Just turned 22k on my truck and a message came up saying "check coolant additive" ?? Does anyone have any ideas as I cannot remove the message? I went to my local ford dealer and they sold me a $18 bottle of coolant additive. I poured approx half a liter in but still had the message.

 

Your dealer just did you a diservice. I hope they sold you the VC-12 and not the VC-8 that went in the older trucks. If you put the VC-8 in your coolant. You need to flush and refill your coolant.

The message is just a reminder to check your coolant. It will pop up every 600 hours of engine use and you clear it in the command center information screen. scroll to Coolant and press and hold.

You have two coolant systems, You need to check the coolant in BOTH system. Make sure it if full, that the colors of the coolant hanve not dramatically changed and then do your chemistry test.

Their are two test that you do. The first is test strip, pretty much the same strip used on any of the power stroke engines. It test for nitrites, freeze protection and something else. Dip it, hold it for a few seconds and compare the colors of the strip with the color guide.

The main difference is that our 6.7L engines use a OAT based coolant. This type of coolant has NO nitrites in the coolant, where as the older coolants were nitrite based and the test was insuring they had enough. If you have any nitrites, Flush and refill. The VC-8 additives for th 6.0 and 6.4 engines added Nitrites to the coolant. Thats why if your dealer gave you the wrong bottle, you need to flush your system.

The second test is for the contamination test. you take a sample, drop a small pill in it and let it disolve, dip the second test strip in and compare the colors. If it passes, Great, If it doesn't pass, THEN you can add the VC-12 coolant revitilizer. You can add this additive twice during your coolants life. Since your coolant life is 105,000 miles, Kind of think of this as a 35,000 and 70,000 mile additive. ( just dividing your coolant life in 3rds). This additive basically increases the Carbolytes in the coolant that coat the metal and slow down effects of the coolant eating away at the engine block. This is not a instaneous coating, It takes ( I think I read ) 5,000 miles for the additive to reach it's optimum protection after you add the VC-12.

These test must be done on BOTH coolant systems, Since their is no interchange between them. You may need the additive in one or both systems depending on the test results. So test both systems.

And I wouldn't ask that dealer for advice anymore.

 

Had the same thing happen to me with the message on the screen. Couldn't get to the dealership right away. Instructions are in the truck's manual on how to reset.

If I remember you toggle the menu on your steering wheel (left side) and go to information. (might be Settings as not at my truck right now)
toggle through until you see ...I think it says oil reset and another one says coolant reset. toggle to it and then when you have it and it says reset, press the okay button. Then it shows as reset, and you can go to the dealership later and get them to check it. Generally the coolant is good anyway and just a safety precaution I am guessing.

Let me know when you do it and if not, I will go to my truck and come back and get the precise directions for you,

 

Painted Horse is correct on all counts. It "saddens" me that some dealers are still screwing this up after 2.5 years.

OP, here's a LINK where I described how to go about getting your own testing supplies so that you are not dependent on a dealer in the future.

If they sold you VC-8, they'd better pay for a full flush/refill. If they don't, you should get Ford involved. That's what I had to do.

Best of luck,
MA

 

I had the same message appear while on a 3100 mile RV trip last month. According to the owners manual it's just a reminder that comes up at about 15000 miles. At the time I had 14K and some change.

Rob

 

Go the the maintenance section on the screen. I think it is under settings, maintenance, then coolant check. It says coolant checked, press ok for yes and it is cleared as checked. Then have the dealer check it out. Or you can do it with the kit.