I would either take it to a shop and have them look at it or flush it and then refill it with one of the coolants that says it is safe in cars with any coolant type. I believe that wally world sells some Prestone like that which will be yellow in color. Mixing DEX-COOL with "normal" green coolant can and will clog up water jackets, ruin your pump and much more so play it safe, it will be well worth it.

[tomw0]

If you poke around, you should be able to find a 'universal' coolant that claims to mix with any other anti-freeze. I cannot say if their claim is valid or puffery.
If you have 0F protection, and live in NM, are you fearful of freeze up? Corrosion?

In either case, the only way to be sure of the proper mix is to drain it all out, add the proper amount of anti-freeze, and fill the remainder with distilled or good fresh water.
If the capacity is 12 quarts, you'd drain, and add 6 quarts of antifreeze, and likely a portion of 6 quarts of plain old di-hydrogen monoxide. There would likely be some old water/coolant trapped in the nooks & crannies of the block or heater core. That is why you flush and fill with plain water, and repeat until the water being forced out by the garden hose hookup is clear. I would suggest a Prestone flushing tee installed into the heater core hose, and the garden hose 'valve' Prestone makes to flush the core and engine in 'reverse' flow direction. Follow their directions. Then add the new antifreeze & water to spec.
tom