Hey guys, my truck has arrived from Canada last week here in UK, and I'm going all over it now.
So I notice that at some point there was a leak around at the thermostat housing.... there a bit out dried out coolant/corrosion around it... No signs of leak at the moment tho.
I want to start a blanc canvas for myself, so will do a coolant flush, change the thermostat housing for a billet riffraff one, new stat and temp sensor.
Should I get involved with the waterpump too? It's a 2002 with 90k miles on it...
Also, here in UK the closest coolant to stock that I can easily find is the Caterpillar CAT-ELC EC-1... anyone has any experience with it?
Many thanks

 

With only 90k on the clock, I would say your water pump has a lot of life left in it. Being so far from parts, it wouldn't hurt to have one on the shelf it funds allow.

 

I would leave the water pump if I were you. Use distilled water during flush and refill if you have minerals in your tap water. I am in well water which is great, but not for the truck.

I used something like 40 gallons total of distilled water when loading up with ELC.

One more word if advice. Be careful with the CAT ELC formulas. Here in the states I went to Caterpillar and bought 4 gallons of EC-1. Turned out it was a formula that was not true EC-1 which us what our trucks call for. They had 3 varieties of EC-1 and I could not get a definitive answer on which was right.

I ended up going with Rotella ELC concentrate and have been good since.

@Shovelheadrob might be able to lend a hand with sourcing certain products. I used to be stationed at RAF Lakenheath just north of Cambridge from 1999-2005, so I understand the problems you might be facing finding the right parts.

 

I'm with Sous and Rider on the water pump. With such low mileage you should be good.

I'm also going to replace my coolant this weekend with Delo ELC, weather permitting. Will be doing the initial flush with tap water and have about 36 gal of distilled water to flush out tap water and refill.

Since I just installed the billet housing and 203 thermostat a couple months ago, I will reuse the thermostat gasket.

If it hasn't been done yet, I would recommend getting the upper radiator hose that goes around the serpentine belt instead of thru it.

 

Tks, mine already has it as it had the dual alternator option from factory.

Cool, that was my feeling too, leave the water pump quiet for now. And tks, will do some more homework on the coolant too. Will get some tech info together from Cat... if I can.

Yeap that's it then!

 

Ok, looks like just found a shop here that sells Motorcraft Gold Coolant VC7D concentrated tho....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251965940950

 

The ELC is a better option than the Gold coolant.

Also, everyone is assuming it is the original water pump, I hope it is. If it is a rebuilt they only last about 3 years. I just put in the Natistar waterpump with
the filter. Also went with the 203 thermostat and billet housing. Figure it will last a long time. Had 2 rebuilts that only lasted 3 years each.

 

I'll be the oddball. Nobody can put a life expencency on an item. Giving that its 18yrs old and only 90k on ur, id go ahead and replace the waterpump. Now, if that route..theres the oem, itnl pump that has the intergrated coolant filter, store auto brand or for me, its Airtex. Got 2 pumps, 1 on each vehicle. One has 8k on her, the other has 200k.
Your replacing everything coolant related, might as well do coolant upper/lower hoses too. That would be a clean slate.

 

Well, yes... I'm also assuming it's a original one... but also agree with @timmyboy76 ... it's a 18yrs old... at least it would be one single big job and coolant system is up to date... OEM or aftermarket water pumps?
Yes I want to insist on the ELC too, just need to clear the water about specs.

 

Bottom line is do what gives you an easy feeling. If thinking about leaving the pump makes you at ease, do that. If replacing the hoses, fittings, thermostat, coolant and pump makes you feel at ease, do that.

When I replaced the pump due to a leak at the weep hole I did all of that. I opted for the International pump from DieselSite because I had just the truck and was unfamiliar with it. Looking back now, I would have pieced it together myself for much less the cost.

Be advised though that the IH pump uses a different size thermostat.

@Nicmike has a great thread on here that lays out everything needed and what needs to be done to the IH pump before mounting it.

If you decide to stick with the OEM pump, Airtex like Timmy mentioned is a good choice.

If you can, get ELC and the upper hose that goes around the belt, you will be glad you did on both accounts.

 

make sure your new thermostat is a motorcraft, they use a diffrentseal then the aftermarket ones such as Stant, its a small detail but many aftermarket thermostats will leak in the OEM waterpump.

 

Thanks for tagging me Sous, I bought the CAT Elc from a local CAT dealer, I still haven't got around to flushing the system before installing it though, probably a job for service time, which is usually November. Where in the UK are you? I'm in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, there's quite a few 7.3's here in the UK.
My truck is also Canadian spec, but was sold brand new here in the UK.

 

Well, I'm a strong believer in do it once, do it right... so I think a new water pump will be on the list just for peace of mind.

Tks for the tip! Luckily got a motorcraft one.

I'm in Guilford/Surrey. I've seen your details, it's well low mileage one! And I thought mine was quite low lol.

 

OK, a fair way away, I have folk in Kent & my father lived near Andover before he passed away. Are you British or Canadian? Not many folk here buy stuff from Canada due to possible corrosion issues, but there are some gems if you search them out.
Mine isn't such a low mileage truck now, coming up to 90k km's now, I use it all the time when I'm not working!
I tend to use Rockauto.com for parts, use the FedEx shipping option to prepay taxes & stuff is here in a couple of days. I also have a good contact for containerised shipping for larger or non urgent stuff.

 

I bet it is too expensive to get many miles (KM) on one there.. What does fuel cost? Here in Tx it is around $2.69 a gallon