ok, ELC verse Ford gold. i am getting ready to replace my head gaskets and put ARP studs in. i have the full "Big Hoss" banks package with egr delete. last year i exceeded the ect-eot temps and had to replace my oil cooler, and at that time they said no head gasket problems. i just noticed that the de-gas bottle was empty. they ran test and said that i was getting about 21psi in the tank when it should not be above 16.
the big question is do i get away from ford Gold and move to a ELC type coolant. i have heard that the elc does not have the silicon in it that is generally the cause of egr and cooler failures. i have heard that with a egr delete that it really does not matter if you flush the system every 30 or so thousand miles

thoughts please?

 

There are arguments on both sides and I think it is all based on speculation and theory. Depends on who you believe... I chose to go to Cat 1 rated ELC, mostly because that is what the designers of this engine (Navstar) put in it.
They say the gold works fine, if changed out often. I would say that either one should be changed out periodically on schedule. Also, they say that the gold breaks down with EGR heat... Well, if you don't have an EGR cooler, then I would think that would solve the problem, under that theory.
Your choice. Lots of opinions coming, I'm sure...

 

thanks, i am kind of leaning with the gold. it will force me to keep up with it. also i mostly take it to ford for service. used a general shop once and they put and after market oil filter cap during an oil change. lucky the next one was at ford and they caught it. i like OEM parts unless they have been proven faulty like head bolts.

 

I'm new to Diesels, but no matter what, you NEVER want to neglect a cooling system. Even if you don't believe it needs flushed. Your heater core and radiator will suffer, and in our trucks, the oil cooler as well right?

At the minimum, if you aren't going to change your coolant out at the times prescribed by the manufacturer, then you should be doing hydrometer 50/50 and acidity checks.

 

Get yourself an ELC and don't do the job twice.

Shell Rotella
International EC-1
CAT ELC
and I believe Fleetrite makes a good one too.

Perform a coolant flush with VC-9 and restore to make sure the cooling system is totally clean. We have the procedure in the tech folder here: http://home.comcast.net/~lyon.family...ush%20v1-0.pdf

 

Ford Gold has a small amount of silicates in it. CAT 1 rated ELC has none. Silicate cooking out of coolant in the very high temps of the EGR cooler and flowing through the system have been blamed for clogging up the oil cooler. There are many threads here at FTE on the subject and almost as many opinions. This is what I think - no tech terms and few acronyms (many will disagree ):

Ford Gold is a good coolant and many vehicles including 6.0 diesels have went many miles with no issues. It is not "guaranteed" to clog your oil cooler. Silicate levels on this stuff are somthing like 2 tablespoons in the whole system. If the entire silicate load completely dropped out and went to the oil cooler it wouldn't be enough to clog it up. It may be enough to raise temps noticeably, but in order for that to happen, the engine is seeing unusuial high EGT's, maybe towing heavy, tunes etc.

Silicate free ELC (nor all ELC's are silicate free) doesn't have issues with drop-out of any of it's components. The reason these Silicate free ELC's aren't used for everything is a compatibility with some gaskets and seals on engines not built to use this type coolant. While I have found nothing stating the 6.0 is comparable with this type coolant, International does use it in their trucks. As the manufacturer of the engine they should know. I think Ford decided to use the Gold in their trucks because it was already on the shelf and they didn't have a silicate free coolant.

So to sum-up, Ford Gold good, Silicate free a little better. I use the CAT brand EC-1 rated coolant because they wrote the spec and it's a cool red color instead of pi$$ yellow.

 

tell me about the Sinister coolant filter. i am considering this because i was told that part of the problem with failures is that casting sand and broken down silicates form heat float around in the system and can cause blockage leading to failures. after this repair the system will have been flushed 3 times that i know of, i would hope that its getting pretty cleaned out

 

I like the sinister set-up. Nice hoses, sturdy bracket, looks sharp. Install took about 20min. I think is just a matter of what looks good to you. You can build one from parts available at NAPA and save a few bucks. Some have routed the lines differently and have a little better flow. I think blade (Benny) has a custom set-up he might post some info on. They all use the same filter elements.

The casting sand was an issue on some engines. I saw a couple of tablespoons from the bottom of my radiator on my own truck. Pulling the block drain plug is an important part of flushing. I think the filter is a good idea just because.

 

I would go with the ELC. Like stated earlier the builders of the engine use ELC. Ford only put the gold in because that's what they had that was compatible with the engine.

 

X--3^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Theres pics on here somewhere the Gold coolant cakes everything and Hinders the Heat transfer

 

I can post up links to International engines with ELC gelling up ....................
(just to stir the pot a little)

 

I've used Ford Gold , Zerex G-05, since new. No problems. I do a drain and fill every 3 years since my truck is low mileage. No matter what you use, maintenance is the key word.

 

I would like to see those pics Mark. I wasn't aware of an issue with drop out on the silicate free stuff. There are several brands of "ELC" at the chain parts stores that are actually a HOAT, containing various mixtures of carboyxlate and silicates. A couple of them are even red in color. This can be a pretty muddy subject (stupid pun intended).

 

x-2 ON THE pICS


In my mind they should all leave a Layer of stuff For protection

So in my mind whatever one will accomplish that with thinnest layer

Where does a Guy Draw the Line?

 

Here is one link discussing it:
IC VT-365 EGR Cooler Failures - School Bus Fleet Magazine Forums

Here is a link that HAD pictures, but the links have been broken (the coolant looked like red jello):
Is this what I think it is.... - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

Origcharger posted this one awhile back:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ars-story.html

Also - cheezit personally showed me some gelled ELC coolant on a truck he was working on a few years ago.