Ok bought this truck cheap. Previous owner installed new radiator I see regular auto coolant in the bed that was used. I believe long life coolant it's orange. Question is I'll drain it later and get coolant for diesel such *** fleet charge but for now can I just grab some motorcraft additive? I didn't realize these beasts hold 8 gallons of coolant. 94 7.3idi non turbo. I attached a picture of the additive from motorcraft. This is correct?

 

Or could I buy a gallon of fleet charge coolant and mix it with what's already in my radiator and call it good for now? I don't have any test strips and I honestly don't think there is any sca additive in the radiator

 

SCAs must be mixed in precise amounts.
If you wanted to drain the entire system and put in Fleet Charge concentrate and distilled water appropriately(because there is at least 2 gallons of capacity you probably will not get out of the engine), you should be fine... for about 6 months.
SCAs must be monitored on a 6-month basis, and topped up as-needed. The process isn't hard, but requires test strips.

The problem is that traditional SCAs have a specific level that is optimal. Below that, it won't protect against cavitation. Above the level, it will attack solder in your radiator and cause leaks.

Alternately, you can drain the system and go for a diesel-rated HOAT-based ELC coolant, which does /not/ need testing - According to my favored Zerex HD ELC, you just replace it every 5 years or 300,000 miles(Or, you can pour in a bottle of special 'extender').

 

​​​​​​​I'll drain and fill it with zetex HD elc eventually but for now I'm sure no sca additive is in there. Would it be better to add a bottle or 2 of the motorcraft additive or buy a gallon of elc coolant and add it to the radiator for now?

 

If you can, I'd just drain it and refill properly. It's not a big deal, really. Just need a bucket or two.

If you do go the SCA route, make sure to read just how much to add per gallon. The problem is that I'm not sure quite how many gallons the truck has, and it depends on the radiator size. It's at least 6 gallons, perhaps 8. When draining my truck via the radiator(and disconnecting the bottom hose), I get about 6 gallons out.

 

I looked up the coolant and found different versions. Do you happen to have a picture of it? I don't want to get the wrong kind.

 

I did give you a link right to it... with pictures.
Anyway, PN for concentrate is ZXED1.
Napa carries this stuff.

You should be good with 4 gallons of concentrate and 4 gallons of distilled water.

I'd probably drain what you can from the radiator, fill it with tap water(provided your tap water isn't /too/ bad), run the engine and idle it for a minute and then drain that and refil with 4 gallons of antifreeze and the rest with distilled water*. That'll get you close to 50/50, on the high side I expect. Remember that you can run up to 70/30 coolant/water ratio, so erring slightly on the high side seems reasonable.

Once you know what your mix is, using one of those coolant meters, you can add either concentrated coolant or water to the overflow, which will then cycle in over the next few heat cycles.


(* Note - you can get away with a lot, and how much you really care about flushing depends on what you see. If everything's clean with no crud coming out? one flush to dilute whatever coolant you had in there is good. If you are getting a lot of rust out, well, you might want to do more.)

 

I found it. Kind of expensive. I'm really not wanting to spend to much $$$ on coolant right this second. I'll drain and fill here soon but for now either I leave it alone or I add some sca additive. Not sure what to do haha

 

Maybe I'll add half a bottle of the additive just for now til I do the full coolant flush. Any thoughts on it?

 

What do the instructions say?

You don't want to add too much, or your radiator will leak sooner or later, like I said earlier.

 

Ya I'll read the instructions when I get the bottle here in a few hours. I'll add very little depending on instructions then I'll change the coolant in a few weeks. I appreciate the help :-) I'll post updates

 

Is there a possibility of sludge If the Motorcraft SCA attitive is not matched with the regular anti-freeze?

 

I honestly don't know. Haha hopefully someone will answer that

 

It will work with any low silicate coolant. VC8, DCA2, NapaCool all the same. You DONT'T WANT TOO MUCH though. I would just drain and replace with the right stuff. I just used Fleetguard ES Compleat. $21 per gallon of concentrate.

 

I initially purchased an attitude but then after finding out about the possibility of not properly identifying my coolant and suffering sludge problems I figured I just draining replaces well I used to Fleet Guard which was only two dollars more a gallon than regular antifreeze.