Anybody running the Shell Rotella ELC coolant in the 6.4? I know it's better than the Motorcraft Gold. Just curious if anyone is running it in their 6.4?

 

Thats what International runs in their version of the 6.4; the MaxxForce 7 and all their other engines made since 2001 or so.

 

Thanks. I thought it was good to go. It's been in my 7.3 for years with no problems. I knew there certain early 7.3 that shouldn't use it due to soem internal engine sealants.

 

The only thing ford talks about really that I know of is the nitrates. So with that said, what would be the concentrate level of the red coolant and is there still the option to use the same additive to bring it up to strength if needed.

 

Cut and pasting from the product literature I found on the shell site:

"Use of Shell Rotella ELC Extender is recommended to ensure maximum coolant life. This product replenishes nitrite levels and should be added at 300,000 miles or 6,000 hours of coolant service. Nitrite serves as secondary protection against liner cavitation..."

 

Now this is interesting....any one ever heard of the Shell Rotella ELC Conversion Kit. Check out the link:

Shell offers Rotella ELC conversion kit

 

Here is the instructions for the conversion kit:

Shell ROTELLA® ELC

 

Looks complicated. I'd rather just fluch with distilled and refill with the 50/50 premix.

My truck had the red in it when I bought it from a used dealer. Ford replaced it with gold when they replaced the radiator but didn't know for sure if the red was OK to use.

 

I wouldn't change coolant from what Ford uses until the warranty is expired. Its just another reason for them to deny a claim if you have any trouble down the road.

 

I agree with cartmanea here.

Why fix something that isn't broken? Motorcraft antifreeze is good for over 100,000 miles, what's so wrong with that?

I would be willing to bet that if you had red coolant in your truck and suffered any cooling system failures with red coolant Ford would NOT cover it and blame it on improper coolant.

Cooling system failures on these trucks can get really expensive. Under certain conditions an EGR cooler failure can hydrolock the engine and require a complete engine replacement. If this happens to you with red coolant you can expect a $15K+ repair bill, as they will assume that's what caused it.

Use the proper fluids!!!

 

Well Tom, the Motorcraft Gold coolant actually isn't the best. It has silicates in it which can precipitate out under high heat of EGR coolers and cause sludge/sand in the coolant. Many people think this is what is to blame for all the oil cooler failures in the 6.0L. Still, if under warranty, run the correct fluid. The 6.4L I bought from Tom will be filled with ELC since I won't have warranty and it is a better coolant.

 

Good info, Ean.

Over the couple years I've been on the 6.4L forum I have yet to hear of an oil cooler failure, and some members trucks have seen well over 100,000 miles by now. The 6.4L uses the same premium gold coolant that the 6.0L did, which causes me to doubt this theory.

My entire argument was based on maintaining the warranty, which isn't a factor for you so you may very well be better off running ELC.

 

That's good to know. I wonder, did they change the oil cooler design for the 6.4L? IH uses the red ELC in their version of the 6.0L and 6.4L, whereas Ford also uses the gold in the Focus... I think Ford tends to spec their own fluid even though it may not be the best, for monetary reasons.

 

It looks like the 6.4L oil cooler is a different part than the 6.0L oil cooler. Not sure whether or not they made improvements to enhance durability, but I bet they have considering how infrequent failures are.

 

The biggest differance is on the 6.0 the cooling system is plumbed in series where the coolant flows from one component to the next and a plugged oil cooler will restrict flow to the EGR cooler.
On the 6.4 the system is plumbed in paralel so the oil cooler could be completely plugged and it still won't effect coolant flow through the EGR cooler.