I am in the process of oil cooler EGR block off, (or fixing the giant pile of ford as my gf would call it) and I am getting ready to reinstall everything. In my truck currently is a Green Coolant. Is this the right Coolant? If not what is? I have been reading about the Ford Gold stuff. Is this the only coolant that I can use and if so why. I only drained the rad and not the block so if this green stuff is wrong would I be ok to “top” the back off with this green coolant just to get it running and the flush the system and replace with the proper coolant.

p.s
i'm actually trying to sell the truck so the less money i have to spend to get it running the better but i don't want to give someone a ticking time bomb

 

Use either GOLD or Shell ELO....

 

I think you meant elc? Anyway there is a lot of debate lately wether to use premium gold, GO-5 or elc. Either way you should not have green coolant in there. If you have warranty stick to GO-5 if not you need to do some homework and make a decision.

 

I have been reading alot about shell ELC, It sounds like pretty good stuff. No silicates and lasts up to 600,000 miles with a booster at 300,000. I'm thinking about doing the switch.

http://www.shellusserver.com/product...nInhibitor.pdf

 

I just found this page. It states that all of the VT365's (same engine as the 6.0) on International chassis for these RV's came stock with Texaco ELC.

International VT 365 engine

I thought this was interesting because for a while on this site alot of people swore that you should only use Ford Gold. Then people started saying that Zerex GO5 was the same thing and it was acceptable. Now people are saying that some of the ELC's are acceptable. When this whole time our motors twin has been housed in Buses, RV's, and cargo trucks with Texaco ELC

It's also interesting because both the Ford housed 6.0's and the International housed VT365's have issues with the EGR and Oil coolers going bad. In fact if you read some of the RV and school bus forums you will see that the oil and EGR coolers on the VT365 have a habit of exploding violently. One of the explanations for our problems with EGR coolers and oil coolers has been silicate drop from the coolant. But according to the following site Texaco ELC is silicate free. So that kind of puts a hole in that theory.

Edit: International also uses Fleetrite and Shell ELC which are also silicate free.

http://www.scyr.org/stellablue/Texaco_ELC.pdf

 

I have read that Prestone also has a ELC that is silicate free. I too have had issues with the green goo that was in my cooling system filter and i was running Ford Gold. I did the flush and then replaced the egr and oil cooler so I am ok now. But I see a lot of discussion on different coolants, and testing the additives and extending the life and bunches of other issues. But and it may sound a bit simplistic but for the 40 or so dollars it cost to buy antifreeze and the couple of hours it takes to R&R isnt it easier to just renew it instead of the complicated add, test, monitor? I mean we are so intense on OEM filters and certain oils and strict change intervals, it just seems easier to just renew.
Not being smart, just putting it out there for discussion.

 

I haven't seen or heard that from any IH tech's, but that's VERY interesting information. Quite the contrary. Throw us up a link. I'd LOVE to read some more about that. Makes the Bulletproof setup look better and better all the time.

 

Here's a few, I haven't found one of the really, really interesting posts that I read earlier, In it the EGR cooler heated up so bad with so much pressure that it actually split apart and spewed coolant. I will post it when I find it.

I started reading the VT365 forums a couple months ago because I figured I may learn something new to share with the Powerstroke guys.

IC VT-365 EGR Cooler Failures - School Bus Fleet Magazine Forums

2004 International VT365 head gasket or EGR issue? - Bob Is The Oil Guy

 

1. The prestone ELC is nitrite AND nitrate free. Read the bottles carefully. Shell/Texaco/CAT ELC is only nitrAte free. They contain nitrites as a secondary cavitation inhibitor along with the carboxylate primary cavitation inhibitor. This is important. Although some diesel manufacturers (Detroit Diesel) are requiring nitrite free coolant, they are designed to use that. Nitrite can be hard on aluminum.
2. There is no complicated testing with ELC's. Add a coolant filter and use distilled water with your ELC and no testing required for 5 years or 300k miles. If needed, add a few ounces of extender.

 

I think I'D replace it before THAT!

 

OOPS///thanks for the correction! Been listening to the Electric Light Orchestra.

 

one of the problems with the first generation 6.0's were the block heater element flaking and leading to blockage of the oil cooler. international's fix to the problem was installing a coolant filter, i think, prior to '05.

one of the largest misconceptions i've ever seen over the last few months is that silicates are bad in antifreeze, while they are prone to drop-out in high temp egr situations, they are the best known additive to protect the inside of an engine immediately. thats the one problem with using an ELC, it takes roughly 5,000mi. for it to start protecting the internals.

while the ford gold may have been light on the additive side of things, its a very good antifreeze that still needs to be checked every so often to see if corrision inhibitors need to be added, also i think ford speced it for too long of an interval

 

Ya, I just change mine every 2 to 3 years now regardless of mileage.

 

Sounds like a "bad design" thing to me the longer I read. Maybe it's "lack of maintenance" ???? The oil cooler still shouldn't clog like that. Still a good case for an external cooler, huh??

 

This is only an opinion but ...........

It has to be more than a bad design (and I am certainly not arguing the bad design part) - however too many people w/ high mileage and ZERO problems. What an interesting "puzzle".

Those were good links hubler13f - thanks.