What is the primary reason to add the FW-16? Are there other inhibitors in this that help the systems coolant or pump design on the 7.3? Ive been told by a reputable diesel dealer in my area that it is not necessary. Ive used it over the years anyway. Just wondering it came to mind when I changed my coolant this weekend.:-

 

i can not believe a dealer would say it is not necessary? ford sent out letters to all dealers reminding them of the importance of the coolant addative. without it the coolant will "cavitate". causing small bubbles in the coolant. the bubbles lay against the cylinder walls causing small pin holes in the cylinders over a period of time. this junks the block.

 

What mouse said.

Les

 

Yes I will agree with all of you. Im familiar with cavitation problems in large pumping systems on hydronic systems when suction pressures are incorrect due to head pressure problems. I was just curious if anybody had other input on the subject. I wonder why ford has the problem in the first place? A better water pump system may do the job. But im not familiar with the inner-workings of the engine coolant flows to evaluate that kind of a problem. Oh well guess Ill keep using the additive. Thanks for the input.

 

The cavitation problem occurs with ALL diesel engines. The only way you can get around the cavitation problem (for a longer duration) is to use one of the extended life coolants such as Shell or Texaco. They can last for 5 years or 600,000 miles. I have been told that the newer Powerstrokes have extented life coolants in them from the factory. It is my understanding (although not verified) that the engines with the regular green coolant have to continue to use the green coolant. If you flush the system and install the new extended life coolant, the seals in the water pump will begin to leak. Again, I have not done any research at this time to know if this is correct, maybe The Diesel Dude would be kind enough to help here. My 01 has the green coolant so I have to add FW-16 to keep the coolant in proper balance.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 23-May-02 AT 07:22 AM (EST)]My father, Grandfather and myself have owned diesels many years. We have owned Fords primarily with a Chevy thrown in for kicks. I have never added anything to the coolant systems and have exceeded mileage way into the 400K range. When I bought my super duty in 2000 I was a bit surprised when I was told to add the FW-16. Im a Mechanical Engineer and was surprised by the cavatation problem which I have never encountered on my other diesels, or was that just pure luck.There is a way around cavatation, but with an engine there are too many other factors involved. I hope Joe will respond to this post.

Thanks again for the response.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 23-May-02 AT 09:14 AM (EST)]Yes, I feel that you had good luck with your diesel engines. I experenced cavitation first hand about 20 years back with a NTC-350 Cummins. The coolant SCA levels had not been keep up with and it ate pin holes in one of the liners. For years the larger diesel engines had small canisters or cartridges attached to the side of the engine. The coolant would circulate through these canisters that were pre-filled with the SCAs, and keep the coolant Molybdate and Nitrite levels in check. After a certain time had passed, you would close the valves on both sides of the canister, unscrew it and install a new one, open the valves and it was a done deal. The canister screwed on like a spin on fuel filter. It was not hard, but like with any maintenace, you had to keep up with it. Now it is much easier with the extended life coolants. The Shell Rotella ELC (as I mentioned before) will last for 5 years or 600,000 miles. Even so, at the midway point, you have to add a bottle of additive to the ELC. The Shell product is used in the Caterpillar engines. If you want to get a better understanding of cavitation (which is real) go down and talk with a diesel engine repair shop such as Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel or International/Navistar and talk to the service manager. I have not had good experience with the Ford dealership where I purchased my Powerstroke. They are not very knowledgeable about the diesel engine and I have received erroneous information from them in the past. This board is an asset for us all to share information about certain topics. Not everything posted is correct and should be used prudently. Good Luck.

 

If you want to get away from SCA's, try Evans waterless coolant.

Les

 

Yes, and they also (Evans) have a good web site that explains their product. Also, WGW may want to look at www.forddiesel.com the cooling Q & A topic. It may help him.

 

Hello
I just bought the test strips from fleetguard and tested my fluid.

If I am reading this kit right, There seems to be two different treatments. one is the compleat system and the other is the ES system. Which one should I follow for my 2001 psd?

