2015 6.7 PSD with 29,900 miles & got the message. Truck has pulled 32' 5th wheel total of 2k miles. Do you experienced guys think it's worth paying to have it checked & additive added if needed or just have the coolant drained & replaced so it's good for quite a while? Thank you for any help.

 

Buy the kit from accustrip and do it yourself! The biggest headaches this truck has ever caused me was dealers screwing up the coolant check procedure, using wrong strips, adding wrong revitalizer, flushing and putting the wrong coolant back in. It's not hard to do and this kit has enough to check both systems. Did it myself this time. Kit comes from accustrip.

 

thank you for the tip. I've heard many complaints & headaches from having the dealer mess simple things up.

 

just remember the check coolant does not mean there is a problem. It will come on again at around the same interval.

I checked mine using the kit too. Then I recently flushed and changed it due to time.

 

I have had that come up on my truck also. I believe mine did that around the time yours did. I went to the dealer and he just reset it. There was no way that the antifreeze needed anything with that few miles. It happened again and I just reset it. You can look in the book and it will tell you when you need to service the antifreeze. I have 65,000 miles on my truck and since my truck is in the shop for repairs i told the guy to check on it for me. They just add a additive first then down the road they recommend to change it.

 

I don’t even test, just add the additive every time the message pops up, then change the coolant every 100k.

 

Really? That message pops up every 13k IIRC. So you have added an additive 5 times before a full flush?

According to the owners manual it should only be added 1 time.

What damage if any could that cause adding it more than one time?

 

I get the check additive after approx 30k miles. I seem to recall one bottle is half the allowed “dose”, so i added it at roughly 33k, 66k, changed at 100k, dosed at 133k, 166k, and just changed again at 200k

 

This is what I found about Antifreeze.


Coolant Check/Change3 Initial change at 105,000 miles or 72 months; subsequent changes every 45,000 miles Initial change 60,000 miles or 2400 hours of engine operation; subsequent changes every 45,000 miles or 1800 hours Coolant Strength Check3 Check every 15,000 miles or 600 hours Check every 15,000 miles or 600 hours *Special = Operating Conditions like Extensive Towing, Long Idle Time, Extended Low Speed Driving, use of Bio-diesel. For Off Road/Dusty Conditions, oil change intervals should be every 7,500 miles (12,000km) or 300 hours of engine operation


The coolant concentration should be maintained at 50/50 mix of Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant and distilled or deionized water. The level of coolant should be maintained at the "COLD FILL" range in the coolant reservoir. If you suspect any coolant system leaks or lack of cooling, pressure test the cooling system. Refer to Owner Manual and Power Stroke® Diesel Supplement for additional information

Engine coolant additive strength (carboxylates) should be checked and serviced at the mileage or equivalent hour intervals specified by the vehicle's message center and maintenance schedule. Check coolant additive strength using the Rotunda Antifreeze Test Strip kit to determine if additive is required (Rotunda Antifreeze Coolant ELC Contamination Kit # 328-R071-ELC). If the carboxylates strength is too low, add one bottle of Motorcraft® Specialty Orange Engine Coolant Revitalizer, VC- 12, or equivalent. If the coolant corrosion inhibitor additive strength is too low in the secondary cooling system, add 16 fl. oz. of Motorcraft® Specialty Orange Engine Coolant Revitalizer, VC-12, or equivalent. The coolant can be recharged with this additive up to two times before the cooling system must be flushed and refilled – Do not add Supplement Coolant Additive if flush & refill is required.

 

That sounds like a safe plan and I stand corrected on the number of times VC-12 can be used. If I recall my first "check coolant" message popped up at 13k again 24 or 25k. I was reading your previous post indicating you added VC-12 every 12-13k.

 

I'm kinda SuperDave. Having gone thru this for 150,000 miles on my 2011 and checking the coolant every 15,000 or so miles. Ford seems to have slacked off on the message on newer trucks to the 30,000 mile interval.

I believe you should check the coolant when the message pops up. Meaning make sure the coolant is full. Air inside the coolant passages is bad, So make sure you are topped off.
If you have been in control of the truck it's whole life. I'm not so worried about test strips. What are the odds you or somebody else put the wrong coolant in your coolant systems? If you were the only person to top off the coolant. Then it should never get contaminated.
That being the case, I use the coolant rejuvenator at about 50,000 miles and flush and refill around 100,000 miles. If you tow a LOT, or other severe duty type of work, Make that 30,000 and flush at 60,000

 

I thought the test strips were to make sure the coolant was still up to snuff and wouldn't have (or not have) the appropriate chemicals needed for it to do its job correctly. Not to make sure someone didn't contaminate it.

 

It Does check for 3 things.
Freeze Protection
Contamination
Corrosion protection.

Unless you have really diluted the coolant. The freeze protection should be good for 4-5 years and the 100,000 miles. If you've added a lot of water then of the freeze protection won't be as strong.

Contamination test to see if somebody added a Nitrite based coolant. If you know that nobody has ever added anything to your coolant. You shouldn't have to worry, the test will always be a negative results.
Contamination will not just happen on it's own. Somebody had to add the wrong product

Corrosion Inhibitor checks to see how much carboxylates your coolant still has. The coolant coats the metal in the internal coolant passages with carboxylates to protect against corrosion. This is what the VC-12 Coolant Revitlizer adds back Specialty Orange Engine Coolant. You can add this twice during the coolants life. When I've done the regular scheduled test, This seems to happen to my coolant around 60,000-70,000 miles. So as SuperDave says above. He just adds it once or twice during the coolants life. Since I tow a large GN horse trailer frequently, which I suspect put me into severe service schedule. I just flush and refill around 60,000- 70,000 miles vs waiting for the 105,000 mile life of the coolant.

This is what I learned from my 2011 and frequetly testing it's coolant. Ford's 2nd generation 6.7L in 2017 may be slightly different. They may have changed the coolant again or changed the Coolant rejuvinator, So check for your engine based on what coolant factory installed.

 

Flushed mine at 61k due to severe duty too. Didn't even bother with coolant checks after the first time the message came on. I think it only came on one other time anyway.

 

I spent a lot of time researching this, bought strips, tested, they expired.

Just inspect (both circuits) add every other message, then replace at 105k.