I have heard a lot of talk about coolant treatment. So a couple of questions
for the psd experts. Why do you need a coolant treatment? # 2 What should I buy for the best job.

 

What year is your truck? All of the 2003's and some of the 2002's don't need it. If you have gold coolant you don't need it if you have green you do. BTW, you can't change over to the gold coolant if you have the green.

The additive is to prevent cavitation. I recommend Motorcraft FW-16, but there are others you can use. Make sure you buy test strips to test for the proper levels. I buy all of my stuff from Diesel Injection Service ( www.dieselpage.com ).

 

On edit: sorry, multiple post.

 

It is a 1999 with 92k F-250

 

Check out Diesel Injection Service. They also sell fuel filters and additive. I tend to order a bunch of stuff at once to keep shipping costs to a minimum. Still is usually less $ than around town.

 

Even the extended life gold coolant needs to be tested. The SCA's in it break down over time just like the additive that you can buy for the greeen glycol coolant. Ford says that there is no need to add SCA's as long as the coolant system is maintained......this means that it needs to be tested and SCA's added if low. As john said you can buy the test strips and SCA at many different places, it is cheaper sometimes to buy them from a truck stop that has a garage or even a big truck dealership.
You do not want to add the gold extended life coolant to your engine if it was made before either 03 or 04 i cant remember, the gaskets are not able to hold up to the makeup of the gextended life coolant. You can use the green glycol coolant to the engines that come with the extended life coolant.

 

A lot of 2002's have the gold coolant. The problem isn't that the seals can't hold up to the gold coolant, the problem is compatability of the 2 coolants. Unless the seals and other components are replaced the system can be damaged from contamination.

 

I know of no quick and easy way to test the inhibitors used in gold coolant. Rather, like all coolant, it should be changed every two years or so, at which point the longer lasting organic acid inhibitors will not be used up, but the coolant's lifespan will.

Birken

 

You're right, Ford tells you to change it at certain intervals, not add additive to it. As long as you stick with the change intervals you should be fine.

 

i have an 02, now i was asking a similar question a while ago, i think i have the gold stuff but i am not totally sure one day it looks like it could be gold and then the next day it looks like it isnt the gold, anyways i bought some test strips from international and tested my coolant, and it said i needed recharging, so i went to ford and bought thier stuff and added it. so my question is if i have gold coolant, why did the test strips say to recharge, and johndeisel, you say the gold needs no additive? im not sure what is right, i hope i didnt wreck anything by doing this? what do you think? i bought the truck in december and i dont know the matainance history, so as far as i know the coolant is from the factory.

 

Gold does not need recharging. You either have gold (yellow) or green. If you don't have green it doesn't need the additive. I don't know the chemical makeup of the new stuff but it's possible that the test strips don't test for the correct chemicals in the gold coolant.

 

Hi Guys, on this subject I went to the Ford dealer today and asked about test strips. They looked at me like I just asked the weight of the earth, they had no idea what I was talking about. Even the diesel guys hadn't heard of the strips. I had no luck at Napa either. I try some of the places listed at this site. Just wanted to chime in. Take care guys. Bentonmike

 

the two coolants are compatible, it is the gaskets that cannot hold up.

 

think about what is cheaper. Changing your coolant every two years or checking for SCA's every 15,000 miles and adding if needed and then only changing every 3-4 years?

 

they say that the gold does not need SCA's because it is a lifetime coolant and as long as you maintain the coolant system then no SCAs are needed. My question-how do you maintain it? you test and add