Gents,
I have a 2003 super duty with the 6.0. I traded an old car for. Had to have work done to it to get it back on the road and did not know much about diesels. First trip to shop (truck did not run when i traded for it) guy put a new turbo on and replaced some injectors and the FICM. It ran great for about a year till i got into a minor fender bender. Had the repairs done new grill bumper radiator etc. Got it back and drove it 150 miles and had the high pressure oil pump go out on it. I had the oil pump replaced and the EGR delete done. They also replaced some injectors. I have had about two great years of service from this truck now and have been doing repairs pms to the truck. Brake job ceramic pads new rotors. Needle bearings went bad and had to replace front axle (4wd). Serviced the transmission. Serviced the rearend. Truck has 256000 miles on it now and still runs strong. I noticed sludge/oil on CAC pipe and noticed a soft spot in top radiator hose. So I thought I might do a cooling system flush like i saw on the powerstroke help youtube video. Problem is there is green antifreeze in the reservoir. Can I flush the system and change antifreeze? I dont have any cooling temperature problems and never have. Should I change the type antifreeze and if i do will i end up with problems?

 

I have made three 600 mile trips on the truck and would like to do so at Thanksgiving so I plan to replace radiator hoses, Serpentine belt, CAC hoses and turbo hose and I also plan to flush coolant system. Sorry for the long post just wanted to give a little history and needed some good advice. I have owned several vehicles and this has been by far my favorite with a raggedy 1966 chevy c10 with a 250 6 cylinder running a close 2nd. I use rotella synthetic oil and treat the engine oil and fuel system with hot shot secrets once a year. I also change the fuel filters about twice a year. Thanks for any help.

 

The 6.0 should never have the green antifreeze in it. Thoroughly flush and refill with either Ford Premium Gold or an ELC such as cat. Coolants also cannot be mixed in the 6.0. Whatever you use it has to be low or silicate free or your oil cooler gets plugged. A coolant filter wouldn't hurt either.

 

What you haven’t mentioned at all in your posts is if you have monitored the coolant to oil temp differential, which is the most critical situation here. It’s not overheated, but you have no idea how well flowing the oil cooler is.

I would flush. There is a pdf that Nylyon published and in it it shows hoses I made up so you could do a mass quantities flush. I would do that to make sure there is no residual green left in there. I then would not go with G05 as it doesn’t like to be combined with any other coolants, and if there residual globs of silicate laying in wait, it won’t be good. I also would not use any chemicals as you don’t know for sure if freeing globs of stuff will impact the cooler. If it’s already compromised, so be it and you’ll have to deal with it, but history shows no chemical flush will free the coolers of contamination.

From there I would use any of the very low or no silicate coolants. One is the Shell Rotella, but DieselDan has another good one if you search.

 

Here you go:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-the-same.html

 

would get that green coolant outta there... flush it well... then can either replace it with Valvoline G-05/Motorcraft Gold or can do what most of the 6.0 guys have done and covert it over to running Rotella ELC. Anything that meets Catapillar's EC-1 specs will really help the cooling system out. you can find Rotella ELC at Tractor Supply. ive seen it somewhere else too but cant remember where that was.

 

Thanks everybody for the info. I knew the green was a bad idea after watching a few of the flush videos on youtube. I just did not know how the green stuff would react to a flush additive. I do not presently have a way to tell the oil temp vs the coolant temp. If i look at the gauges the transmission temp and the coolant temp are almost the same (not quite halfway) and i runabout 80 mph to work most mornings. It has never run higher than this. I tried to attach a photo of the gauges which I am sure will be useless info but still thought I would try.

 

A diesel repair shop called _______ super duty put the green antifreeze in when I had the turbo replaced. Cant believe they are supposed to be pro's and charged so much money to put the wrong antifreeze in.

 

It was commonly used up to 2002. In some ways if Ford would have stayed with it and stated to keep the existing change intervals to 50k miles, the issue may never have occurred. You get to be one of the few lab rats. Yes, the shop should have known better.

Again, if your OIL to coolant temp differential are OK, your OK. Trans temp is meaningless to the oil temp.

If you have a cell phone you can cheaply and easily get setup for engine monitoring. If you own a 6.0 it is a required tool. It just is.......

An uneducated diesel motor owner is a broke diesel owner in waiting.

 

I wouldn’t blame Ford for not staying with a specific antifreeze. I’d blame the shop for not staying on top of things. That’s why they’re being paid.

 

Thanks I still have an I phone 5s. will try to find the set up for engine monitoring.

 

I’m just saying Ford in its push to improve JDPowers numbers pushed the coolant interval too long. Gold or green may have been fine for the 6.0 at 50k intervals, we just don’t know about the green. I believe Bismic and others have showed 50k intervals are best for the gold. But other options, such as what Nav used in this motor in their own trucks was better. But again, that would not have commonized the coolant at the plants and reduced cost, which was what was on the table in 2003-04.

IMO.

 

Gents,
Still have not been able to flush my cooling system and change antifreeze yet but I was able to check temps. Looks pretty good I think.

 

If that's after a 20 mile highway run, your coolant temp. is too cool. Ideally in the 190's to 204 degrees. Hotter the better to a point. Diesels have no spark plugs and rely on heat and compression for combustion and efficiency. Around town temp. spreads don't really tell the true story.

 

One good thing you have going for you is the low temp spread between the EOT and ECT.

As Mike mentioned however, that is not hot enough for the engine. You are losing MPG at that temp, no doubt.