I was visiting my local Ford dealer today in the part dept asking for those test strips to test the coolant. He told me I should flush it out and upgrade to what they put in 6.0 which is the gold stuff at 17.00 a gallon. I thought, well how much is it, he pointed the board where is said coolant service 69.95, I said, I have a 7.3 diesel really 70.00 bucks, can I schedule today. He then checked and said, whoops they wrote it wrong on the board it should be 169.99. so I said that puts it in my DIY category. Is it common to change to the gold from the green. I know WoodnThings gave me some great advice on coolant (time to look that up again). I was going to argue and hold him to the advertised price since he couldn't tell what is different from a coolant service and coolant flush .

 

Check StewartH's last post in the T444e water pump thread. All the coolant info you can handle...

 

Funny, I just opened that in a tab and have not got to it yet, thank you for the quick reply. Will give it a look now.

 

Don't go GOLD, go RED. Switch to ELC.

 

Before you do anything, what year is your rig?

If it's a L99 and up rig, you're ok to use a Heavy Duty Organic Acid Technology Extended Life Coolant.

OAT ELC for short.

Stewart

 

I should no better than to recommend ELC without finding out if they have an E99.

Got a chuckle out of this part of your sig "lotsa Riffraff stuff". No chit.

 

Here ya go bud.

Gooch's Coolant Flush Procedure and In-Depth Coolant Information - FTE

LOL, yeah. Without a lot of sig room, that was the easiest way.

Stewart

 

Not that you couldn't list it all, but considering who the PO was, yeah, it would have "lotsa Riffraff stuff".

 

Actually I can't. The sig limits apply to moderators too.

Stewart

 

It's a 2000 F350, but I get confused - does that mean the actual mfg date is late 99? I think the VIN should tell me correct?

 

Doesn't matter. A MY 2000 is ok to run a CAT EC-1 spec'd ELC.

Stewart

 

Stewart,
I think I am going to gear my confidence up to do a flush and coolant bypass with the radiator hose change (the one that goes around serpentine belt). My issue is the mess and disposal (ugh). Thanks for the info and year check. I just finished the hutch/harpoon mod. Wanting to do a DP tuner - trying to convince the GF that it will save on mpg's , then sound proofing.

Oh ya, you know what just happened last week was the slow rear window thing, they barely rolled up. Yet another subject to search for .

 

I did the swap to ELC about a year ago, swapped out all the hoses, the WP, new stat & housing and a coolant filter. Aside from a minor leak at the billet housing fixed with a sealant, all has been fine. I was lucky, I had a shop with a lift available to work on it, I think I went through 36 gallons of distilled water in several fill and drain sessions. Wasn't a hard job at all, as already noted a little messy and a little time consuming, I used 13 bay hours for everything. I used 4 gallons concentrated Final Charge ELC from o'reillys at $25 each.