Got new engine. Is dealership BS'ing me? Advice sought.

[musgh]

I have a Ford Fiesta SFE 2014, the one that is a 1.0L engine, 3 cylinder, 5-speed manual.

About 2 months ago, the engine basically overheated and I needed a new engine. Basically what happened was this (and I'll keep it really brief): apparently coolant hose broke, but the check engine light never came on, the temperature gauge said everything was normal, and there was no low coolant warning. Basically engine overheated because no coolant. In sum, there was ZERO dashboard warning.

Turns out this model of the car maybe have had the version of the engine that will exhibit this issue when the coolant hose breaks (that is, no warning) and since who knows when, the engine model has been updated to address this issue. Anyhow, when I brought it to the dealership to diagnose the first time, there was ZERO codes that they could find; there was NOTHING reported so it took them some hunting to figure out beyond coolant hose why certain issues were showing up.

Anyhow, so fast forward: a new engine has been dropped in etc. Car seems to be running fine.

I want to know if the dealership is bs'ing me on these following things:
1. I noticed that the coolant they used is the Green one. The original coolant was orange. I went online to the Ford website and they do say that for the 2014 model, Yellow or Orange is the coolant to use. I pointed that out and the dealership said this: Oh, Ford has updated their guidelines and now the Green coolant is used universally for all their engines, including the Fiesta.

Is that BS?

2. In the morning when the engine was cold, I checked the coolant level and it was at the MINIMUM mark. I read the manual and it said when your engine is cold and the coolant is at MINIMUM or below minimum, fill it up so it's between the MAX and MIN lines. Because the car was just returned to me from the dealership, I brought the car to them and service advisor checked and technician looked.
Service advisor said this is what technician said: Oh yeah, the coolant is at the right level that it needs to be since your car is warmed up.
I said: When I checked this morning, the coolant was at the minimum level and the book says when engine is cold, level should be between MIN and MAX
Service advisor just repeated what the technician said and also said that minimum level is the correct level when the engine is cold.

Am I being BS'ed?


We just spent almost 10k on this brand new engine from Ford so we don't want another blow up. This is a brand new engine, not a remanufactured one. I feel like keeping coolant at the minimum level leaves very little room for error. But what do I know? I'm not mechanic. Am I being BS'ed?

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

I understand your concern and how you can feel led about, you have spent a lot of money. When it comes to fluid levels and condition, The frequency of checks is much more important. Whether the level is at the MIN or MAX is a bit trivial. However if the level is static, there is nothing to be concerned about. Coolant can over time (months) drop in an overflow/surge tank as the H2O portion can evaporate. Day to day or week to week should be the same. The few extra ounces between MIN and MAX isnt going to save you if you have another hose debacle.

Regarding the coolant type, there are some differences regarding coolant that do not allow them to be mixed. However in a flush and fill scenario, or your case new engine, the coolant can be whatever is deemed acceptable. Pretty much all antifreeze types commonly available meet the basic requirements under ASTM-D3306. The older brass and copper radiators are gone and most engines are of aluminum construction. Add to that the advancement in antifreeze technologies and additive packages, short of some odd requirements for special applications Id accept the green coolant. Most of the newer vehicle factory installed coolants (orange, yellow, pink, dark green) are long life/extended life/lifetime, but they are designed for the same properties as the green you have.

There was a time where American cars and Euro/Japanese cars were vastly different. That was when it was very important to scrutinize your antifreeze choices.
I hope this helps.

 

[musgh]

@SyntheticAtmosphere , thanks for your very detailed response.

When I looked at the line item on the bill for the coolant used, the item code indicates it’s Yellow coolant. Looks kinda green to me when I look at it though the reservoir. Item is VC13DLG

Do you know if Orange coolant can be mixed with this? We have Ford’s orange coolant for the original engine.

 

[Handy Andy]

Care to share a picture of this fluid in your coolant tank?

The 1.0L uses a Turbo, so it certainly can be expensive to replace.

 

[musgh]

Ok, let me try to share a picture. I don’t have a bottle of the VC13DLG so don’t have a benchmark to compare. I do plan to buy a bottle and fill it so the level goes above minimum.

Is this “green”?

 

[musgh]

Also, thank you all for replying. I have been so nervous about this since the car broke down. Who expects to put in a new engine on a car that’s only 9 years old? Besides, I take care of the car. I’m not knowledgeable about it but I do take the car in for regular service and always to the same Ford dealership and they do all the maintenance.

Update: I took two more pictures after the cap was open this morning.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Its hard to tell from the pictures. Green coolant is almost glowing, fluorescent looking. Like its electrically powered, lol.
Yellow coolant is just that...yellow, like lemon jello. The VC13DLG is listed as a yellow coolant by Motorcraft.

i would not mix the orange coolant with the green. Mixing any colour coolant can have various consequences from mixing additive packages, which could lead to unwanted pH levels. Basically choose one and stick with it.

 

[Handy Andy]

i would not mix the orange coolant with the green. Mixing any colour coolant can have various consequences from mixing additive packages, which could lead to unwanted pH levels. Basically choose one and stick with it.

+1 - again! @SyntheticAtmosphere

...Having to have lost a Heater core to the Red (Toyota) when someone added "green" to top off the Scion - you can lose a motor by some simple mistakes and using less than a cup can wreck your day and even your motor.

So the Yellow - which you have, is considered "Global" and universal - they took the easy out and used a fluid that has less but is better build or formulated for more of a universal fit using the vehicles older or own coolant additives to simply replace the level of liquid lost so the cylinder head can keep cool.

