what was the recommended coolant type when new or now?

[kingoftarmace2004]

just wondering if anyone has info on really what coolant type are cars use? or is it really just the basic green stuff? Thanks! -Paul

[tig]

I only use the BMW blue stuff because folks smarter than I said I should.

[mike_e30]

Have used the blue BMW concentrate only in my entire history of owning BMWs.

Im at the point though that I need to do a flush, wondering whats a good product for our aging systems.

[RonW]

I used whatever I felt like, but always something I could find at Kmart. Sometimes orange, sometimes green. I topped off the coolant once in a while, but I generally didn't change it. The car blew a head gasket at around 400,000 miles, but other than that, no problems. By 2017 the car was too rusty to drive, so I retired it w/ 585k miles. The last time it started was in May of 2019. Also, I changed the oil every 10k miles w/ Mobil 1 15W50.

If you want to baby your car so it lasts 100 years, go for it. But if you want a daily driver (which is why I got the car in the first place) you should know that the M30 engine was designed to run on 1960s coolant, gasoline, and oil. In other words, swill.

[gadget73]

Ford spec is common green coolant. I also have a head gasket leaking at just shy of 200k. Take that for what it's worth.