Thanks to all for the responses! Oddly, Walmart, publix, kroger, ingles are all out of distilled water which I find a bit odd. I grabbed a 50/50 premix as suggested to top it off until I can figure out where the leak is coming from and after I fix that, Ill change the coolant over to the new yellow stuff. Thanks as always.

 

My `15 still has the factory fill. I`m wondering if I should have it changed out. The truck only has 7,600 miles on it. I usually go by the "if it ain`t broke, don`t fix it" adage.

 

From what little I have come across the Orange may begin to start Crystallization and deposits over time/use.
I have 72k on my 2018 and look at the tank every time I check the oil level to see any signs of deposits.
So far it is clear and clean. I very likely will do a change at some point to ward off any effects of the original Coolant.
I would think that your low mileage will be far from effects from the original Coolant now in place.
The procedure is to drain and flush with a specified procedure, then fill with the new Coolant.
Don't think it is an urgent priority, but when convenient to do so.
Might even consider replacing the Thermostat with the latest Ford part revision. Do not use an aftermarket part.

 

Personally I think the latest Prestone all makes will be fine, after all the very first service bulletin for the transit vans with heater core issues said to obtain that product locally.
Sorry I didn't use it it would have simplified things a bit when I flushed and replaced the two trucks.

 

I likely had the same issue on Christmas Eve with my 2015 5.0 and will share how I fixed it. My leak was where the upper radiator hose attaches to the tee piece near the engine and only happened during very cold nights. This video discusses in detail:
I chose to replace only the o-ring. My local O'Reilly was able to get it in same day, Motorcraft part # RTS1073. I was also able to find Motorcraft Yellow Premix Coolant at a different O'Reilly store. It took <1 gallon to top it off and is allowed for use in top-off of orange systems (like my 2015 from the factory). So far I have driven over 1k miles since the repair and the coolant level is holding steady with no more drips.

Ford/Motorcraft compatibility sheet on yellow coolant: https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubrican...patability.pdf

 

This is really helpful!!! Thanks.

 

You should subscribe to Fordtechmaculoco. Here's his most recent coolant video. He does mostly 5.4L 3 Valve engines, because they are riddled with issues and he is a master, but he knows his stuff. I watch every video of his even if it doesn't apply to me.

 

I agree with Makuloco... The Ford Gold still seems to be the best. It meets or exceeds many more requirements than the new Ford Yellow does, so actually seems to be better suited for any type of heavier duty application.

Cummins has a decent quick write up on this. For instance, they approve of using Ford Gold (D6210, Cummins 14603, approved for heavy-duty Diesel service), but not Ford Yellow (D3306 cert only, not for heavy duty service). They explain why this is: https://www.cumminsfiltration.com/si.../LT36442_0.pdf

I'd probably go with the Ford Gold personally when it comes time to do a complete flush.

 

I sure didn't come to that conclusion from that video. The Motorcraft yellow is less than $15 for the concentrate at Rockauto. I did a flush of my old orange coolant and replaced with the yellow. They use yellow in the brand new trucks...why would you go for the old gold coolant?

In addition, the gold is not compatible with the orange or the yellow so if you are switching to gold, you better get every speck of that orange/yellow coolant out. Then what happens when they discontinue the gold like they did the orange.

 

You can come to any conclusion that you like. I know what my truck came with (Yellow), and I also know what is certified for heavy duty use.

Gold is certified for hard use in many different vocations. Yellow is certified for... F150's, and nothing more essentially.

Gold will not be discontinued, since it meets the standards of the heavy duty Diesel world. You can run whatever you want to run in your truck, but I run what I decide to run...