Cavitation question
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Cavitation question
1994 7.3 turbo... has 205,000 miles. I haven't yet used test strips on the coolant but it seems to run really fine. (I know the first owner, who had it for the longest time, maintained the truck pretty well, so if FoMoCo did send something by mail in the late 1990s to all owners telling them to put SCAs in the coolant, chances are he listened.)
I haven't yet had the opportunity to ask the current owner if he knows anything about SCAs and cavitation and test the coolant... I learned about those things only after the test drive
My question is, is it possible that it's lasted that long without cavitation issues if the coolant has never been treated? (in which case a cylinder pinhole might be right around the corner...)
Personally, would you automatically avoid an apparently well-maintained 205,000 mile engine that runs fine if there are no SCAs in the coolant?
(I'll just cross my fingers and hope there are SCAs in the coolant, because that would settle the matter, but when I go back there, I'd rather be able to make a decision about that truck whether or not there are... in your opinion, it is an automatic "stay away" if not?)
Thanks in advance for your opinion!
I haven't yet had the opportunity to ask the current owner if he knows anything about SCAs and cavitation and test the coolant... I learned about those things only after the test drive
My question is, is it possible that it's lasted that long without cavitation issues if the coolant has never been treated? (in which case a cylinder pinhole might be right around the corner...)
Personally, would you automatically avoid an apparently well-maintained 205,000 mile engine that runs fine if there are no SCAs in the coolant?
(I'll just cross my fingers and hope there are SCAs in the coolant, because that would settle the matter, but when I go back there, I'd rather be able to make a decision about that truck whether or not there are... in your opinion, it is an automatic "stay away" if not?)
Thanks in advance for your opinion!
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2008
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Cavitation isnt necessarily a problem in all engines. Our turbo'd 92 has 396k on it and the only thing its ever done is drop an exaust valvle.
So would i avoid it if it was untreated. No. Would i treat once i bought it, yes.
So would i avoid it if it was untreated. No. Would i treat once i bought it, yes.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 20,381
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From: Mi'kma'ki
Q: I've never heard of cavitation before, I have a couple hundred thousand miles on my engine and have never treated it with anything, what should I do?
A: Don't get too worked up. If you haven't had any problems with cavitation then you're in the clear, but you need to get your engine treated as soon as possible. Cavitation damage cannot be reversed but it can be stopped. Treat your engine as outlined above in the first question and you'll be just fine.
personally if i wrote this article,i wouldn't have worded it like that i don't think.
you don't know how badly the cylinders have been eaten away already and if it's close to failure yet or not.
if its getting close and the truck has been babied,whats gunna happen when a working man gets a hold of it,and start hauling on some hills up against the governor.
but hey life is a risk,and im sure the author didn't mean to imply,this couldn't be the case.
though i would have worded things a little different.
read this in its entirety,if you haven't yet.:
So, chances are, you've all heard of cavitation. But you've heard so many rumors and clear as mud facts you don't exactly know what to believe. If you drive a diesel engine, or any high compression engine, you NEED to read this article and understand it, it could save you thousands of dollars. To create this article, it took years of drudging through stories, facts, experiences, and money. So without further delay.
the way i see it,is its all about the price.if the truck is priced good enough so that if an engine replacement is required,then what the heck.
now if the truck is priced top dollar.the owner better have some records and receipts of sca additives dating way back,know what im saying.
A: Don't get too worked up. If you haven't had any problems with cavitation then you're in the clear, but you need to get your engine treated as soon as possible. Cavitation damage cannot be reversed but it can be stopped. Treat your engine as outlined above in the first question and you'll be just fine.
personally if i wrote this article,i wouldn't have worded it like that i don't think.
you don't know how badly the cylinders have been eaten away already and if it's close to failure yet or not.
if its getting close and the truck has been babied,whats gunna happen when a working man gets a hold of it,and start hauling on some hills up against the governor.
but hey life is a risk,and im sure the author didn't mean to imply,this couldn't be the case.
though i would have worded things a little different.
read this in its entirety,if you haven't yet.:
So, chances are, you've all heard of cavitation. But you've heard so many rumors and clear as mud facts you don't exactly know what to believe. If you drive a diesel engine, or any high compression engine, you NEED to read this article and understand it, it could save you thousands of dollars. To create this article, it took years of drudging through stories, facts, experiences, and money. So without further delay.
the way i see it,is its all about the price.if the truck is priced good enough so that if an engine replacement is required,then what the heck.
now if the truck is priced top dollar.the owner better have some records and receipts of sca additives dating way back,know what im saying.
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To be honest, there's something in the first post that isn't exactly accurate... I had actually heard about cavitation before the test drive, but didn't care at that time, so I didn't bother with checking the coolant.
The main reason I didn't care is because a guy who obviously knows what he's talking about, a moderator with plenty of posts whose Ford diesel word I would definitely trust anytime, said this (quote below) in a thread in which I was asking a couple general IDI questions, so I took his word for it and removed "cavitation" from my mind. Now that I know the mechanism behind cavitation issues, I wonder why I shouldn't still be worried about it now... from what I've read, it could still be a pretty huge problem waiting to happen even after 16 years... right?
Thanks in advance...
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2008
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Q: I've never heard of cavitation before, I have a couple hundred thousand miles on my engine and have never treated it with anything, what should I do?