 

[musgh]

Ok, so we bought the VC13DLG from a different Ford dealership. That’s the part number that was listed in the invoice for the engine replacement. I hope that is indeed what the dealership used since that’s what is documented in their own records. We’ll see when we open that bottle later today!

i know for a fact that originally with the previous engine, it used orange coolant because the color showing through the reservoir was decidedly not the current color and looked very clearly orange or dark orange.

 

[Handy Andy]

The sad thing here is if you look at this coolant - all those types - many fluoresce a different tint or shade of color in different bulb or types of light used for offices and garages and has a different spectrum dominance even from sunlight - so when you view in sunlight - its one thing, under fluorescent and or LED Daytime or Natural light - even between those - their color tint show up different

 

[musgh]

The sad thing here is if you look at this coolant - all those types - many fluoresce a different tint or shade of color in different bulb or types of light used for offices and garages and has a different spectrum dominance even from sunlight - so when you view in sunlight - its one thing, under fluorescent and or LED Daytime or Natural light - even between those - their color tint show up different

Yeah, that is sad indeed. It could be argued that some hues of yellow is really a different intensity of green, and vice versa. They need to have the colors like really distinct from each other. Like maybe green has to be really deep dark green, and yellow be fluorescent yellow or something.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

...Like maybe green has to be really deep dark green, and yellow be fluorescent yellow or something.

Problem is, there is already a deep dark green coolant too...and out of all the coolants its is the version that when mixed with other types reacts horribly leaving you with clumpy brown solids in the coolant. The engineers surely havent made it easy, lol


Also known as Mazda FL22 coolant

 

[musgh]

Now that is just too funny. How many colors can we use that aren't going to "conflict" with each other?

 

[musgh]

Also, thank you all for replying. I have been so nervous about this since the car broke down. Who expects to put in a new engine on a car that’s only 9 years old? Besides, I take care of the car. I’m not knowledgeable about it but I do take the car in for regular service and always to the same Ford dealership and they do all the maintenance.

Update: I took two more pictures after the cap was open this morning.

Ok, so that color is indeed what Ford is calling Yellow coolant. I opened up a new bottle with the same part number as listed in the invoice and the color of that coolant is the same as what is in the coolant reservoir.

That said, I now have a new but related question. According to Ford's own coolant chart, Orange Coolant and Yellow Coolant can be mixed for my Ford Fiesta 2014. See this right from the horse's mouth: https://www.motorcraft.com/content/...erence_charts/antifreeze_coolants_english.pdf

So, would it be safe to mix orange with yellow in this case? What's your opinion?

We do have a bottle of Ford's orange coolant which is what this car originally used and we have tons of it. At this point, what I'm asking is really more of a theoretical question. We have an almost full bottle of orange and almost full bottle of yellow and I'm not going to need to mix the two, or at least I don't predict needing to do that.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Orange and Yellow coolants are both OAT (Organic Acid Technology) based. In this case it would be conceivable they could be mixed. The Yellow has Silicates which coat and protect internal coolant components, including rubber hoses. Yellow could be considered the superior product.
Personally, I dont mix types and I also dont even mix brands.

 

[scotman]

It looks like Prestone coolant to me. That's what I use in my ZX2. If that's what it is it's not exactly catastrophic. But, i would be getting it flushed out within a month simply because i don't have absolute certainty of it in long term use in that engine.
This owners concerns about coolant specification is absolutely valid! If it were me in this situation, i would want it changed or i would demand that the shop sell me a new, undiluted gallon of that exact same coolant formula in it's original jug. NOT a unmarked jug of bulk premixed coolant.
Seeing that you mentioned that you had the orange Dexcool as well as the Motorcraft yellow coolant. Had your fiesta developed an appetite for coolant in the months prior to the engine failure?
If you can be made certain that it has the right type of coolant you are doing everything reasonably possible to maintain it well.

 

[musgh]

.
Seeing that you mentioned that you had the orange Dexcool as well as the Motorcraft yellow coolant. Had your fiesta developed an appetite for coolant in the months prior to the engine failure?
If you can be made certain that it has the right type of coolant you are doing everything reasonably possible to maintain it well.

My Fiesta didn’t develop an appetite for coolant in the past several months. It was years ago before the pandemic when one day we checked the coolant level, probably the first time, we noticed that while the coolant level wasn’t below min, we thought it would be safer to have the fluid level be above Min and around midway between Min and Max. We bought the genuine Ford Orange coolant and used just a little bit of it to top it off. Never since then did we use it again.

The car was bought brand new in 2014 and we wanted to be good stewards of it. And as I said, I always took it back to the same Ford dealership for maintenance although I bought the car from another Ford dealership that’s much further away. It was not easy finding the SFE since it wasn’t a popular trim.

Since it was the Ford dealership that replaced the engine, I’m going to assume that it is safe to assume they used genuine Motorcraft oil. The service advisor said they use whatever fluid the engine documentation say they are supposed to use. I did check with them because after I got the engine replaced I was at home looking under the hood and freaked out that the coolant looked green (turns out it’s yellow) and I distinctly recall the old coolant was orange. So I drove back on a Monday to the dealership to question. That’s when after a 15 minute wait while the service advisor consulted with the technician, they told me it is the proper fluid etc.

Anyhow I hope this is all settled for a while.

I really do appreciate all of you who responded to my questions and welcomed someone who really doesn’t have an interest in cars. I just have an interest in having this Fiesta for a long time with no major issues. I do my due diligence as an ignorant car driver by bringing the car regularly to the dealership for maintenance. I hope my dealership does their part.

 

[musgh]

I thought I'd post this interesting link here mostly for the future if anyone is reading this thread because of similar questions about coolant and is just as clueless as I am

So I found this thread on Ford yellow coolant pretty interesting: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/ford-yellow-coolant.367070/