Just curious... I noticed in Bill's video he states he's seen some Ford shop's don't use distilled water which I know my local Ford shop doesn't use distilled water at all, however at the shop my cousin works at they have a DI filter system to remove any impurities from the water.

 

I'm curious to why Ford doesn't spec their new Red coolant that's used in the 6.7 to be used in the 6.0/6.4 and still requires the Gold coolant for these applications?

 

Just be aware that there are differences between "distilled water", "reverse osmosis water", "de-ionized water", "softened water", "purified water", etc.

I would only use distilled water or water de-ionized with reverse osmosis personally. Lots of other systems only partially remove dissolved solids, some only filter out solids and run the water across carbon to remove color and minor organics.

If a shop said they had a water purification system, I would advise to look it over or question it pretty carefully. If it is a system designed to remove MOST of the dissolved salts (like RO), then it will cost some money to operate (filters, high pump pressure, membrane cleaning) and can even be a pain to operate/maintain. I doubt that many shops would operate one of these (and I guarantee they don't distill the water). IMO, you are better off providing the water or doing it yourself.

Oh - and one more POB - great write up Mike.

 

Here's a quote from Paul, a Ford engineer who posts sometimes in the 6.7L forum:


Looks like there is a lot of chemistry involved in specifying a coolant for a particular engine.

 

I respectfully disagree with that. A fairly high percentage of the oil coolers that I have replaced were highly restricted and many were absolutely PLUGGED. No cooling system flushing product will clear a plugged or highly restricted cooler because of the lack of flow and the density of the deposits.

Secondly, because of the restriction and lack of flow, the passages in the front cover and the engine block that feed and return coolant to the oil and EGR coolers will not be flushed as a result. I can see that there is a lot of debate over how effective the VC-9 coolant flush is and whether suspected particles left behind will get caught in a new cooler. If flushed post repair I would consider any suspected particles negligible when compared to the crap that will be left behind if flushed pre-repair.

Of the several hundred cooler repairs that have come through my shop I am aware of only one repeat failure which I have no doubt in my mind was caused by a continued lack of maintenance and attention to that customer's cooling system. Beleive it or not there are many vehicle owners who simply don't care nor learn from experience. The key here is to follow the procedure, use the correct flushing chemicals, allow enough time for the chemicals to work effectively and back flush the system adequately.


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Keith -

What if the ECT / EOT delta were right at the 15 degree limit (or only slightly over)? Wouldn't you still be able to get sufficient flow to the engine components like the front cover and block with the old cooler in place? It is still functioning at that delta T, just partially impaired ......

 

If you still have somewhat effective cooling then it stands to reason that you have flow. The problem with the 15 degree specification is that too many people consider it the be all to end all in diagnosing EGR cooler concerns. Personally I think it's ridiculous how people agonize over it. What makes 14 degrees okay and 16 degrees not okay? You need to be mindful of the operation of the entire system like debris in the cooling stack, cooling fan operation, air in the system and so forth.

But to answer your question with some professional insight and experience, when it comes to EOT/ECT temperature differentials, how do you know whether you just have a light crusty build up on the metal surfaces inside the cooler heat exchanger or an inch of silt laying in the bottom? The answer is that you can't tell until you actually remove it from the truck and inspect it. Therefore, you might say that there is a chance you still have adequate flow then again, maybe not. See where this is going?

 

To go into more detail the system I was referring to it's a RO system that feeds into a DI system. The reason is this setup prolongs the life of the DI bottles. This is the best way to go if you do alot of coolant changes and or work that requires adding water to a psd, and yes it requires a certain amount of PM.

Doing EGR coolers, head gasket's jobs and coolant flushes requires alot of pure water and beats having to purchase and inventory distilled water in your parts department.

Most customers don't have a clue that these coolant systems require pure water like distilled and/or DI and providing this type of service goes to show the quality of a shop.

 

Thanks Crazy001... This the reason I have stayed with the Ford Gold coolant and only recomend it. Yes the engine maybe compatible with the ELC coolants, but is the rest of the coolant system compatible has been my concern!

I'm due for a coolant flush next month and I'll be installing Ford Gold coolant.

 

Just because your milk is one day over expiration doesn't mean it's bad...

But I believe Ford had to set a specification with some safety margin so 15 degrees it is.

 

This is the same set-up we operate at work (a commercial chemical company). The system we operate is rated at 1000 gpm output, so it is a cost effective (per thousand gallon) system. I am very impressed that a shop would operate a system like this on a small scale, it is not exactly cheap. After the capital outlay, the cost comes in when you have to clean the RO membranes and regenerate the DI units - then you have chemical disposal costs.

sorry for the hijack ..........