I want to do a basic drain and fill on my truck.

The coolant in it is Ford yellow GO-5.

According to Peak, their Global AMAM antifreeze is okay to use in Fords with the coolant spec WSS-M97B51-A1 (yellow GO-5). BUT, they say it "features a patented non 2-EH formula that is phosphate-free and silicate-free."
http://www.peakantifreeze.com/peak_global_lifetime.html

According to Ford, their vehicles that call for GO-5 need silicates.
http://www.search-autoparts.com/searchau...e/detail/329982

What should I do here? Go on a wild goose chase for correct GO-5, or just use the Peak Global AMAM?

Well, the only place I've seen G-05 recently is at NAPA, or the dealerships ($$)...

I have no idea why PepBoys pulled the Zerex G-05....that is what I relied on.

I stick with G-05 to be safe, for the same reason I won't use a universal ATF when my tranny calls for ATF+4.

NAPA saved the day. It was the first place I went to today, and they had jugs of Zerex GO-5 right there when I walked in the door. It is $15/gal...not too bad for a little more peace of mind.

I went to Advance afterwards just to pick up some general stuff. They didn't even have a designated area for coolant, just some bottles of AMAM 50/50 junk.

Go get the oem Ford coolant,Geez.

I found the right stuff at NAPA.

I don't know Ford's price, but I'd bet it is in the $20-$25 range for a gallon. Dealers around here do not discount on parts at all.

I got done with the drain & fill. I got over 2 gallons out just from the radiator drain. The whole system has 3.7 gallons in it, so over half of the coolant is fresh now.

The old coolant was in fairly good shape, at least appearance wise. I don't know for sure how old it was. The bill for the 30K service (parents owned it then) shows "SERV COOLING SYSTEM." I don't know if that was a flush, drain & fill or what. No materials are listed for it. The other services, like the transmission service, all had the materials listed with them, so I don't know what to make of it. Either way, the fluid was still a nice transparent yellow without a lot of junk in it.

Hopefully Zerex G-05 will continue to be available for a while. I'm fairly certain that NAPA is the only place around that stocks actual G-05.

John Deere dealerships sell it for about $14 per gallon. It doesn't say G-05 on the jug, but that's what it is.

Their version of G-05 is green, of course.

I also saw some Zerex G-05 at Autozone the other day.

Glad to hear that you avoided the all-makes stuff.

The last time I needed G-05 coolant, I went to Carquest. They charged $15 per gallon.

I wish others besides Napa would carry it here in KC... no Napa's close. I'm about to shoot off a email to Advanced or O'Reillys.

I have seen many Advance Auto stores, but I never saw G-05 in any of them.

There are no O'Reilys where I live, so I don't know what they have.

It's worth a shot. Zerex is made by Valvoline. Those stores shouldn't have a problem ordering some, whether they will or not is another matter...

Sent off an email to OReillys this morning. We'll see how they respond. I'd really need to a radiator drop on the Escape and Ranger but I hate driving through all those 15 miles of stop lights to Napa.

I've always gone to john deere dealerships. cheaper, same product.

Here, O'Reilly's had G-05 -- until I decided to convert all my vehicles to it after doing research ( ! ) -- then it disappeared. This was at the time that Prestone All-Makes All Models came out.

Now I get G-05 at Autozone -- at least last time I looked.

Chrysler and Mercedes dealers are sources too; price, I don't know.

Wasn't the G-05 formula developed by BASF? I know BASF sold off the NA rights to the Zerex name to Valvoline years ago. I remember some older BASF commercials (the "We don't make the things you buy. We make them better" ads) showed someone pouring coolant into a radiator or something similar.

http://corporate.basf.com/en/presse/mitteilungen/pm.htm?pmid=3092&id=V00-Q1DuWD.kdbcp3G7

I really don't know if it was BASF or not.

What I know is that G-05 is an Ethylene Glycol coolant with Sodium Benzoate and Sodium Silicate corrosion inhibitors. Ordinary green stuff used Phosphates and Silicates.

I figured Sodium Benzoate had existed for so long that the patent expired, meaning anybody could make the stuff without paying certain fees to the inventor.

Go with the G-O5

When I checked a couple of months ago, Motorcraft Gold was $17.78 at our local Ford dealer, who is known to be on the high side.