It's been a few months now so I'll ask.
Has anyone seen any of the coolant or the additive anywhere but the dealerships?
My local Auto Zone and Advance Auto Parts don't have it.

 

Not yet but DieselFiltersOnline has it.
RockAuto is a FTE supporter but I couldn't quickly locate it on their site.

The Auto Zone down the street doesn't even know what DEF is yet so I'm not getting my hopes up.

Edit: DFO has the additive, not the coolant that I could find.

 

Thanks, I'll check prices at local stealership and then DFO. I was checking Rock Auto because I was just ordering some more fuel filters and oil filters from them yesterday.

 

Refreshing an old thread... I got the check coolant additive the other day at around 13,400 miles and decided to take in to my dealer. They did the check free of charge and added some VC-12. Only charged me for the VC-12 bottle.

328-00008 superseded by 328-R071-ELC
ANTIFREEZE COOLANT ELC CONTAMINATION KIT
https://rotunda.spx.com/en-US/Pages/...x?itemID=30172

328-00001 (3 Way HD Antifreeze Coolant Test Kit - 1 Bottle and 1 Kit)
has been superseded by 328-2050-62291
https://rotunda.spx.com/en-US/Pages/...x?itemID=30166

Price is still $76 for both. I'm going to purchase and do the checks myself.

Motorcraft specialty orange coolant Additive VC-12
Diesel Engine Coolants - [VC-8]-Motorcraft Diesel Cooling System Additive - Diesel Filters,Additives,brake rotors, and brake pads for Chevy, Dodge and Ford Diesel Trucks

Other than the dealer I've only found one place that carries the Motorcraft specialty orange coolant VC-3DIL-B.
Motorcraft - Motorcraft #VC3DILB ANTI-FREEZE (VC3DILB)

 

So did it actually fail the contamination test at 13,400 miles? That's pretty early.

If it failed, did it fail in both Primary and secondary cooling systems? If it needed the VC-12, you need to add 48oz to the primary and a smaller amount to the secondary. The 1 quart ( 32oz) he charged you for is not enough to even do just the primary system.

You can only add VC-12 twice during your coolants life. You need to know which system ( or both) he added the coolant to so you know how much more you can add in the remaining life of the coolant (105,000 miles).

 

Those coolant strips have a lifetime. They'll go bad long before you use them up. Acustrip sells a package of four for approx $5.00.

 

But doesn't that basic test kit only do the first test. Basically Freeze point and Nitrites. I don't think they do the test where you take the sample, drop the tablet in and dissolve it then use the 2nd test strip to test the Corrosion Inhibitor.

The first test tells you whether you need to flush and refill.
That second test you if you need to add the coolant rejuvenator.

 

Which is why I'm surprised someone hasn't offered to sell a few from their kit - yet.

 

They did not make the test kits easy to divide up. You have vials to collect the sample in and drop the tablets in to dissolve. So even if you divide up the test strips, somebody would have to measure the amount of coolant the vials hold and buy/find some other small bottles. Not a big deal, just an inconvenience

 

Just received this message. Contacted the local dealer and his service writer said to clear the message and just get it checked with the next oil change. Since when the next oil change occurs is difficult to predict, I'm not real comfortable with his advise. Concerned that if I were to reset it and then go another 3-4K miles like I expect before the next oil change message, I'm giving Ford an out on future warrantee coverage. I asked if I could schedule it anyway and he was reluctant but said I could, plan on leaving it for an hour (cool down time) and cost $25. Think I'll go that route.

 

Maybe we should explain what is happening with the Check Coolant and Fords Specialty Orange coolant. This is the first engine that Ford has used this coolant in. It is NOT backward compatible with Fords other engines. Apparently it can eat seals. So don't take any of your left over coolant and put it in your wife's Taurus.

The coolant should be close to room or ambient temp. You can't check it while its hot. So plan on leaving it at the dealer long enough to cool off.

There are two test strips that you use. The first test strip checks for:

1st. Nitrite Contamination. Previous versions of Ford Coolant all were Nitrite Based. So the test strips were looking to make sure you had enough Nitrite in your coolant. The Specialty Orange coolant in the 6.7L is one of the First Ford Coolants that has NO NITRITES. So we are looking for just opposite of what we looked for in previous coolant test. Same test strip, just different results. We want to make sure that no nitrites were added. This typically happens when somebody adds the WRONG coolant to your system. If nothing has been added to your coolant systems, the chances of testing positive for Nitrites is almost non-existant.

