Which Anti-freeze

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Feb 19, 2006 | 07:18 PM

sleepe

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Which Anti-freeze

I need to change my water pump on my 99 250SD 7.3l, of course the owners manuel wants me to use Ford anti-freeze. What would be a none Ford anti-freeze that would be safe for this truck. I will be adding the FW 15 as needed. Thanks Sleepe

Feb 19, 2006 | 08:15 PM

Muktown

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From: Elkhorn, WI

a low silicate regular green antifreeze will work fine because that is probably what is in there but you still have to add the additive. if you COMPLETELY flushed out all the green stuff you could put in the gold antifreeze like the newer trucks have and not have to worry about additives. you will get many different opinions on this but i think it is best to stick with the stuff that is already in there

Feb 19, 2006 | 09:18 PM

PowerstrokeJunkie

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From: 21791

yes, stick with what is in there now. green is ethylene glycol, and the gold or pink is the propylene glycol. DO NOT mix these two, as they will form a chemical reaction and will make a gel compound, like jello.<--(i learned that in Diesel tech)

Feb 20, 2006 | 04:38 AM

ford390gashog

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From: Brentwood,CA

the ford gold is not to be confused for the OAT coolants like dexcool which when mixed with anything else makes a acidic compound like jello. the ford gold is a HOAT coolant and is ethylene based. but it is ultra low silicate and very additive stable.

Feb 20, 2006 | 10:16 AM

clux

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From: Carhenge

Quote:

Originally Posted by strokin_it7.3

No, they're all ethylene glycol based except the Evans coolant, which is propylene glycol. The difference in the ethylene based coolants is the additive packages, particularly for corrosion inhibitors and in the case of diesels anti-cavitation properties. Rotella offers a kit (test strips and coolant additive) that can be used to convert traditional silicate coolant into an ELC.

There is considerable debate as to whether Ford has "approved" the gold coolant for engines that came with the green, but i think the consensus is that the Ford premium gold (relabled zerex G0-5) is fine in 99 and newer engines that came with green silicate coolant. I've been running the gold for quite a while in my 2000 with no problems. There are also several other excellent diesel ELC's that offer much longer service intervals than the gold. If you do change to an ELC, you need to do a complete flush of your system (there are several excellent write ups around about how to do that) and be careful to select an ELC that is diesel rated by the manufacturer. Color means nothing.

Dec 9, 2006 | 05:19 PM

Trakk

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From: Nashville, TN

I went to Advance and mentioned I needed green antifreeze for a diesel truck. The guy said "ahh yes, right back here... this one is for GM's and this one is for Fords." He handed me a gallon of Prestone. I asked him what he knew about the additive I need and he said "what additive? this has everything you need in it". He said it is not pre-deluted.

Is he completely out of it? Or could this be the right antifreeze? The label says "for light trucks and suv's" so I'm a little concerned about adding it...