Coolant Change 101
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 8,241
Likes: 155
From: L.A. (Lower Alabama)
A couple years ago when I did my coolers I drove to a nearby city to get the CAT coolant. Logic being if they wrote the standard everyone is sighting it must be "best". I'm not quite so fussy anymore. I found my local Tractor Supply Store had Rotella coolant that was just fine.
Anything that is SILICATE FREE and meets the Cat EC-1 standard will say so on the label and work just fine in your truck.
Yup, Napa carries Zerex Extended Life Part #ZXED that would be good.
Oreilly's carries Final Charge Global Part #FinalCharge
I believe Delo makes one also.
John Deer has a silicate free ELC (I think it's green though, may make for some confusion later)
There are several more I can't think of right now
Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 48
Likes: 2
From: NYC
Wonderful. I bought the Zerex GO-5. I should have looked more closely at the label. I've since looked at Zerex website and it looks like the "extended life" version has the CAT-EC1 rating so i'll be heading back to NAPA next weekend.
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
From: Meridian,Ms
I have 134k on my truck I took my truck to the dealership and had the coolant system flushed at 119k when I bought it on the highway not towing my eot runs 215-219 depending on hills and my ect runs 202-214 depending on hills. I plan on doing a flush with vc9 tomorrow I had to order my coolant. Is there anything alarming about these numbers they just seem high. The high spike of the coolant temp will come from a steep hill and last for about 3 seconds and then drop back down same for the engine oil temp 219 is a spike that last for a few seconds and drop down to 215-216. My delta not towing sit at 14. After reading this entire thread it just seems high. I'm also running the 8k Tow from Gearhead.
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 397
Likes: 0
From: Nortern FL
I hate to revive such an old thread, but it seems like the appropriate place for this question. I plan to flush and refill with Rotella ELC. It's unclear if the Ultra ELC meets the requirements of this engine, but the ELC clearly does. Maybe someone who is more of a chemical engineer than me can answer that question. I would think the Ultra would be a better all around coolant, but maybe not?
Here is the Rotella data sheet:
http://s07.static-shell.com/content/...s-brochure.pdf
Here is the Rotella data sheet:
http://s07.static-shell.com/content/...s-brochure.pdf
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 8,241
Likes: 155
From: L.A. (Lower Alabama)
I think in a nutshell the "Ultra" is comparable to Ford Gold. It doesnt say silicate free or even low silicate for that matter. The Rotella ELC states silicate free and meets CAT EC1.
New User
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Central VA
From what I can find online the Ultra is silicate free and meets EC 1. A quick google search and you can find the technical data sheet from Shell. I am debating using this coolant also but haven't heard of many people using it. Maybe because it's still relatively new
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Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 8,241
Likes: 155
From: L.A. (Lower Alabama)
Here: http://s07.static-shell.com/content/...s-brochure.pdf
Ultra is nitrate free (not silicate free) and not EC-1 rated.
Rotella ELC is EC-1 rated, which includes no silicates.
Ultra sounds like it would be better but I was all over the bottles in my local Tractor Supply store. The ELC is what I choose for my truck because it is silicate free. I would point out that the Small amount of silicates in the ELC isn't enough to cause an issue like the old green coolant can. Many people have ran many miles on the Ford Gold without issues, I suspect the dose of silicate in the Rotella Ultra is similar to Ford Gold.
Ultra is nitrate free (not silicate free) and not EC-1 rated.
Rotella ELC is EC-1 rated, which includes no silicates.
Ultra sounds like it would be better but I was all over the bottles in my local Tractor Supply store. The ELC is what I choose for my truck because it is silicate free. I would point out that the Small amount of silicates in the ELC isn't enough to cause an issue like the old green coolant can. Many people have ran many miles on the Ford Gold without issues, I suspect the dose of silicate in the Rotella Ultra is similar to Ford Gold.
Senior User
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 107
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I think I've read elsewhere that the drop-out of silicates has some relationship to the duty cycle of the engine. If your engine is prone to high heat from always running loaded or whatever, you're going to suffer silicate drop out if they are present (not good for our oil coolers obviously). If that is the case, probably not a good idea to run Gold or anything close to it. If you just have light duty, then maybe its not an issue. This would also suggest that change frequency is less of an issue than actual type of coolant involved.
This is just from what I've read, and the silicate drop out I've observed from my own engine that is always loaded (in a big RV).
This is just from what I've read, and the silicate drop out I've observed from my own engine that is always loaded (in a big RV).
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