Well from reading that article.. i'd say SCA coolant is sufficient.. also says you can have too many SCA's as well. It's kinda vague when it discusses SCA specialized coolants.

 

coolant that comes pre-charged with SCA's already will not require anything when you flush and fill the system with it.
however,lets say you got low silicate coolant with no SCA's.you flush and fill the system and add the proper amount of SCA's to it.
both = the same objective/end results.
using either of these coolants,at approximately two oil changes,you will need to tst the coolant with a test strip(VERY simple,painless,and quick.) to see if more SCA's are required.the SCA's will slowly deplete in either of these coolants,and you simply add the amount of SCA's back into the coolant (the VERY easy to read test strip kit,tells you how much to add.)and your all set for approx another two oil changes again (or sooner,if you saw the SCA's levels low,but not quite enough to add at the time.)

the ONLY type of coolant that does not require SCA monitoring/adding would be the newer Extended Life Coolant (ELC.)
however,use of this coolant in these older engines seems to be a 50/50 safe/unsafe.

edit;
in 2005 ford posted a bulletin stating ELC coolant could NOT be used in engines older than '99.
this includes the diesels.
the coolant seals and water pump is not made for this.leaks and or water pump failure can and will be the result of using ELC coolant in the IDI engine.
end edit.

myself,i'll stick with more traditional coolant,and monitor the SCA levels,as it's so easy and low cost to do anyway.

hope this clear up any confusion for ya.

 

well finally got the heads pulled off i didnt figure out where the water is coming from. But 6 of the 8 pistons have cracks in them and piston number 4 smacked the exhaust valve. (cummins in the near future)

 

I dont want to hijack anyones thread here but i have a similar problem.

Bought this truck, a guy was driving it to the field and it died. He tried restarting but it wouldnt start (im assuming hydrolocked). One year later i buy and just pulled motor apart last night. Water was in #2 and #7 clylinder also the crosshatch was gone in the cylinder walls of those two clyinders. I didnt see any obvious signs of head gaskets leaking except for they didnt look good around the main water ports on each end of the heads but im not an expert mechanic either.

So heads already off so i cant test with preassure what do i do now.

 

#7 could very well be cavitation i dont know how to check with the head off. 7,8,4 are most common cavitation problems

 

ANd this my friends, is a testament of how much of a beating that an IDI can take.

Now on to the more important matter that YOU HAVE SIX CRACKED PISTONS!?? Im surprised lol. I would recommend that you either jerk that motor out and start over with a rebuild<----dont do unless you know how to do it right.
I think it is safe to say that engine has seen a beating. Especially because it only has 84000 miles on it.