I will be flushing my cooling system using restore and restore plus.

After that procedure is complete, how many miles should I put on the truck before swapping the oil cooler?

Keep in mind I've been running Cat ELC with a coolant filtration system for about 6-7 years and approximately 30k miles.

Thanks

 

That't alot of sitting time. Have you checked the coolant? Do you know that your cooler needs to be changed? If the fluids rusty, just flush and fill and watch your temperatures to see if the cooler plugs. Only time will tell

 

You can change the cooler immediately (0 miles). It's important to flush it thoroughly.

 

Cooler needs to be changed based on 30+ degree deltas.

 

Question as I understand it was, after the flush, how many miles should I put on the truck before swapping the oil cooler? -Well heck, you wrote the question.... I'd tell yourself 30° difference between the EOT and ECT is a lot. The accepted number for most people is 15°.

 

15 degree spread is the rule of thumb. Never heard of 30 before.

 

So your saying the coolant filter doesn't work? Or was the proper flush not done the first time?

 

If I flush the system and replace the oil cooler at the same time the debris that is released from the flush will the find it's way into the new oil cooler. I wanted to do the flush then put a few miles on the truck in order for all the debris to be caught by the filter and or old oil cooler then replace the oil cooler.

Rather then flushing and replacing the oil cooler at the same time. Then a couple months later changing the oil cooler again due to it being clogged with the debris from the flush like so many others have had to do.

 

The chemicals you mentioned are very strong and will do a good job of cleaning the coolant passages. Just follow the directions on the bottle closely and flush it a lot afterwards to get all of the chemicals out. Removing the block drains is very helpful because much of the sediments will settle in the "skirt" area of the engine block. Revving the engine a little with the block drains out and a running hose in the degass bottle will blast water from the skirt area and give you a little mechanical advantage against any residue hiding in there.

I had a clogged oil cooler a couple of years ago and did a flush with only Fords VC9 cleaner and lots(and lots) of fresh water afterwards (I didn't know about the revving thing at the time). After I finished, the truck only ran long enough to pull it in the garage where I changed oil and EGR coolers. When I was finished I had a 2°-6° temp difference between EOT/ECT. More than two years later it hasn't changed. (Hope I didn't just jinx myself)

While the VC9 is good stuff, I suspect the Restore products you mentioned may work a little better. I've read one is an acid to remove rust and mineral scale and the other is alkaline and is intended to remove jelled coolant residue.

Again, stuff a garden hose in every opening you can get to (radiator and heater hoses) to flush all the chemicals and sediments out before doing repairs. If your concerned about minerals in the tap water, fill it up a couple times with distilled and let it run a few minutes each time to chase the tap water out.

While I think the coolant filter is a good idea, I don't think it's going to remove alot of the sediments that have settled in the system And larger debris isn't going to end up in the filter because it's at the top of the system. It does help and it is a piece of mind but you could run a filter for 100k miles and still have debris in your coolant system.

 

Rusty has better advice than me.

 

Naa John, you're doing good. After I got home from work and had a little more time I saw my post #3 while correct, was pretty short and didnt explain much. Details are good here (to a point).

 

He has a 30 degree spread now... hence the need for a new oil cooler.

Josh

 

You can reverse flush that cooler to buy yourself some time to work the rest of the contaminants out of the system before you put another oil cooler in to become a pricey coolant filter.

 

I put a new oil cooler in when we had the heads done with studs and all other upgrades about 3 years ago including flushing and coolant filter. Last summer started noticing higher than normal oil temps (230-248) while towing and constant 20+ deltas on the highway. Flushed the system again with vc9 and distilled water and no change. I ended up with a Bullet proof remote cooler and remote filter. So far no more problems. No need for the coolant filter any more. I did not want to chance another cooler replacement.

 

We've had posters here who insisted they could clear a clogged oil cooler. From pouring pool cleaning chemicals directly into the cooler-to removing it from the truck and putting it in the bathtub with chemicals and a pump, and I've yet to see anyone have significant success.

The reason I attempted to stress the importance of getting all the cleaning chemicals and debris flushed out is because it's imperative if you only want to do this job once. Proper up keep of the coolant is the last requirement.

If your truck does have a 30° difference between EOT/ECT fully up to temp(190°), cruising on level road at 65mph for a few miles, every trip out of the driveway is a gamble. If you must drive it, watch for steam out of the tailpipe and sludge in the coolant degass bottle. Its time for a proper repair, It's likely you don't have a few weeks to drive it with or without a coolant filter.