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Hey Guys, I'm doing a coolant drain, 2 flushes, Mishi 200 stat. refill with ELC concentrate and distilled water. What is your preference of ELC brand and premix vs concentrate? Thanks in advance!
I do not have a preferred. I bought what I could find locally at Tractor Supply-Shell Rotella ELC. Coolant capacity is 27.5 quarts. I pulled both block drains to get out as much water and debris, old coolant as possible. Then to get to a 50/50 mix you have to add 3.5 gallons of "concentrate" then top off with distilled to the minimum line on the Degas.
Last edited by Brotherbillstruck; Feb 25, 2021 at 11:43 AM.
Reason: correction
BrotherBill has you on track - there are several that go farther than the Rotella, miles/years. Off the top of my head: Delo, Delvac and Final Charge - I think all three claim in the million mile range...
I got whatever was cheapest & available in concentrate. My local Napa had the Rotella ELC in concentrate.
Note it's a slightly different shade of red than the normal ELC I've seen (Zerex). It's more of an organish red.
I also recommend checking actual concentration levels. I did the repeated distilled flush and filled with 3.5-gal concentrate and I was up around 60% coolant. Ended up cutting it back down to get the 50%. I use this handy $20 coolant tester which works great.
[QUOTE=FiveOJester;19752356]I got whatever was cheapest & available in concentrate. My local Napa had the Rotella ELC in concentrate.
Note it's a slightly different shade of red than the normal ELC I've seen (Zerex). It's more of an organish red.
I also recommend checking actual concentration levels. I did the repeated distilled flush and filled with 3.5-gal concentrate and I was up around 60% coolant. Ended up cutting it back down to get the 50%. I use this handy $20 coolant tester which works great.
I am surprised it was off by that much. I will have to check mine. You would think you could roughly halve the total volume and get way closer than 60%. Maybe the total volume is off.
To the OP- over the first couple days of driving after a flush I like to park the truck in the exact same spot and orientation to get the fluid level just right. After the truck cools I check the level again. Seems some air worked its way out and the level needed to be topped off a couple of times- at least for me it did.
I got whatever was cheapest & available in concentrate. My local Napa had the Rotella ELC in concentrate.
Note it's a slightly different shade of red than the normal ELC I've seen (Zerex). It's more of an organish red.
I also recommend checking actual concentration levels. I did the repeated distilled flush and filled with 3.5-gal concentrate and I was up around 60% coolant. Ended up cutting it back down to get the 50%. I use this handy $20 coolant tester which works great.
I am surprised it was off by that much. I will have to check mine. You would think you could roughly halve the total volume and get way closer than 60%. Maybe the total volume is off.
To the OP- over the first couple days of driving after a flush I like to park the truck in the exact same spot and orientation to get the fluid level just right. After the truck cools I check the level again. Seems some air worked its way out and the level needed to be topped off a couple of times- at least for me it did.
Yes I was also surprised. I'm wondering if the Ford total system volume rating is off. The most I've ever gotten out of the system draining the radiator & driver-side block is about 4.0-4.5 gallons at a time. Hard to believe there are still 3-gal sitting in the passenger side of the block & the other points that don't drain?
In case anyone wonders, I did check the accuracy of my coolant tester with the ELC when I found the system off. Was wondering if it didn't read correctly with the ELC coolant. I mixed up a small batch of 4oz concentrate & 4oz distilled and it read right on the money at 50%.
I just went out and tested my coolant twice with a Prestone hydrometer The kind with a syphon and arrow- not the floating *****. Anyway ,the first time I tested I did not get the fluid level up to the fill line and my concentration looked fine. I repeated using the tester correctly and the arrow is off the chart. Like way above the normal boiling point at 50/50. So I am thinking I need the tester that 50Jester is using. I have not had a problem with my temps ,but I am curious if we are recommending correctly and why it could be so far off.
I just went out and tested my coolant twice with a Prestone hydrometer The kind with a syphon and arrow- not the floating *****. Anyway ,the first time I tested I did not get the fluid level up to the fill line and my concentration looked fine. I repeated using the tester correctly and the arrow is off the chart. Like way above the normal boiling point at 50/50. So I am thinking I need the tester that 50Jester is using. I have not had a problem with my temps ,but I am curious if we are recommending correctly and why it could be so far off.
Being on the high side doesn't harm anything in the engine, but it does decrease your cooling capacity. Anti-freeze doesn't transfer heat as well as water and takes more energy to pump. The superduty cooling system works so well most people probably won't even notice.
On my F150 Ecoboost I ended up cutting down to 40/60 to help that sub-par cooling system. Was recommended in the Ford manual for extreme conditions. Actually made quite a difference!
Just thought I would share one more. I tested my 50/50 mix bottle that I keep on board. Either my Prestone hydrometer does not function with ELC, the hydrometer is broken, or the tester(me) is failing to function. My results were the same with the arrow going upwards and off the chart instead of pointing where it should at approximately 265* boil-over protection. I need a new tool Dear.
The ones I like are the refractometers. The one I have is a Robinaire, the same kit as OTC. Both used to be around $50. Today there are many knockoffs in the $20 range.
Aforementioned brands (e.g. Shell) work, but for my money it's RED (Caterpillar) exclusively. CAT ELC chemistry -- used in multi-million dollar machines -- is a bit more expensive but worth it for my oldies but goodies.
Thanks for the suggestions. I had already done my "quick-draw" move on Amazon and ordered the ATC from above. It might be interesting to see if I get the same results using the same tool. I will report back.
The ones I like are the refractometers. The one I have is a Robinaire, the same kit as OTC. Both used to be around $50. Today there are many knockoffs in the $20 range.
Question for you guys that check your coolant, which I only did on my 7.3 with a test strip for SCAs, do you flush and fill when the freeze point falls off, or based on miles, or based on time?
The Rotella (Tractor Supply version) I had in for 8 years/70k miles, and it always tested fine. I was planning on a 10 year/ 100k dump, but I actually did it at 70k, 5k before I yanked the motor. I've thought about the newer version, Ultra ELC.
About 5 years ago, I started to use the same (TS) in the farm tractors, and good so far. The dozer I have not done but was planning for this summer. The dozer is complicated, 1952 Allis with a Jimmy 2-stroke and oil cooler. Wow, an oil cooler before the 6.0! Yeah, they can be problematic too.
Tractor Supply:
You used to say "Black Bottle" version for the Extended Life, but we've gotten complicated, just don't switch the caps around.
