Ive been reading about ELCs, and that you absolutely can not hae any water in the system or it will turn into sludge. ive also read that elcs will cause seal failure in oil coolers. I saw in walmart a heavey duty diesel coolant (red in color) thats a concentrate and u mix it 50/50 with distilled. so this would not be an ELC??

bottom line-what does everyone run in their idi? I use my truck year round, i dont want my seals going, i dont want to be checking scas every month either.
Suggestions please?

 

I run the green stuff mixed 50/50 and throw in a bottle of John Deere supplemental coolant additive about once a year

 

Pure napa antifreeze with distilled water, napa additive and napa coolant filter with additive in it. check regularly with test strips. Thats the route I go

 

ELC = extended life coolant. Should be stated on the jug. SCA = supplemental coolant additive. Should be used with a non-ELC coolant, after ph testing as per instructions for the SCA. I think ELC is good for about 3 years then the ph should be checked and a SCA used if required. I use red diesel coolant that is ELC. An alternative is to plumb in a coolant filter/conditioner.

 

Logger, i read the ELC uses carboxide (something along the lines..) which does not require a coolant additive, as its a doffernt chemical compound that on its own resists the air bubble implosions that sca is used to prevent.
Logger-so you use straight up red elc? no water added or present? Your answer confuses me as you said sca is NOT to eb used with an ELC. (i have read sca + elc =sludge, and elc + water=sludge)

 

I believe that the extended life coolant will degrade with time and that you may have to add an sca. Testing after a few years of use will tell. I mix with distilled water as per the instructions on the jug, for the protection level I want. I did not say that sca should not be used with an elc, but that it should be used with 'green' or whatever else. I think you will find with research that too much sca is not good either. I'll bet a search on this site will answer some of your questions.

 

To be clear, when I say 'green', I mean conventional diesel coolant. I checked a jug and it is 6 to 8 years or 12,000 hours life for the elc.

 

Fleetguard has sca's in it already

What is the proper chemical SCA concentration for diesel engines?
Basically a chemical concentration of 1.5 - 3.0 UPG (Units Per Gallon) should be maintained in your cooling system at all times. How do you achieve that? Well, this depends on the capacity of the coolant system. For a reference, a 1 pint bottle of DCA4 additive is equal to 5 units.

We recommend that you add up to 2.5 UPG if you don't test the SCA as often as you should. Keeping the level this high will help ensure that the level is at least 1.5 UPG. Ideally you should test the SCA every 4-6 months. If you do, then you can keep the level at a lower level of 2.0 UPG. The benefit of a lower level will help prevent the buildup of particles that SCAs often cause. This buildup can become loose or flake off the water jacket walls, and because it can be abrasive, it will cause damage to your water pump or even clog certain parts of the cooling system like the heater core. A preventative measure that can be taken to eliminate this is the use of a coolant filter.

Fleetguard 14.99 gal x 3 gal = 44.97
Evens 50.00 gal x 5 gal = 250.00!

I thought about it until I saw the price

Testing every 4-6 months with oil change PRICELESS!

jmo...

 

I just run the rotella ELC It's pre-deluted it say's that it elminates the need for SCA's got it at napa it's red in color about $15 a gallon

 

Zerex GO5 for my truck. it is pre-loaded with additives for cavitation and also has additives to prevent corrosion of aluminum(heater core & my aluminum radiator). have not had any issues with it. i think it was ~$16.00/gal at carquest. that stuff is not pre-mixed btw.

 

Good point, test strips are not terribly expensive.

 

4 gallons of green , 4 gallons distilled water and two bottles of motorcraft additive
yes the idi holds 8 gallons of coolant
most folks are un aware of removing the block plugs on each side and completely draining the system and block

 

Fleetguard for me, mixed with distilled water. It's available at O'Reilly auto parts, though you may have to ask them to check in the back in their commercial area.

Definitely pull the block plugs to get it all out.

Mike

 

ELC is NOT intended for use in the 6.9l/7.3l (nor first gen 7.3l power stroke) engines.failure can result.search to learn more if interested.long story short if you don't want to: ford nor navistar will say it's ok.the older water pumps oil cooler o-rings,etc.etc. was not made for ELC coolant.
if after searching,and you still decide on ELC,you cannot use traditional sca additive with it.this coolant guards against cavitation in a whole different way.


if you want a maintenance free system,then follow fleetcharges advice and use their coolant with a penray need release filter.simply change the $35 filter every 18 months (once you use 2 basic napa/wix blank filters to remove all the sand casting.you don't want a good filter plugging up) without a need to ever buy another test strip,nor a need to ever flush the coolant again.
this is the method i went with.
part #'s:
Napa Filter Head #4019
Penray Need Release Coolant Filter #NF2088

 

I found fleetguard filters in 2 sizes for cheaper then that

Fleetguard Coolant and Water Filters at Class8TruckParts.com

Nice choice if you tight on space