my concious was getting to me as i had put universal elc in my early 99 back a good 8-9 months ago i didn't know about that issue until i had about 6k on it now probably got 10-12k and been to busy to drain and flush and all that . i kept crossing my fingers and checking the degas bottle .no leaks or any other signs, but i finally flushed with distilled water three times and put ole green back in with the sca additive and my test strips will be here mon. i hope i didnt hurt any thing while it was in there.what yall think?

 

I ran Prestone GM ELC the stuff in the gray jug with the red cap for about 3-4 years with no problems. And when my pump finely gave up the ghost I was concerned about the internals and when I took the pump off the front cover looked brand new.

 

what was your issue with ELC?

As long as you clean it out when you switch and preferably run a filter, a good Diesel (CAT) rated ELC should last pretty much the life of the truck. (3-500k miles)

 

Wes, I performed the same stunt, changed to ELC, found out it was bad and changed back to green. Just wondering where you got your test strips? I had ordered strips from one of our sponsors here but they turned out to be a bad batch or something. Never got a good answer.

 

If you read thru the threads, it shows that ELC is not good for Early '99. I found out too late also. Harmful to injector cups, etc.

 

Huh, interesting, honestly hadn't ever heard that.

What is different for the E99 vs. the 99.5-03 7.3? Just the injector cup material?

 

You can get them at any cat dealer as well the coolant and it's a good place to get on the mailing list as they sometimes have really good sales on oil, coolant, filters ect... The larger ones also do oil sampling on site.

 

I got my test strips at International before I changed to ELC.

 

Thanks gradyc and wes

 

He has an Early '99 build truck. ELC isn't recommended for E99 rigs.

"Mostly it's the injector cups. International, who made the engine, found some compatibility issues with the older injector cup material, sensors, front cover, seals, gaskets, o-rings, and probably some other stuff when using coolants that contained organic acid technology (OAT). Coolants like ELC's (usually Red) and G-05 (usually Gold) will have these OAT's. Conventional coolants (usually Green) will not.

So International revised those components on all 2/2/99-up build engines (SN 940614-up), and began recommending and factory filling with HD ELC coolants mid-year 2000. Never looked back.

You could use HD ELC's in the older engines, but you run the risk of having to replace the cups and maybe some other stuff. I always try to recommend conventional coolant meeting ASTM D4985 with SCA or a pre-charged conventional coolant meeting ASTM D6210 for those. But it's your call, and some owners use the ELC in their older engine successfully. For the 2/2/99-up builds I would highly recommend upgrading to HD ELC.

BTW, if you need to check the build date of your engine, you can find it on the valve-cover tag (driver's side), or stamped on a machined surface on the underside of the engine, behind the oil filter and just ahead of the bell-housing cover. You may need to wire brush/clean it to read it."

(Quote is courtesy of Gooch)

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post8935201

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post8935612

Stewart

 

Thanks for the info! Will definately keep in in mind for the future!

 

i got them thru napa they have the additive as well.

 

thanks richard , i guess im ok how long since you swithed back?

 

[QUOTE=Stewart_H;10558305]He has an Early '99 build truck. ELC isn't recommended for E99 rigs.


thanks stewart for explaining i usually don't get on a computer on sunday.

 

I went to Heavy duty CAT ELC, It's been probably about 6 maybe 7 months now.