The best that I can tell is my sca is 2.0, On the compleat system it tell me replace service filter or replace sca service dose at each oil change. What is sca? Is this the same as fw-16?

Other instructions include:
below 1.2 sca add dca4 per 4 gals of collant. What is DCA4?
above 3.0 scaa do not add DCA4 until concentration falls below 3.0 units per gal.
What is DCA4?

The ES system reads

Below 1.2 units per gal. add 2 qts.of es liquid per 15 gal.of coolant
1.2 to 2.5 units per gal. add 1 qt. of es liquid per 15 gal. of coolang.
above 2.5 units per gal do not add es liquid to system.
what is es liquid?

hope some can help me !
thanks gseeders

 

>Hello
> I just bought the test strips from fleetguard and tested my
>fluid.
>
>If I am reading this kit right, There seems to be two
>different treatments. one is the compleat system and the
>other is the ES system. Which one should I follow for my
>2001 psd?
>
>The best that I can tell is my sca is 2.0, On the compleat
>system it tell me replace service filter or replace sca
>service dose at each oil change. What is sca? Is this the
>same as fw-16?
>
>Other instructions include:
> below 1.2 sca add dca4 per 4 gals of collant. What is
>DCA4?
> above 3.0 scaa do not add DCA4 until concentration falls
>below 3.0 units per gal.
>What is DCA4?
>
>The ES system reads
>
>Below 1.2 units per gal. add 2 qts.of es liquid per 15
>gal.of coolant
>1.2 to 2.5 units per gal. add 1 qt. of es liquid per 15 gal.
>of coolang.
>above 2.5 units per gal do not add es liquid to system.
>what is es liquid?
>
>hope some can help me !
>thanks gseeders

SCA = Supplemental coolant additive

DCA-4 and FW-16 are the SCA's that are compatible with the PSD engine

Do not add any SCA if your readings are between 1.5-3.0. Too much is harmful to the seals and waterpump on these engines. My latest reading were 2.1 so I will not add any nor will I check it again for another 10,000 or so miles.

Les

 

Les
owner scheduled maintenance guide say's to change yellow or green coolant at 45,000 miles. Is this necessary if you keep the sca as required?
Thanks gseeders

 

>Les
>owner scheduled maintenance guide say's to change yellow or
>green coolant at 45,000 miles. Is this necessary if you
>keep the sca as required?
>Thanks gseeders

Yes. Remove the 2 block drains as well when flushing. You'll need to flush the cooling system and blow air through the heater hoses to get all the coolant out after flushing. Get 4 gallons of the proper coolant and 4 gallons of distilled water. You will need 4 pints of SCA also. Add the SCA, then the coolant and fill the rest of the way with the distilled water. You use distilled water so that you are not adding unwanted minerals into the cooling system.

Les

 

The FW 16 additive is used with the green coolant because we had a problem with the bore spacing on the old 6.9/7.3L IDI engines cavatating pin holes from the water jacket side through the cylinders. I have been told by our engineering department that we've never had a failure of this type on the Power Stroke engine -- I'm not advising you not to use the FW 16 additive, I'm just saying it isn't as big a problem as it was on the IDI engine. The new for 2002 yellow coolant is a product of Valvoline. This coolant does not require the additive and it (the additive) SHOULD NOT be used. Also DO NOT mix the green coolant with the yellow coolant (is is not the end of the world if you do but it is a pain in the **** to flush it all out of the system once it is in there). In addition to all that, this yellow coolant is NOT the same stuff as the Texaco OAT coolant (red). The OAT coolant is a better coolant and is compatable with the Power Stroke engine but the radiator and heater core tanks are plastic and are sealed to the main bodies of their respective heat exchangers with O-rings and (as far as I know) these O-rings are not approved for long term use with the OAT coolant. So if you've got the green stuff you need to use the FW 16 additive. If you've got the yellow stuff don't use the additive or mix it with any other type of coolant. And if you want to use the red stuff you'll have to accept the responsibility of possible O-ring deterioration elsewhere in the cooling system.