Couple questions here guys... The other day I got the check coolant additive message. I've heard that you need to test this every so often. My truck has 67,000kms. so maybe 45,000 miles ?? Anyways.. At first I thought it was a LOW coolant message not reading it thoroughly the first time.. So I was quick to check the coolant level. The level in the drivers side looks ok but the passenger side seems a bit low. I can't not see any leaks what so ever. So question 2. Are both overflow reservoirs or is one for this coolant additive.. Sorry for my ignorance but I'm new to the 6.7. As I've only had it a couple months now.

 

two separate systems. Both are part of the coolant system. Not an overflow.

You have to test them both.
[328-R071-ELC ]Ford/Rotunda ANTIFREEZE COOLANT ELC CONTAMINATION KIT (Ford 6.7 diesel)

 

Do they both hold coolant ?? Or one has coolant and one has additive ?

 

Both hold the coolant and additives as necessary.

 

If this is your first diesel I strongly suggest you read through the diesel supplement manual. There is a lot of useful information in there.

The kits to check coolant aren't easy to come by in Canada and many in the US charge a fortune to ship them here. I ended up with enough product to last me a few years but the price was reasonable. If you aren't comfortable with the process, get it done by the dealer. For the most part, your coolant is good until 100,000 miles before an additive may be necessary. I checked mine several times and even at 100,000 miles it is still good even though I did buy the revitalizer which can be added once before you need a complete coolant change. I'll try to find you the link for where I ordered mine from Canada and had no problem getting the correct strips shipped for checking.

The coolant needs to be checked from the drain pet***** and not the reservoirs so you need to be able to drain enough coolant (small jar) from the drains in order to test. I use a piece of plastic tubing attached to the drain and into the jar. You need to turn the petcock a 1/4 turn or so and then it feels like it is going to stop and nothing comes out, just turn it further to open it and get the coolant flowing. The one on the passenger side is easier done with a pair of long nose 45 or 90 degree needle nose pliers as it is a pain to access.

OK, I looked it up, I ordered them directly from Acustrip and here are the details of what you need. Expensive shipping to Canada but at least you get the correct strips for the two tests.

Acustrip.com

Qty Item Description Cost

1 328-071ELC 10 Test Strips 50.00
1 328-2050 4 Foil Strips with Instruction Key 5.00

SubTotal $55.00
Shipping & Handling 18.95

Total $73.95

(All Prices are US Dollars)

 

Definitely not my first diesel. My first 6.7 tho. I rebuilt a couple of them.

Thanks for the info. Mainly I was just double checking to see if both bottles had coolant in them.. More of a piece of mind thing.. I'm going to top up both with the proper coolant from Ford and go from there.

Thanks again for the info

 

Buy one gallon of our special orange concentrate and a gallon of distilled water. It's cheaper. Mix them 50/50.

Still worth reading the supplement. The 6.7 isn't our daddy's Diesel engine.

 

Very true !! What brand of special orange concentrate are ya talking about ??

 

Motorcraft Specialty Orange coolant concentrate. You get it from the dealer.

 

Oh ok.. thanks

 

have to use the dealer stuff. Stuff like dexcool for GM will not work. Not the same stuff.

 

Motorcraft Specialty Orange Coolant, gallon part number is VC-3-B.

List is like $35, I've been paying around $22. And of course the distilled water to cut it with is cheap, like 67 cents at wally world.

 

I ordered this kit today. My truck has 41k miles on it so I decided it's probably time to test the coolant.

 

Wow,82 bucks! But I guess thats much cheaper than the stealership would charge to check it right?

On edit my mistake looks like shipping to canada takes a good chunk of that and you get several test strips so not too bad.

I do have a question,it states to check this at around 100000 miles.There is no reason to think this could also be checked at a certain number of years right? I wont hit 100000 miles for 10 yrs ,prolly wont even have the truck by then.

 

Interesting. If I read my manual correctly coolant should be changed at 100,000 miles and tested every 15,000. Revitalizer added as needed for some maximum number of times. I think 5 (going by memory here). Am I wrong?
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2012 F-350 Lariat 6.7 CC FX4 SRW LB