That said, you may have a cooling system full of the wrong coolant. Your 2012 Focus takes orange-colored engine coolant meeting Ford specification WSS-M97B44-D2 or WSS-M97B44-D (Motorcraft? Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Prediluted) - see the second source. You really were better off with the proper coolant with a bit of Dexcool, but the mechanic should have put the right coolant in it. Unless the orange coolant you have now is the right type... they are both orange. Using the wrong coolant, especially conventional green, can take many years off the life of the car.
The basic premise that this vehicle, a 2012 Ford product, needed coolant, needs to be questioned. Coolant systems of cars are sealed and if operating properly there is never ever a need to add coolant. I have a 2008 Ford Mercury product and it has never received coolant nor has needed, as of yet, a coolant service. If you added any fluid it would have been to the overflow reservoir. This reservoir is very small and its capacity in in ounces. You failed to look into the owner's manual for information and instructions. There was no need to be concerned. Now, in spite of all being OK you still insist on panicking. Stop, please. You are making something out of nothing. Nothing was needed and what was done was done because you insisted. Stop, please.
I would call and ask if he flushed the whole cooling system usually when you add coolant you are supposed to burp " the cooling system, to get air bubbles out but if he drained the radiator he probably drained the whole system
Well, dexcool definitely doesn't go well with normal anti-freeze. It can gel and other nasty things can happen. If you are worried about your coolant system, you can always flush it yourself. Even if you are not mechanically inclined, it is very easy.
1. Drain everything out of your coolant system and reconnect your hoses.
2. Fill the system up with just water, then, I know this will sound nuts but, put in about a 1/2 cup of powered dishwashing soap.
3. Start your car up and let it run for about 30 minutes while keeping an eye on your temperture.
4. Drain all the water/soap out of the system. If it looks pretty bad, retry steps 2 through 4.
5. After you get it pretty good looking, refill with just water and run your engine for a couple of minutes and drain. Redo this a couple of times to get out the majority of the soap. If you don't get all of it don't worry, it won't hurt anything.
6. Once everything is cleaned out, refill with your favorite flavor of coolant (i.e. Dex-Cool, Green, Red Kool-Aid ...).
It's really hard to screw this up and if your car starts over-heating, you will have plenty of time to shut it down.
I had topped off my Focus's engine coolant because it was below the min line, and after a little reading, I found that mixing universal with my dexcool wasn't a good idea. One mechanic said it'll be okay, but I decided to get it flushed. After a rather quick service it was done but I believe he just drained the radiator, and refilled it with dexcool. My question is, was that all I needed or did it need to be more extensive to get rid of the risk of my engine seizing up?
