well, its getting sidetracked from the main issue here, but it seems like a lot of people believe that many of these engines had a lot of casting sand left over that gets washed into the coolant system, and since there is no oem coolant filter, they just get lodged whereever they find a nice tight spot, and the tightest spot in the system is the oil cooler... so maybe it doesn't matter which coolant you would have used if the sand stuff was what was plugging up the oil cooler.

 

Have you checked what your eot/ect spread is at? If you haven't it would be a good idea before doing a flush. If it's good, spread less than 15, I wouldn't do a flush as that might do more harm than good. There has been quite a few people posting they now have a plugged oil cooler after flushing.

 

It seems like a lot of the people that post about their deltas rising after a simple drain and fill, though, go back down as the air pockets work their way out.

It may be a catch .22, as I think everyone agrees that the OEM coolant can break down and leave slime in your coolers that will lead to them being plugged, and it has to be changed more often than 100k to cure this.

 

Your 100% correct... it is not the coolant that is the problem, it is the following:

1) Ford's initial recommended service interval of 100,000 miles (initial change)... they have since reduced it and stated for people to "test" their coolant.

2) Casting sand plugs up the oil cooler and such and no matter the coolant, it gets plugged up.

This is why I have always flushed and use the Ford coolant every 50,000 miles and never had an issue. I also installed a dieselsite.com coolant filter at 50,000 miles as well. Clean fresh coolant with only distilled water is the way to go. I also do not use a tuner and do not create extra heat, pressures and such which can also cause issues with the heads and leaking issues (soot, oil and such into the cooling system).

 

Most of us on this site use the term "flush"... but we are really meaning a drain and refill (multiple times) in order to flush out all the old coolant and water... then refill with fresh coolant and water.

For the most part, none of us are "back-flushing" our systems which may or may not cause problems (I have no idea).

By just flushing (draining and refilling multiple times), there is NO way to harm one's cooling system. There will be no sediment except for what drains out... and this is why many of us use an in-line coolant filter (to catch what is moving in and around our cooling systems).

 

The OEM coolantr does not break down and create slime... what you will get is silcate "drop out"... which is white sand looking particles.

The slime is oil getting into the cooling or some other "oily substance"... but the coolant itself will not turn to "slime".

The air pockets I get (after doing a flush)... will work themselves out within a day or two. I never drive it hard after doing this service and make sure I drive it until the t-stat opens, let it cool and check it for the next two days in case I need to top off the degas bottle.

 

I totally agree with flushing every 50,000 miles. This is plain cheap preventive maintenance, this is what I will do.

 

Well it's your truck, if you pull a 14k 5er like i do then the Ford Gold JUNK will not take the heat and the silicates will drop out in 25-30k i have other things to do than change coolant my temp spread is 4-6* ECT 196* EOT 200* I did mine at 28K and after the Restore flush it came out like a clear honey then it turned into a milk color. I went through 48 gallons of distilled water 1/2 gallon Restore 1/2 Restore+ and a 1/4 tank of fuel but my system is CLEAN. So if you use your truck as a grocery getter and never build any heat it may go 50k but you need to remove the casting sand before any flushing.
This should help you understand the reason to ditch the Ford Gold Junk it can't take the heat

Replaced oil cooler still difference in temps - Page 21 - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum
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If the coolant you're using meets Ford's specs and it working for you, then great (no agrument from me).

My Excursion has pulled quite a bit... and other days, just for grocery's... but I think that when a cooling system overheats, it is due to other factors (not the Ford Premium Gold coolant).

Factors for overheating:
1) Dirty cooling system (sediment, oil, and other contaminants).

2) Bad fan clutch or dirty radiator and intercooler (not good airflow).

3) Low cooalnt level.

4) Running a tuner or aftermarket performance mods which create excessive heat (possibly)?

5) A t-stat that is not working properly to regulate your coolant flow and temps.

6) Old coolant and water - needs to be fresh and clean with distilled water.

7) Coolant and water not at 50/50 mixture (probably less which allows for overheating).
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My motor and temp guage never moves past normal, no matter how much I pull. The fan clutch, t-stat and good air flow all work to maintain a steady tempertaure within the motor and cooling system no matter if I am pulling a ton of weight or not... the temps are regulated.

I also do not drive my truck like a race car up and down hills when towing as well.... but I do stand behind the Ford Premium Gold coolant when used according to the instructions and one's cooling system and truck are maintained.

 

When doing the flush, some uses straight water at begining just to flush the **** out of if, then drain with fumoto valves, then refill with distilled water. I wonder how water is left in the engine when you drain from both side of the engine plug? You could save on distilled water and do a real clean flush.

I found water at $2.00 a gallon, which is deonized and demineralized with micron filters, same as distilled, I could not find any distilled water. So 20 gallons is somewhere like 50 dollars,

Also, VC-9 is recommended from Ford for flushing. But we read reports where people have plugged their oil cooler with this stuff. I wonder if Ford plug oil cooler sometimes when flushing with VC-9? If Ford plugged the cooler, i would imagine they came up with another solution since they have to pay for replacing the cooler?

If I have it flushed by ford, would they use VC9? If my cooler plug after that, would they pay for replacement? My warranty will run out in 2 months.

 

kidoo I used Fumoto valves on both sides of the block when I flushed and only had 1.5 gallons left in the system after draining. Took 5.5 gallons or so to fill.

 

What is the Fumoto valves part number? What size is the plug, looks like 1/2 inch?

 

All 7 points are true but what is the one thing in common with ALL the oil cooler and egr cooler problems on all the Ford diesel forums, well would it be the Ford Gold JUNK coolant and if you are counting on the stock gauges to tell you when you have a problem with coolant temps they only move when it is to late and i am running Delo ELC coolant so if the Gold works for you great i have better things to do than coolant flushing every 20k
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Fumoto F-108N. Screws right in but remove the supplied gasket and put an o-ring on it, I used the same size as the block plug o-ring. Get some 3/8" clear tubing to attach and run down. Sure makes draining easy and no need to wait for truck to cool plus you get a lot more out. Do have to remove starter but not hard to do.

 

Thanks, I see they are 16mm, so it is metric. I will check will a local shop.