2nd. Check for percent Glycol for Freeze point protection. The coolant when new will protect down to -50°C. Unless the coolant is old or has been diluted, This should not be a problem

3rd. Check for Coolant Reserve Alkalinity

The second test strip is used for the 4th test. This is a new test strip not used on previous coolants.

4th Check the Corrosion Inhibitor ( Contamination ) Level.
The Specialty Orange coolant uses Carboxylates as the main corrosion inhibitor. The carboxylates slowly coat the metal of the engine block and provide a protective coating that inhibits corrosion of the block. Some of the information I've read indicates this takes 3-5 weeks to happen. Dumping in a bottle of Coolant Revitalizer does not immediately fix this. It's takes the 3-5 weeks for the revitalizer to circulate enough to provide the added coating. The revitalizer (Motorcraft VC-12) can be added twice during the coolants life.

For those of you worried about getting in the day the message appears and having the test done. Think about whether there is ANY possibility that somebody added the wrong fluid to your cooling system. If you are confident that nobody has added the wrong coolant to your cooling system. Then it's not going to make a big difference if you wait until the next oil change to have the test done.

If you fail the Nitrite test. You need to flush and refill.
The freeze point isn't a pass or fail test. But rather gives you confidence that you operate your truck in cold weather. If it doesn't protect to temp colder than the avg cold temps in your area, you need to flush and replace.

The Corrosion Inhibitor wears off slowly and takes time to recoat the metal parts inside the engine block. Chances are it will not cause a failure over night, but is part of the coolant to provide long term protection.

Remember that you have TWO separate cooling systems. So you need to perform each of the test twice. If you need to add the revitalizer, It needs to be added to which ever system that failed the Corrosion Inhibitor test. The Primary cooling systems needs 48oz of VC-12. The product is sold in quart bottles, ( 32 oz) So you will need to buy at least two bottles if you are adding it. I don't remember how much you need to add to the secondary cooling system. I think 22oz. So if you need to add to both systems, You are buying three bottles.

I frequently see post that the coolant failed the test and they added one bottle of VC-12. So the question becomes, Did they add it to one or both coolant systems? How much did they add to each? Why didn't they add the recommended dose? Since you can only add it twice, Which system did get it and which system did not get it? So that I can track which system can not get additional doses in the future.

So if you go in for a test, ask
Did you wait for the coolant to cool to room temp.
Which coolant system failed, Primary, secondary or both?
How much VC-12 was added and to which system?

Make sure they do not use VC-8 which was the coolant additive for the older Specialty GOLD coolant used in the 6.0L and 6.4L it adds Nitrites which are bad for the 6.7L engine. Or FW-16 which was the additive to prevent cavitation in the 7.3L engines.

 

Rep **** won't let me hit ya, PH. Nice information.

 

My orange coolant has turned to a charcoal color. 'Not to worry about it' says the dealer. I make sure that every time my truck is written up for 'whatever' I make sure that they put on the work order to check and correct the coolant systems.

 

Thanks for all the great info! Based on your original question to me I then had doubts as to whether my dealer actually performed the test correctly. It was a saturday and they said their diesel tech is off on weekends but can have the weekend guy do the test. That probably should of been a hint for me to have left and come back during the week. Course, hindsight is always 20/20 and so at the time thought no big deal until I read your posts then did some research of my own.

Arming myself with knowledge I then had mixed feelings of concern & pissed-off. I went back to the dealer and had a chat with the manager and the diesel tech. Long story short, turns out the weekend dude did not do the check properly but only added 5oz of the revitalizer additive (which likely did not require any) and only did the primary. WTF, over .

Course, they offered to redo the check free of charge. At this point I didn't want anyone touching my truck. Decided to order the kit and do the check myself. I don't believe the small amount of additive will do any harm but please do let me know if you believe otherwise. For now I've recorded this in my logbook along with the mileage.

 

I am not a chemist, so I have no idea why you can only add the rejuvenator twice or what effect adding 5oz now would have.