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Recently had the heater core replaced under warranty on my 2020 Ford F350 7.3L due to it being plugged.
Going into this recent cold snap I had barely any warm air blowing from the vents, I assumed blend door actuator but after they all checked out the only thing that made sense was a plugged heater core, I checked the inlet vs outlet temp of the heater core, had 17 deg C diff. Its under warranty so I sent it to the dealer. The tech came to the same conclusion and replaced the heater core.
Unfortunately I have no idea it it was plugged with casting sand or what.
Truck was put into service in June of 2021 and has 108,000km (67,500 miles) / 3800 hours.
I did a coolant flush with the Ford product in May at 86,000km (53,750 miles) and filled with the Ford OEM coolant.
I was surprised to see a plugged core given the age? After some research I found quite a few examples of low mileage Fords with plugged cores.
Not sure where to go from here, I don't think that drained the entire system, probably just enough to get the core out. Perhaps another flush this spring/summer.
Maybe I should add back flushing the heater core to my list of preventive maintenance?
I have 30k miles on my 22 7.3 and I popped the cap off my overflow tank just cause and notice crystals formed. Ford claims it is LIFETIME coolant but my gut tells me it won't last even near what they consider a "lifetime".
I have 30k miles on my 22 7.3 and I popped the cap off my overflow tank just cause and notice crystals formed. Ford claims it is LIFETIME coolant but my gut tells me it won't last even near what they consider a "lifetime".
Seems crazy to me coming from driving GMs all of my life. To be honest I neglected the cooling systems in those trucks and still went over 10,000 hours without any issues.
I want this truck to last me 10 years so I was trying to be nice to it by flushing the coolant at 2 years (~3000 hours) but looks like I will have to do it once a year.
I wonder if its the coolant Ford uses that is the problem or what?
Seems crazy to me coming from driving GMs all of my life. To be honest I neglected the cooling systems in those trucks and still went over 10,000 hours without any issues.
I want this truck to last me 10 years so I was trying to be nice to it by flushing the coolant at 2 years (~3000 hours) but looks like I will have to do it once a year.
I wonder if its the coolant Ford uses that is the problem or what?
I think it is the coolant. When the dealer told me it was lifetime coolant I had an instant flashback to owning a 6.0 and after they were out for a few years they started recommending 50k mile flushes because of the silicate plugging the oil cooler and EGRs. I'm dropping my truck off at the dealer this week with a long list of things I want looked at for replacement under warranty.
I think it is the coolant. When the dealer told me it was lifetime coolant I had an instant flashback to owning a 6.0 and after they were out for a few years they started recommending 50k mile flushes because of the silicate plugging the oil cooler and EGRs. I'm dropping my truck off at the dealer this week with a long list of things I want looked at for replacement under warranty.
When it’s out of warranty I’ll look into switching coolants perhaps and maybe install an inline filter before the heater core.
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