Hey guys I'm doing a coolant flush pretty soon and I'm wondering if ELC is guaranteed to stop cavitation. I read oilburners and they seemed to be unsure about wether it would stop cavitation or not. Hate to bring this up again but my motor has 106K on her and I don't know if the former user treated it with ELC or SCA's. Will ELC stop cavitation if its happening or just prevent it if it hasn't started yet? Is my best bet to be on the safe side and treat with low silicate coolant and SCA's or will ELC do the trick. To be honest, I don't want to have to be checking SCA levels all the time to make sure nothing bad happens but if thats the only way, I'm gonna have to. Any thoughts?

 

This stuff looks pretty good, anyone put this in?

Store Locator | NAPA Online

 

The link didn't work, but if you are talking about NAPA COOL I use it all the time.

 

Yeah, that stuff looked great, I'll probably shoot for that.

 

i use Napakool. whatever you decide to use, pick one brand and stick with it. weather you go with an ELC or a DCA additive dont mix diffrent brands. diffrent dca's dont mix well and they tend to plug things up.

 

fleetcharge.yes.
that's what im using.
don't use NAPA KOOL SCA's to replenish that.
use DCA4 motorcraft or cummins SCA's,as that's what's in that particular coolant already and those two additives don't play together nicely.
since your getting that coolant at Napa,it could be tempting to grab SCA's while your there.
resist the temptation lol.

suggestions;
grab 4 gallons of this purple colored stuff,
then head on over to the grocery store for 4 gallons of distilled water to mix with this coolant for a 50/50 mix.
i grabbed the upper and lower rad hoses while at napa and changed those too.those should be replaced every other flush at least.
ask for new hose clamps for them is also a good idea.same goes for the rad cap.grab a 13 lb cap while there (only use a 13lb.)
then head on over to the ford stealership and take one up the rear for a stock t-stat and replace that while your doing it.

don't be a wuss lmao.
you need to check the SCA's in this coolant,and replenish them when required.
it's VERY easy.you just dip a test strip in the coolant and match it to the chart.take's like 2 minutes.check it every other oil change.very simple.
you'll have the coolant all tested by the time you remove the oil drain plug,and changes are,all finished and still waiting for the oil to drain from the pan if you check it while doing an oil change.

grab the SCA's and test strips online.give her a test after the first flush to make sure all is good.then just every other oil change,or around every 10k miles is fine really.
napa guys will look at you funny if you ask for test strips. they can get 'em.but you'll need to buy a huge bulk box.i did that.but they only last for like a year then expire.

 

The napa stuff I was looking at had SCA's built in without a need to replenish, it was pink. Lemme get the name of it....

Edit: ok my bad, it was fleet charge with no initial SCA's needed. I can replenish with ford VC-8 SCA?

 

Q: I have other SCAs from Fleetguard or NAPA, what will work with my engine?

A: Most any SCAs will work as long as you follow the directions on their labels. If you buy SCAs from Dodge/Cummins/Fleetguard then it won't be called VC-8, it will be called DCA-4. VC-8 is what Ford sells. It is the exact same stuff as VC-8 and they are compatible with each other.

Not only does Cummins have their own SCAs but so does NAPA. The only difference here is that NAPA SCAs are not compatible with Ford's or Fleetguard's.

Some SCAs are not compatible because they use different formulations of chemicals to achieve the protection from cavitation. Ford and Fleetguard are compatible, and Wixkool and Napakool are compatible.

Napa's SCAs are called NAPAKOOL, this is also the same stuff as WIXCOOL. Napakook, Wixcool, DCA-2 and Pencool are the old SCA formulations. They are still useful in preventing cavitation but one would assume the newer SCAs are better in someway or else they wouldn't have updated them to DCA-4 and such. Ford's SCAs have also gone through evolution, they started with FW-14, then FW-15, FW-16, then latest is VC-8. No clue why the change in prefixes from FW to VC though.

so since this coolant has cummins(same as fords "VC-8") SCA's in it already,you will want to replenish with fords or cummins (fleetgaurd) see?

continuing where this guy left off,
we can read here about DCA2 (older found in "napakool") and the newer stuff (DCA4) as well:
http://www.fleetguard.com/html/en/pr.../supp_add.html

notice one key point there about "aluminum protection".
since these replacement rads are more and more common now,its good idea to stick with the DCA4 if your running an aluminum replacement radiator.

 

I'm kinda confused lol. I can replenish napa's fleet charge with Ford VC-8 or Napa cool?

Is it normal for T-stats to go on these around 100K?

 

no man lol.
("fleet charge coolant" is NOT "NAPA"s coolant.it's just sold there[among other places such as tractor supply for example].this is whats confusing you i think.)

cummins and fords SCA's (new and imprived DCA4 stuff called "VC8 by ford" and called "fleetgaurd" by cummins.) = the same thing ok?

this coolant called "fleet charge" is premixed with cummins/ford's SCA's already ok?

when you need to add SCA's to coolant with SCA's already,you want to use the same SCA's that are already present ok?

this means you CANNOT use the uncompilable "NAPAKOOL" or "WIXCOOL" with this particular coolant period.ok?

T-stats can go anytime.the system is going to be drained and flushed.do it now,for hopefully another 100k miles worry free,or wait until it fails and then drain some coolant to replace it."don't fix what ain't broke" OR "replace and keep it from being broken down latter." the choice is yours.
being a work truck,the choice for me was easy.i didn't know the history on this trucks coolant maintenance,so i bent over and payed $45 for the T-stat now,so while out working,i could reduce the likelihood of having a T-stat failure,in which case would lead to downtime on the side of the road(cus ain't no way id keep driving with a stuck closed t-stat and risk engine or head gasket failure) which would have = a lot more than $45 if it were to happen.when it comes to having a reliable work truck,preventive maintenance is key.

 

There have been a few isolated reports of the new OAT technology SCA's causing water pump seal failures on older engines.

I ran Ford Gold in a couple of my reman engines, but none of them lasted long enough for seals to start leaking.

I am back to running Fleet Charge from Old World Industries in my 6.9.
DCA 4 or FW 16 or VC 8 compatable.

Ford changed the FW 16 to VC 8 a while back.

 

Ok, I got it now, thanks. I just had it in my mind that fleet charge was napas coolant. I'll probably need to remove the alt. to get to the T-stat right?

 

Snapon, it is really that hard checking every oil change your SCA level? lol


Every oil change on mine, I'd check the SCA level, grease everything, front end, U-joints, top everything up etc.

 

i check my DCA's at every service, just add it to the list. i use the Wix strips. they test for DCA, coolent ph and freeze point. dosnt take much to add it your your P.M. routine.

 

Yes, it is. If I can reduce my to do list on the truck, I will.