Just bought some Zerex ELC from Napa, and after getting it home I decided to read the back of it, It doesn't say Cat EC rated so I am just trying to see if anyone else has ran this either currently or before. It's red in color and says recommended for: Cat, Cummins, Detroit diesel, Internantional, Mack and John Deere. I am attaching a picture of the front and back of the bottle. Thanks guys. I just need to figure out if it's gotta go back before I tear into truck.

 

I used the Zerex concentrate from Napa. it said EC-1 rated on the front label....maybe you bought the wrong one? (I don't have the part # with me)

EDIT: I "think" the Zerex part # is ZXED1

 

I started goggling it and came across a technical Bulletin and it said the following. So hopefully the label just changed or something..





<table width="364" dir="LTR" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="7"> <tbody><tr><td width="50%" height="8" valign="TOP"> ZEREX™ Extended Life HD fully formulated engine coolant meets the performance requirements of ASTM D 6210 for heavy duty diesel engines. ZEREX™ Extended Life HD antifreeze coolant meets or exceeds the performance requirements of the following antifreeze specifications and/or is recommended: ASTM D6210
</td> <td width="50%" height="8" valign="TOP"> SAE J814
</td> </tr> <tr><td width="50%" height="85" valign="TOP"> ASTM D3306
Cummins 14603
Cummins 3666286
GM 1899M
GM 1825M
SAE J1034
Mack
Peterbilt
Volvo
Paccar
Freightliner
</td> <td width="50%" height="85" valign="TOP"> Caterpillar EC-1
Detroit Diesel 7SE298
Thermo King
Federal Specification A-A-870A
Navistar CEMS B-1 TYPE III
Link Belt
Terex
John Deere
TMC of ATA RP-329B
TMC of ATA RP-338
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

 

That's the one I used when changing over.

 

Thanks for the assurance.

 

Never had a problem useing it.

 

Here's a pic of my jug showing where it says "Cat ec-1rated". I guess they changed labels. Also a pic of the back showing part # for future reference for others.

 

I switched to the Zerex ELC about 10,000 miles ago. No problems.

 

Thanks fellas. I just got finished flushing and topping off with it. We'll see what happens after the oil cooler change.


Matt

 

Why did you do the change now instead of waiting until AFTER the oil cooler repair? Sounds like a waste to me.... you don't plan on reusing it knowing you have a bad oil cooler do you?

 

Actually, Yes I am going to pour it back in there after I do the oil cooler. Call me crazy or whatever. I bought this truck almost 4yrs ago and the temp split has always been 10/12. I knew that eventually I would have to change the cooler so over the course of a couple of years I bought an oil cooler, updated stand pipes/dummy plugs, STC and an EGR delete. I am going to be retiring from the military in roughly 6mos and have a lot of leave on the books so I figured that I would take some and be productive while doing so. I did a VC-9 flush, backflushes the whole shooting match last night and then serviced the truck with ELC, and then turned right around and drained 3gals back into the distilled water jugs this morning. There hasn't been anything settle on the bottom of the jugs after sitting 12hrs so I figure it will be perfectly fine to re-use.


Matt

 

Since you live in WA, I would contact the international dealer in Fife. I purchased 3 gallons of Caterpillar ELC for 25$ each. I'm sure shipping would be way worth it instead of using any other brand. It seems that the CAT ELC has no silicates compared to Ford Gold and comparable.

 

Any EC-1 rated ELC coolant will have no silicates.

 

The problem I see with that is that your truck already has the 50/50 mix of Coolant and Distilled Water, right? When you do your distilled water after the repair you will not be able to get all the distilled water out. What most people do is add 3 1/2 gallons of full strength HD ELC, and then top off with distilled. That's the reason you should get gallons of full strength instead of the pre-mix. The coolant you pull out will already be diluted and if you add it to the distilled water that you can not remove from your system, it will become more diluted than the recommended 50/50.

After all that work, I would just get 4 more gallons of full strength HD ELC and do it right.

 

I see what you are saying and depending on the temp split following the oil cooler swap out I may or may not do another distilled water flush. I look at it like this...the Ford Gold that I pulled out didn't have a lot of grit or anything else. Following the VC-9 flush I stuck the hose in the degas bottle with the block drains open just letting it drain, and I also mashed the skinny pedal to accelerate removal of debris. Closed it up and topped it off with distilled water and let it run in driveway for 1.5hrs. Drained radiator, block drains into clear jugs. The water was almost as clean as it was going in.(had a light brown tint) Following that I topped it off again with distilled and repeated process. After draining and looking at it the second time I was completely satisfied that the flush was a success. I topped it off with 3.5 gals of ELC and drove the dog-snot out of it. My temp spread actually decreased by to a steady 10 now however I am committed to doing this work because I am tired of looking at parts on the shelf.


Matt