Ford actually only approves Motorcraft, any manufacturer can make coolant to spec.
Zerex also makes a compatible coolant and you'll also find store brands as well.

in the long run this all comes down to how long the coolant lasts and if it truly meets the spec. Its no different than buying Motorcraft full synthetic oil vs Pennzoil or Mobil 1, and yes someone can point to a Blackstone analysis for oil but for 99% of the consumers out there it doesn't really matter.

 

As near as I could find, the Prestone Platinum coolant is nearly the same as the Motorcraft Yellow. Maybe Prestone makes the Motorcraft stuff, who knows. Zerex only had a heavy duty coolant that mentioned WSS-M97B57-A1. All the others met the old Motorcraft Orange spec.

After going down the stupid coolant rabbit hole, I'll stick with Motorcraft Yellow unless I can't get it or the dealer jacks up the price. I'll use Prestone Platinum as a backup.

 

The Prestone Plat shows that is meets WSS-M97B57-A1 on the data sheet.
VC13 at the local dealer I get my parts from is $15 for the pre-diluted and $18 for the concentrate.
The Prestone pre-diluted at Walmart is $15 and from Advanced Auto its $18 on sale, even is it was $5 cheaper I'd stay with the Motorcraft. Odd colors tend to throw mechanics off when they look under the hood, I had one freak one time on my '05 Sable which took VC7 Gold when he saw green (Prestone Universal) in the degas tank.

 

It's less about the price and more about the hassle of having to get it from the dealer. As for the color, it appears to be the same yellow/green as Motorcraft Yellow. At least from what I can see on YouTube.

And after more looking, now I'm wondering how Prestone Platinum differs from Prestone Max. I couldn't make heads or tails of it from Prestone's site. Probably the same fluid, but sold under two names to avoid price matching, or other trickery. Just for fun, I sent them an email asking to explain the difference.

 

Look at the info sheet link, it will tell you what specs might be different.
The coolant is green compared to the yellow of Motorcraft, the closest comparison would be to look at pics of the degas tanks on the 2020-2023 Escape. The rear tank is for the battery cooling system and while both have VC13 in them, Ford was adding a green tracer to the battery tank to make it easier for QA or a dealer to tell which system had a leak.

 

The only differences I could find from the info sheets were a miniscule difference in the ash content and alkalinity and the colors:
MAX - Fluorescent Yellow
Platinum - Fluorescent Yellow/Green

The safety data is the same for both. Looks like basically the same stuff in a different jug. Could be a trade secret hidden in one or the other, I guess. I'll see if they get back to me about the differences.

 

This is the type thing Ford points are good for, if you have any. I used some for two air filters and two cabin filters. I didn't want them to expire unused.

 

It's been so long since I logged into the Ford site that I forgot all about Ford points. I probably used to have some, but they expired long ago. Oops.

 

The Ford Dealer replaced the coolant with BG light pinkish /orange coolant when I asked for yellow. I questioned them on it and they said that BG stands behind it. We'll see. Had it changed May,2023 at 86,000 and now at 101,000 with no issues.

 

Did they give a part number for the BG coolant? I suspect it's a similar formulation to the Motorcraft Orange coolant, which was basically Dex-Cool. It's probably fine, but it's lame that they ignored you and used it anyway. I'll never use any BG products, as their business model is trash. Honestly, I'd avoid a car dealer that did that to me and report them to Ford headquarters.

 

BG Universal #583 I have the Premium Care Gold Extended CPO with Ford 10yr. / 150,000 Been going to this Dealer for 40 years. Fingers crossed!

 

I don't see that part number, but their BG Universal 589 looks like it meets Ford spec WSS-M97B44-D2, which is Motorcraft Orange. I'm sure it's fine. When you change it in 2 years, be real firm and tell them Motorcraft Yellow only and you don't authorize any BG products. Make the service advisor note that before the work is started. Don't let them rope you into a debate about how great BG products are.

