I found gooch's sticky on the subject and have concluded the PO put regular coolant in w/out treating it. I have Napa Kool and test strips will be in on Tuesday. I was planning on flushing to system "later" but an wondering if this needs to move up the service list.

Can I run it a few thousand miles using the additive before I need to flush for ELC HD? or, should i get off my computer and get to work!

 

You should wait to add anything until you test it. What year truck are you doing this on?

 

What he said, nothing wrong with the green coolant if you keep the SCA in the proper range. Like wood said don't add anything until you dip the strips & know what it needs you'll just be guessing.

 

Good advice, there. I'm waiting for the strips to come in, Tuesday, and hopefully they'll have instructions on how to use and read. I don't want to drive it until I know for sure what I'm working with. I think that is my biggest concern- once I treat it, how long can/should I drive before flushing to ELC HD?

I am very new to diesels and want this truck to last... well, forever.

This is a 2000 7.3- build date of 10 Dec 99, S/N 1220705.

 

If it's like mine it is probably the coolant Ford put in it but who knows. If you want to just go ahead & change over to the ELC & be done with it. I just changed mine over a couple weeks ago, if you looked at Gooch's sticky go for it & forget about the other BS. JMHO

 

Eventually I will flush it to ELC. Not to say I am lazy, or stupid, but I am new to auto maintenance and want to make sure I have the right knowledge, tools, collection containers and disposal facilities identified before I tear into my truck. This is my daily driver and I need it to get me to work and back. I'm looking into local haz mat sites to dispose of oil, coolant, fluids, etc.

I love learning new things and am excited to get started. My other hobbies (woodworking and competitive shooting) don't require 100% completion every time I get started. I don't want the wife looking at me cross-eyed at 2 am when I'm trying to get it buttoned up for work Mon AM!

 

How long has it been since the coolant was last changed? If it's been a while then id forget about testing it and just switch it over to elc now and never worry about it again.

 

That's pretty much what I was trying to say

 

You should probably plan on changing your hoses and thermostat when you do this. The upper hose neck also is usually garbage when you remove it, so having one on hand is a good idea. Nothing worse than putting something like the ELC coolant in and have a hose let go a month down the road. You can probably get the parts for around $100. It is money in the bank if you ask me. Something else to consider is a by-pass coolant filter. I was pretty amazed at the crud mine collected even after a full Gooch style flush. That's another $100 but worth it IMO. May save your water pump.

 

When/if you go to replace your thermostat, be sure and give those 3 housing bolts a squirt of penetrating oil for just in cases.

 

A properly treated, well maintained conventional "green" coolant will last as long as you have your truck. While a heavy duty ELC lasts a LOT longer between flushes, protects better, and transfers heat better then a conventional "green" coolant, other than International recommending an ELC for the L99 and up engines, being a maintenance free coolant is one of the main reasons enthusiasts switch to an ELC.

If you have no idea how your coolant has been maintained, or if it has the proper SCA level, don't stress too much. The reason for proper SCA level is to prevent cavitation, which causes pitting in the cylinder. Eventually the pitting will cause a hole and then you have really big problems.

The reason you don't have to stress is because cavitation pitting takes a long time to occur. You would need years of improperly maintained coolant for that to happen, so a couple more weeks before flushing it isn't going to cause the problem.

Also, while cavitation is a concern with all diesel engines, not just our 7.3's, I've only ever heard of one case of cavitation causing a rebild, and that was because of too much water infiltration into the Evans waterless coolant (not an ELC) the person was running. He even admits he wasn't diligent in proper maintenance of his Evans, checking for water infiltration.

If it were my truck, I wouldn't even worry about checking the SCA level of your coolant. I'd just get your stuff together and do the flush and swap to ELC whenever your time allows, within reason.

Stewart

 

I second this. When I changed my water pump, despite letting some PB Blaster soak on them one still snapped when removing. The housing rusts easily and if there was ever some seepage around the housing those 3 bolts can get really corroded and stuck. It was not a big deal since I was replacing the pump but that can ruin your day if just replacing the thermostat and/or housing. If removing the housing for a T-stat swap check it closely for pitting at the sealing surfaces. You can replace the housing with a billet aluminum one from dieselsite for around $50 or OEM for around $30.00

 

Thanks to all for the advice. Any more info (part num or install advice) on the filter would be helpful.

When I do flush (last one was 10k miles ago) I will replace all those suggested parts. As my first XO told me, "You have time to do it right; you don't have time to do it twice."

 

Quick edit to previous- in one of the links to the flush instructions I saw a filter at the bottom of the radiator to "save the water pump." that was my obscure reference above.

 

From partsguyed, these are the parts I have to replace. Am I missing anything? I want to replace the parts this time, and hopefully in another 100k miles when I do another coolant flush. That parts for the t-stat assembly and upper and lower housings are a bit confusing. Water pump and filter, still considering....

Cooling, Radiator and components, Upper hose, Upper hose- $19.96
Cooling, Radiator and components, Lower hose, Lower hose- $25.61
Cooling, Radiator and components, Overflow hose, Outlet, Outlet- $25.90
Cooling, Radiator and components, Overflow hose, Outlet, THERMOSTAT ASY- $26.56
Cooling, Radiator and components, Overflow hose, Outlet, Upper- $3.95
Cooling, Radiator and components, Overflow hose, Inlet, Inlet- $14.21
Cooling, Radiator and components, Reservoir cap- $6.53
Cooling, Radiator and components, Thermostat hsng, Upper, Upper- $20.21
Cooling, Radiator and components, Thermostat hsng, Lower, Lower- $44.64