Hello, my coolant reservoir and radiator is completely bone dry, wondering what type of coolant is needed. Just looking for the right type offered in auto parts stores. Coolant leak unknown at this time.
1990 Ford Ranger

 

Welcome to the forum

It would be the Silicate based coolant, often Green in color

Red/pink is OAT(organic acid) based and can not be mixed with Silicate based

Yellow/gold is HOAT(hybrid OAT) based, can be mixed with either OAT or Silicate base

 

I believe any green coolant can work

 

Run some water and dishwasher soap (Cascade, for example) through the system. There's gotta be crud of some description therein.

Your reservoir and radiator being "completely bone dry" is the ultimate incomplete story.

You're better off 'leak seeking' and repairing (with normal spillage) with a cleaning agent in place rather than wasting money on fresh coolant which will leak and likely be contaminated by your chalky system.

 

I have a 1999 Mazda B4000 with 93000 KM. The coolant reservoir is dry and the coolant is about 1 1/2 inches below the radiator cap. The owners manual says do not add conventional "green" coolant; instead, add "orange" coolant. Since 1999, it appears that other colours such as "red" and yellow are now available. I am wondering if it okay to use any coolant for top up, as long as it is orange?

The service schedule shows no required coolant change until 150000 miles(240000 km). I don't see anywhere that any service months are specified.

 

You should start your own thread

1950's Green coolant is silicate based, and can only last 2 years, time not miles kills coolant
1990's Red/pink/orange coolant is OAT, organic acid technology based, lasts 5 years, miles don't matter, TIME DOES

The above two should NEVER EVER be mixed

2000's Yellow/gold coolant is a Hybrid Silicate/OAT, they found a way, lol, but YOU CAN'T MIX THEM
Yellow/Gold lasts 7 years, time based, but CAN BE MIXED with either green or orange with no issues

If you KNOW you have Orange and can see its Orange then get Orange to top it up
If you are ever in doubt about any vehicle then top it up with yellow/gold and you can't go wrong

You can switch any cooling system over to yellow/gold, its just more expensive
But the older a vehicle gets the more likely its going to get a coolant leak................so you need to decide if you want the more expensive coolant on the ground or the less expensive coolant, lol

 

My sincere apology for not starting a new thread. Is there some way my post, and your reply, can be moved in case I want to continue posting on the same subject?

 

Not a big deal
You can start a new thread and just repeat your question or a new one

The reason for new threads is that the original poster of a thread had a question specific to his needs, so any responses in that thread would be for this one question
People looking thru threads for a similar problem they are having may only read the first few posts and think this doesn't apply to my year or problem and go to read the next thread

i.e. if we combined all the threads/posts about "4.0l coolant" into one long thread, say 200 posts long, you would have to read every post to "maybe" find one that applies to your needs, lol
Not a good system
Your answer may be there but very hard to find

You will often see "another 4WD question" or "another tire size question" that's OK, because these are year, or engine or model specific
"Another coolant type question" is fine, because there ARE 3 main coolant types that are year specific

Also there is the "rude" factor, unless the thread is a few years old, lol
If you were talking to a mechanic about your vehicle issue and someone else came over and interrupted to start talking about their "similar" problem, you would think that was rude