I just replaced the gaskets on my oil cooler because i was getting oil in my coolant. now that i have hopefully fixed the problem i would like to flush all the coolant lines and rad. Are there any recommendations on how to do this and what to use. Also, along the line of coolant, any recommendations, i try going to the guys at the auto stores and ask about coolants and they just look at me blankly. I know i am suppose to get a low silicate and a SCA additive, but i do not know what to look for or where to find these. Lastly, what about these sealers i see to add to coolant to help seal up cracks, are these worth it or should i just avoid them. Any advice would be appreciated thank you.
Truck Info: 1994 F250 4x4 7.3 turbo E4od

 

I went through this with mine when I brought it home.

If I were you I would start fresh and break things down so you start fresh before putting that new coolant in!

ALL new hoses, thermostat, and the water pump.

My parts had so much crap built up once I got them off the truck. The oil will break down those hoses from the inside out and will keep introducing sludge into yoru system every time it heats up. I also had crud collecting in my water pump.

I also installed a coolant filter(search forum), and took the block drains out to install some twist vavle type to make it easy to drain, and a backflush kit.

I went through a couple coolant filters and atleast a handfull of heat up/cool down wash cycles. I alternated between calgon and non sudding dishwashing liquid. I would beat the truck for atleast a half an hour at a time and block the radiator off with the truck empty to get the thermostat open

Then after every trip and the cool down I would flush with hose and backflush. Finally towards the end after all that was coming out good I used a couple different off the shelf coolant flushes. Final cycle was with nothing but distilled water. Then a drain and filled up coolant/distilled water.


As far as the coolant I'm sorry the name escapes me but I think at the time when I was reading tractor supply had the best deal going on some sca charged coolant(you need 4 gallons).


I also dumped acid into my radiator for a couple hours on the driveway and was getting scared so I dumped it with baking soda so it was deactivated and safe for the drain. That just helped a bit with some flowering on my fins.

 

Did that help on the fins? The acid?

 

tractor supply carries fleetcharge Conventional Antifreeze Heavy Duty low silicate/diesel engine specific coolant.
it was probably that.
im using that as well.it's sold at napa also.

............

some folks do use extended life coolant (ELC) in their idi engines.this stuff doesn't need SCA's.it protects via a different method,
but ford and navistar both warn against this in the older engines.it wasn't until the second generation powerstroke/99+ that they designed the seals etc for the ELC coolant.fyi.
pretty hard to beat the stuff our engines were made for with a good grade low silicate traditional coolant pre-charged with sca's and just maintained every other oil change.it's just not a hard thing to check.you dip a little test trip in the coolant,and match it to a color chart that comes with the test kit.add when required.this is so fast and easy,that you should have this completed,even if you needed to add,by the time the oil has fully drained from the engine,while your performing an oil change.
all this info and much more is found here.also note,there are good points we can use by those in the 94.5-97 power stroke section as well,as those engines are designed to use the same traditional low silicate coolant w/SCA's.

just remember your basics.
low silicate.
proper amount of SCA's.
50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water.
13 lb stock radiator cap (replaced every other flush)
new upper/lower hoses (replaced every other flush)
flushed regularly or properly maintained for longer intervals via coolant filtration.
stock motorcraft t-stat.

 

Napa also has an additive for the sca's. I bought a small bottle of test strips from NAPA to check the coolant for SCA's and everything that needs checked. If you can find somone who has the test strips you might be able to get some from him as there are more strips than I"ll ever use in my bottle.

 

does any one know the part#s for the strips and the additive from NAPA

 

If you walk into O'Reilly's and ask for "Fleet Charge," you are sure to get some blank stares. The part number for O'Reilly's is: fleet. I don't know about anyone else. Look it up on the store's website and bring the part number. Not many people buy this stuff I guess.

 

I have a bottle of test strips in my hand that I bought from NAPA. I'm not sure of the part number but on the side it has " WIX FILTRATION PRODUCTS". Next to that is a number "R099A-WIXM". Hope that helps.

 

When replacing everything how much did this run you. Also, i kind of know my way around diesel engines and was wondering are there any engine diagrams out there just for some visual reference when replacing all these hoses, just making sure i pull and put everything back right.

 

This is the way to go IMO