A: Don't get too worked up. If you haven't had any problems with cavitation then you're in the clear, but you need to get your engine treated as soon as possible. Cavitation damage cannot be reversed but it can be stopped. Treat your engine as outlined above in the first question and you'll be just fine.
personally.if i wrote this article,i wouldn't have worded it like that i don't think.
you don't know how badly the cylinders have been eaten away already and if it's close to failure yet or not.
if its getting close and the truck has been babied,whats gunna happen when a working man gets a hold of it,and start hauling on some hills up against the governor.
but hey,life is a risk,and im sure the author didn't mean to imply,this couldn't be the case.
though i would have worded things a little different.
read this in its entirety,if you haven't yet.:
So, chances are, you've all heard of cavitation. But you've heard so many rumors and clear as mud facts you don't exactly know what to believe. If you drive a diesel engine, or any high compression engine, you NEED to read this article and understand it, it could save you thousands of dollars. To create this article, it took years of drudging through stories, facts, experiences, and money. So without further delay.
A: Don't get too worked up. If you haven't had any problems with cavitation then you're in the clear, but you need to get your engine treated as soon as possible. Cavitation damage cannot be reversed but it can be stopped. Treat your engine as outlined above in the first question and you'll be just fine.
personally.if i wrote this article,i wouldn't have worded it like that i don't think.
you don't know how badly the cylinders have been eaten away already and if it's close to failure yet or not.
if its getting close and the truck has been babied,whats gunna happen when a working man gets a hold of it,and start hauling on some hills up against the governor.
but hey,life is a risk,and im sure the author didn't mean to imply,this couldn't be the case.
though i would have worded things a little different.
read this in its entirety,if you haven't yet.:
So, chances are, you've all heard of cavitation. But you've heard so many rumors and clear as mud facts you don't exactly know what to believe. If you drive a diesel engine, or any high compression engine, you NEED to read this article and understand it, it could save you thousands of dollars. To create this article, it took years of drudging through stories, facts, experiences, and money. So without further delay.
I'm actually just about to "pull the trigger" on that truck, and currently double-checking everything just to be sure.
So far I had assumed that if "tjc transport" wasn't worried about cavitation after 16 years, then I shouldn't be... but now I'm having second thoughts about it.
As you just said, I could end up with a fine truck whose engine is micrometers away from a cylinder pinhole... and it wouldn't stay fine for long.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 20,381
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From: Mi'kma'ki
the longer the engine has been running without SCA's,the more the coolant has attacked the cylinder walls,thus the closer it is to cavitation.
life's a risk.those who take no risks,usually are the ones who don't get rewarded.
im probably not helping you much lol.it's your decision.
life's a risk.those who take no risks,usually are the ones who don't get rewarded.
im probably not helping you much lol.it's your decision.
Trending Topics
Senior User
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napa cool
i got about 400 k miles, get it then napa cool napa cool, or ive seen here use cat red coolant ,if it ain t a cat its a dog. but im running napa cool
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Haha i like that. Might have to keep in mind for a bumper sticker as i may be looking at a DT466 swap into another truck in the future.. maybe an 1160 if i can find one and find out how much they weigh.
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the longer the engine has been running without SCA's,the more the coolant has attacked the cylinder walls,thus the closer it is to cavitation.
life's a risk.those who take no risks,usually are the ones who don't get rewarded.
im probably not helping you much lol.it's your decision.
life's a risk.those who take no risks,usually are the ones who don't get rewarded.
im probably not helping you much lol.it's your decision.
I really expected to hear either
1) "if you don't want trouble, you really MUST avoid any truck that hasn't got SCAs in the coolant, because it's all but certain to be close to the point where you'll get a pinhole in a cylinder"
or
2) "well, obviously it's better if there are SCAs in the coolant, but if it runs fine you can take a chance, buy it, and -- needless to say -- treat it immediately"
Hopefully the thread gets enough replies for them to start being statistically significant, then if I get significantly more 2) and almost none of 1), I'll buy it (and make a thread about it with pics
).
Cargo Master
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,493
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From: NY
I was thinking about cavitation after reading some of these articles (quite disturbing). I don't know if my truck has ever been treated SCA's, but I know I recently had it flushed. Assuming that I'll just put the additive in the coolant, what do you guys recommend, The ford vc-8 additive, or fleetguards version???
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Senior User
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^^ That's a good question... From the article, I assumed they were all pretty good. There's both a Ford dealer and a Cummins Filtration (Fleetguard) location near here. Are they really totally equivalent?
Off-topic, your truck is a dead ringer for the one I'm likely to buy.
It's a F250 XLT two-tone cranberry with light grey stripe with ext. cab, the newer-style 1992+ mirrors (I believe even XLTs could be had with the older-style mirrors, right?), dual tanks and those five orange lights on top of cab.
Remove that non-stock sidestep and the chromed handle next to the door on the B-pillar and I swear you won't be able to tell the two apart
Off-topic, your truck is a dead ringer for the one I'm likely to buy.
It's a F250 XLT two-tone cranberry with light grey stripe with ext. cab, the newer-style 1992+ mirrors (I believe even XLTs could be had with the older-style mirrors, right?), dual tanks and those five orange lights on top of cab.
Remove that non-stock sidestep and the chromed handle next to the door on the B-pillar and I swear you won't be able to tell the two apart
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Senior User
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Which brings up the question: why didn't you bother to start treating it once you learned about cavitation? You might be pushing your luck...
Or did you start treating it more or less recently?
I'm OK with some risk (it's a used vehicle after all and a fairly old one at that) but I'd really rather not have engine problems, so I prefer to weigh the options and evaluate the risk before the truck's in my driveway. Hence the questions... to form a general idea on the statistics so I can decide better.