Get a free manual download at http://www.fleet.ford.com

 

According to the manual, your car calls for 6.1qts of coolant. Just make sure you use the same color coolant that came out. Some Focii use green coolant, others yellow.

 

Sorry to bring a thread back from the dead. but 6.1 qts? really that's it? that's only 1.53 gallons. that does not appear to be the right amount. so just get 1 gallon to concentrate and 1 gallon of water? It feels like when I drained it it was a lot more. is this true to a completely dry system?

I know the Chilton's manual and the ford manual says 6.1 qts or 5.75 liters just just seams like a very small amount for a "dry" system.

Thanks,

 

I use one gallon of antifreeze and fill rest with water and fine. The coolant will show good for around -5 to -10 degrees when checked. Pretty rare to hit that low here. Other regions need to check and modify if needed. ALWAYS check after mixing, I've seen evidence that sometimes the AFZ makers tilt a bit more water into the antifreeze to increase profits and the American way there.

A decent antifreeze tester should be in every toolbox, use of it makes this discussion a moot point. I check all cars around October or so to get ready for the cold.

 

^^^ But do we know if the 1.5 gallons is accurate for a bone dry system? Utah sees 0F and then with wind chill to -5 to -10 on occasions. so likely will try for close to a mix that will support -20 to -25F.

 

Variance in castings, radiators, and hose lengths could easily tilt the total amount by 1/2 quart or more, you gotta dole out smaller amount, measure and then go bigger with the ratio. Gallon and a half AFZ would do it, irrelevent, you still got to buy two of them now. If you get lost and too much water save what you drain, you can still use it later. AFZ is money, jack.

 

I was going to put 1/2 gallon in of concentrate then 1/2 gallon of water. Then put the other 1/2 gallon of water in the antifreeze jug and fill up as needed. that way i have as close to 50/50 mix. was not sure if I need to buy 1 gallon of concentrate vs 2 gallons. sounds like 1 gallon = 2 gallons of 50/50 mix would be enough to compensate for variation in components.

 

KISS principle here.. Keep it simple!

If you don't have a spare empty coolant jug, an empty windshield wash jug or any other gallon container will do.

Just pour half the concentrate into the empty jug & fill both with water - top up with the odd jug first, use the new one for final top up so the remnant is in a marked jug.

I use a magic marker & write 50/50 on the jug so as not to "guess" later.

No more measuring a bit here & a bit there, that's too much like work!

Cheers!

 

Sailor, you must be a smart cookie, because this is exactly what I do! [thumb] Except way up north here we run 60-40, since we hit -12C last night already.

 

Thanks for the reply's. I wanted to make sure I needed to pick up the right amount for a bone dry system after my rebuild. 1.5 gallons just seams to be not really much at all. I was thinking 2-2.5. 1 gallon in the radiator, .5-.7 in the motor, .5-.7 in the lines and the heater core.

but sounds like the 2 gallons of 50/50 mix will work. so to save money and since I can mix my self get 1 gallon of concentrate and 1 gallon of water.

I have several jugs I can use. likely though what I will do is put 1/2 a gallon in the car of the concentrate and 1/2 a gallon of the water. then fill up the concentrate back to 1 gallon and mark it up as 50/50 mix. I know I will be using at least 1.5 gallons of the stuff so no need to mix up amounts in different jugs.

 

I’ve never understood why people buy 50/50 antifreeze (I’m not referring to anyone in this thread). I buy regular antifreeze and add my own water for two reasons. (1) I can adjust the engine coolant to be any concentration I desire, and (2) it is much cheaper to buy regular antifreeze.

I always do a flush (block, radiator, heater, etc.) when I do a coolant change. So, in theory anyway, all I have left in the system is water when I’m done. I don’t know how much is left, nor does it matter. I just check my owner’s manual for the coolant capacity and put in full strength antifreeze equal to 50% of the system’s capacity. Then I top it off with water to get my 50/50 solution. I use my tester after about a week to allow the contents of the reservoir to get thoroughly mixed into the system.

If you are after a 50/50 mix and do a flush and fill with 50/50 antifreeze you end up with something less than a 50% antifreeze solution because of the water left over in the system. The more water left in the system, the weaker the solution. So, how do you adjust it to get it back to 50/50? Well it’s easy…just add more antifreeze. But wait…all you bought is 50/50 mix…so that won’t work.

If you live in an area where freezing is not an issue, then as little as 30% antifreeze will provide the corrosion protection and a sufficient boiling point. If you live in an area that is subject to extreme cold, then you may need to run up to 70% antifreeze. Adjusting the mixture to get your desired weak or strong concentration is easily done with straight antifreeze, water, and some minor math.

As for cost, major brand antifreeze that is full strength sells for $17 at my local parts store. The 50/50 mix of the same brand is $15. So, that means that if I buy 2 gallons of 50/50 mix for my car then it would cost $30. Why would I do that when I could buy just one gallon of full strength antifreeze and add one gallon of tap water. If I am concerned about using tap water, then I could add one gallon of distilled water for $2. Let’s see…spend $30 or $19…oh, what to do, what to do? It just sounds to me like they are selling water for $15 a gallon.

Can someone fill me in on the attraction of 50/50 antifreeze?

 

Should be obvious. Tilted toward the unlearned. Knowledge is power and money, I say that all the time.............I too think it is a ripoff of those who do not look out for themselves. Preferring to stay lazy and stupid has a definite cost; our entire economy is based on it to a certain extent. I have a belief that half the cars in the scrapyard are there due to that, no reason for them to be there.

Work long enough in a parts store and you will not come out with a good impression of how smart and savvy most American consumers are, in fact it is disheartening. Many many do not have enough sense to heat their hair oil it seems, and they buy so much unnecessary stuff it's frightening. Conventional wisdom is way behind the curve when it comes to fixing cars, the old ideas are firmly entrenched and many times outright wrong. The 'family mechanic' or 'my 'brother-in-law that works at the dealership' is one of the most damaging influences I have seen, they commonly mis-steer to bad result in parts. Many times they are totally incompetent. That guy'll buy 50/50 just because he is too lazy to mix the stuff and someone else is paying for it, a big clue to what he thinks of his 'client'.

If the store is out of full strength I will walk out and go elsewhere rather than buy the 50/50.

I can see a certain small use for it, women who don't know cars, you may not have water handy where you are (brokedown on highway), but it kills me how they will stock up 3 times as much of that as the straight now, or subtle mind control at work there. Your friendly local Walmart does that, as well as routinely running out of the generic full strength for weeks at a time, but they will always have plenty of the more expensive name brand. Unh uh, sorry.

FocusKnot X2, I could not agree more.