 

Just a heads up on doing a coolant exchange and going from VC3 to VC13.
Whatever they use for the dye in the VC3 seems to linger even after a pure water flush.
I've done several where the coolant is nice and yellow for about a week and then its closer to a pale orange a week or so later.

 

I think it took 6 flushes of distilled water to get it out. Even then, the last flush still had a light peach tint to the water that came out. And that was after driving around each time with the heater on and the whole deal.

 

I went to a drive thru oil change place the other day and I needed coolant topping up, but they did not want to add their coolant as they could not guarantee it was compatible, even though it was part of the oil change service price. I went to Ford and got myself a jug of it from them, I was actually surprised that it wasn't outrageously priced, and it was concentrated so the one jug can go twice the distance when diluted. I thought it was decent enough pricewise and it is good stuff.

 

The Motorcraft coolant from the dealer isn't priced too bad. The other items that are reasonably priced are transmission fluid and batteries.

Oh, you should be thankful that your oil change place stopped and used common sense. A lot of places would have filled it with whatever and sent you on your way.

 

I was going to do the battery on my '14 Escape myself. Had already priced it at Autozone. Was at dealer for annual state inspection. Asked about a battery. Surprised at the very reasonable price. Let them do it. They even waived installation cost as I had to wait a little.

Very pleased with that. Waiting to do something I wasn't originally there for is to be expected.

 

I was going to do the battery on my '14 Escape myself. Had already priced it at Autozone. Was at dealer for annual state inspection. Asked about a battery. Surprised at the very reasonable price. Let them do it. They even waived installation cost as I had to wait a little.

Very pleased with that. Waiting to do something I wasn't originally there for is to be expected.

Do you know if they did the BMS reset?

I'm still on my original battery. No doubt it will fail on me at some really inconvenient time.

 

Coolant has never been the issue, the same VC3 is/was used in the high voltage invertor on every Ford Hybrid/PHEV from 2013-2019.
If was as corrosive and damaging as the various YouTube experts claimed there would have been dead Hybrids/PHEVs all overthe place.

 

As I understand it, the VC3 was only corrosive to the copper welds in some Ford Transit heater cores. So Ford changed from an OAT coolant to one with phosphates for more protection. As far as I know, the Orange coolant never did anything interesting to any Escapes.

 

Actually that wasn't the problem, VC3 had a extended low temp (as in think say upper Alaska/Canada use) precipitate drop out problem that blocked them and parts of the radiator due to the mounting angle.
VC10 got rid of the issue and then Ford just went to one combined spec across the brands with VC13 (just wish they had a decent cleaner to get rid of the VC3 dye even VC1 doesn't seem to get it out).

 

I saw some other information that the gas Transits were affected, but not the diesel Transits. That led to speculation about the heater core welds. Maybe more than one thing caused them to switch coolant, who knows.
Anyway, I'm glad it didn't blow up our Escapes; replacing the heater doesn't sound like a good time.

 

Wmart's still sell the Orange stuff (by Prestone) although Ford no longer makes or distributes it (to my knowledge).
Of course someplace has to, as it's still in millions of late model vehicles driving around that could need an emergency top-off or could overheat and possibly die while away from home or an available mechanic qualified to exchange fluids for the newer type.

CarID, Amzon, and most auto parts stores sell the Motorcraft new stuff, in addition to Ford Dealers. There's the prediluted 50/50 (recommended) as well as the full strength concentrate available.
Definitely don't mix yellow/orange as others have said. But get a flush and fill with the new type as soon as practical.

There are also many knock offs or generic "yellow" anti-freeze that say they work with all makes and models or domestic/foreign, etc. They are probably similar base chemistry but wouldn't touch it knowing how bad the wrong stuff can damage your engine. PEAK specifically makes a yellow one that is labeled Ford/Lincoln that might be safe. YMMV, but yellow designed for Ford is probably a lot better off than anything proven to be caustic (orange type).