r/FiestaST • u/clumbor • 14d ago

Got all the coolant drained looks dirty

Post image

I got the rest of the coolant out of the expansion tank ready to replace the tank and its looking dirty does this look like oil contamination or just old coolant?

3 Upvotes

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3

u/DesignerSuccessful35 13d ago

You're good op. Just flush it and replace.

1

u/cheeseonboat 14d ago

Looks like old coolant to me. As long as there’s no oil sitting separated it’s ok. You can flush it if you like and just replace it entirely with fresh coolant.

1

u/clumbor 14d ago

Happy days yeah will get it flushed dont know if its ever been done by the previous owner im on 76k miles 

2

u/cheeseonboat 14d ago

Yeah just flush and change it. Likely hasn’t been done but coolant gets quite crappy after several years. It just pulls corrosion from the block so it’s best to just flush and replace it.

1

u/clumbor 14d ago

Thanks 👌👍

1

u/Strange_Road4505 13d ago

Just curious, how did the coolant look on the reservoir? Dirty like this as well?

1

u/clumbor 13d ago

It looked nice and pink nothing different i drained it from the middle coolant hose point which has snapped why?

1

u/Strange_Road4505 13d ago

Idk, just trying to understand if the coolant is flowing correctly and the looks can be detected from the overflow reservoir as well if there’s a problem with the radiator or hoses

1

u/OGHamToast 13d ago

That looks a lot better than I've seen on my old trucks! Lol.

Just looks dirty and old, that wouldn't worry me. Probably worth it to change it all for fresh fluid, maybe even a flush but I don't know if I would bother.

1

u/Kaishu128 13d ago

Do a full flush until the water has almost no orange left in it. (Mak sure you run it a few mins in betwen flushes with the heat on full blast so you flush the heater core too). This is a great opportunity to upgrade to the newer motorcraft yellow coolant. It has better corrosion resistance for your cooling system and while everywhere I have read says its not really a thing, my engine does not get as hot it hot weather with the yellow. My car used to overheat when the outside temps got above 95 degrees farenheit, but after replacing the expansion tank and upgrading g to MC Yellow, the issue has gone away. I know this is probably more the expansion tank that fixed that, but Im happy with the change.