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Sorry guys. I think i just got freaked out by the amount of info out there. A lot of it probably had to do with differences based on the year of the vehicle. It seems much clearer now. I imagine I will just buy a good quality, green anti-freeze, non-max life with a low silicate level & use distilled water to mix. I have some of the FW-16 stuff on order from DIS. The guy I bought this truck from said he had never put any additive in it. Yikes! Being a 99 with 38k and according to him he never really pushed it too hard. Do you think cavitation may have set in during this period of time? Please only respond if it is good news.

 

daniel,
Are you in denial?
If he never changed the coolant you are probably better off than if he had and never replaced the anti-cavitation additive.
You may have some caviation damage, but look at like a small cavity in your tooth. If it hasn't gotten through the enamel then it really isn't a problem as long as you don't let it get worse.

Flush it good, maintain it well and I doubt you will have much to worry about.

 

cgl, To find the plugs you need to look just above/behind the starter from under the truck and in the same position on the drivers side. I believe that if you look thru the passenger side wheel well and just above the frame, near and above the starter you'll see the 1/4" square holed plug. RICH

 

Does anybody know what to do if you have the Green coolant? I have a 99 with a birthday of 4/99. Is there any difference?

 

UPDATE!!
I changed coolant today in my truck and I addes 6 gallons plus conditioner, and changed serpentine belt to the Good year GatorBack!!! The belt makes engine run with not slipping and just runs effeciently and somewhat not as loud.

Does anybody know what to do if you have the Green coolant? I have a 99 with a birthday of 4/99. Is there any difference?

To this message the green 50/50 premix is fine, just add conditioner from dealership, as stated before at least 6 gallons is needed for radiator. Take care

 

re the block plugs...on the starter side there is only one plug and not easy to miss[it would be top side of starter,undo both batt.negs before messing down there] but on the drivers side there are 2.one at about 1 o'clock and one at 2 o'clock of the oil filter...loosen the top one,i think it is slightly more outbord than the bottom one [2" from oil filter].you really need to pull them to get the coolant out.then take the hose off the top of the water pump[it stands vertically] leading to the cab heater and put your garden hose in there and run til the fluid in the block runs clear.then use air to blow out the heater hose.luck bud.

 

No kidding, $100 for an oil change. Of course I live in 'the Hamptons' (say it with a clenched jaw), so everything is way overpriced, at least for us locals.


2001 and prior diesels came with conventional green ethylene glycol coolant, not the long life or extended stuff. It should be replaced with same. If yours came with long/extended life coolant (usually yellow or red) then it should be replaced with the same.

I think the fleetrite stuff is ok, even though its pink. I read the bottle and think its ok. Now because I second guess myself, I have to go and re-read the bottle and make sure its ok. I hope its fine. Macwalnut, your right about the coolant types. If its extended life coolant, it might have to be changed. I'm in the same boat, but I could swear I didn't buy the extended life stuff. Oh well, gotta check it and see.

-Shawn

 

What do you all do with your used coolant? I have a gravel drive I could poor it on that is out of reach of pets. I don't know the toxicity of antifreeze and of course don't want to contminate the ground for 10,000 years and don't want to have any 2 headed rabbits running around.

 

Take it to your local land fill, they usually have a household chemical drop off. If not try a Jiffy Lube/quick lube or some place like that. Dumping it in the ground isn't right. RICH

 

Ditto, take the stuff and dump it some place proper, not the ground.

Oh, and I've been a total a-hole. The coolant I used was fleet charge, not fleetrite. Don't know where the heck I got that from. So the fleet charge is not a long or extended life coolant. They call it a fill for life? coolant, which they say means you don't have to change it if you use a coolant filter. They have a product called final charge, which is an extended life coolant.

Good, so I put the right stuff in. Now I can stop worrying.

-Shawn

 

Last weekend I changed my coolant and I would say everything went pretty good, but I thought I would check back with you guys to see how I could do it better the next time and for others about to do this. The main thing I think I could have done better was to have gotten more of the coolant out. I didn't want to mess with the plugs in the block so I only used the petcock. When I did this I was only getting about 4.5 gallons out of it. I had the truck in a nose down position, although possibly a slight lean to the passenger side. The coolant level seemed normal before I started. I filled it up twice with distilled water, drove for 5 minutes and drained. It seems with so much coolant left in the system (2-3 gallons?) that it could be a really long process of filling and draining until you are able to water down that coolant. I didn't have enough distilled water to keep doing that. Even on my last drain the water was still pretty green when it came out. Do most of you drain from the block as well? This then left me with the decision of how much water & coolant to put back in the radiator. I knew that the liquid left in the block should have been mostly water, probably 80%. I ended up putting in 3 gal of antifreeze & 1.5 gallons of water and of course the 3 bottles of the FW-16 additive. Is the full capacity of my truck 8.2 gallons? I have one of those Prestone antifreeze testers, do you think if the ethylene glycol level looks good that my coolant/water mixture is ok even if it is not 50/50. Do you think there is any harm with still having a little of the old coolant left in the system?