I tested my coolant the other day and there was no additive in it,the test strip directions say to add 1pt of additive to every 4 gallons of coolant,i called my ford dealer and he said there is 5 1/2 gallons in my truck so do i just add 1pt and a little bit or how do i go about doing this please reply thanks

 

I'd just add 1 pint, run the truck to make sure it gets circulated through then test the coolant again then add more if needed.

 

Would it be harmful to the truck if there is too much additive? I went to the dealer yesterday and purchased the additive. I didn't have the test strip so I just added only 4 ounces. If it's not harmful, I might as well pour the entire 16 ounces in.

I'm sureprised Ford does not carry the test strips.

What scares me also was the fact that the parts guy was surprised when I told him that the ford diesel needed a special additive for the coolant. He thought I was crazy.
Stuff like this scares me when a ford guy doesn't even know something like this.

 

If the SCA level gets really high it can be just as bad as if it was low. I know of a guy that had bought a new semi and it started running hot a few months after he bought it and when he had it checked out he was told that the DC4 additives in the filter plugged up the cooling system. He was changing the filter every oil change with a precharged coolant filter because thats what the manual said to do and was told he overcharged the system, but the additives in the coolant filters are granular so it is a little differant than the liquid additive you put in the radiator. The manual for my N14 Cummins says that you should change the coolant filter every oil change if the SCA level is in the normal range, if the SCA level is low change the filter and add liquid additive, but if the SCA level is high don't change the filter or add additive and monitor the SCA level at next service date. I usually change the filteron my truck every 60,000 miles as long as the SCA level is normal. I would assume that the smaller diesel motors would be the same.

It doesn't suprise me that the parts guy didn't know what you were talking about, most parts men don't have much knowledge in engine mataintence of gas motors let alone diesels; they just know how to punch up parts numbers on their computer. You can get the test strips at any heavy duty truck repair shop, or at a Napa.

 

How do you know if you got the right strip? I got a single strip from international, and its a 3 way strip
Fleetguard tests
- Freeze point eg and pg coolents
-molybdate
-nitrate
Did I get the right one?
Wanna hear some bad news? I had 2, one of these bad boys fell in the tank A mechanic at work said its fine in there, it wont hurt anything. Should I try to pull it out?

 

Black88GT
Sounds like the right one. The Fleetguard test strip that is sold in the 4pack is CC2602A. You need to test the coolant from the system and not the overflow tank. If you test from the overflow tank you will have a differant reading that what may be in your system.

Nothing foreign in anything is usually good

 

jadel-
You don't say which model year your truck is, but here's what I know about my 95.... Adding one 16oz bottle of additive will bring up my reading on the chart by 0.9. So, since 2.5-3.0 is ideal, if my reading after using the Fleetguard strips was 1.6, then adding one bottle would bring my reading up to 2.5.
If you get the reading over 3.0, you run the risk of the pH getting too high.
Since your cooling system might have a different capacity, use my numbers as a guidleline, not a hard, fast rule.

 

Thanks for the reply Besides the overflow type thing in there, I dont see anywhere else to get a sample from. I pulled the plastic overflow thing off this morning and the strip is gone. Im assuming it made it into the motor. I dunno if I should be worried or not. I know its not good in there, but what are my options? Am I going to blow up the truck?

 

At the bottom of the radiator there should be a petcock valve. Just barely open it and collect a little in a clean cup/container and then you can test the strip and what ever extra you have you can return back to the overflow. It seems easy to just collect from the overflow tank but if you have added coolant or water it won't accuratley reflect the whole sytem. It's just paper so hopefully it has disenegrated. You should not worry there nothing to do. People place additives and some even put the radiadtor stop leak which won't hurt the engine.