Coolant and Coolant Filter ???s

[bfrank81]

OK so I was reading through the other active coolant post on here and I have some questions. Since that is up to 3 pages already I do not want to hi-jack that thread so I start my own.

So here's the situation: I have a '05 w/ just under 30K I bought it with 26K so not sure all of the details on maintenance on it and we are leaving for Daytona Beach (~2,000 miles round trip) in a couple weeks trailering 2 touring bikes in an enclosed MC trailer. I have a coolant filter on the way from FCDP and my hope is to install that this weekend. There is a good chance that the coolant is original to the truck. I know many say to dump the MC gold and go with a good ELC.

So I called a mechanic local that I trust to find out how much that would cost me. He is not a huge fan of the PSD but I trust his opinion and knowledge, well kinda trust but verify. He says that when you change the coolant in a truck it can take up to 10K miles for it to become protective of corrosion again. He asked me what the coolant reservoir looked like and I said it looks gold. He said leave it put the filter on and top off if needed.

Before I spoke with him I thought I would flush it out and replace it w/ ELC and then put the filter in to get a good cleaning.

Thoughts...? Thanks for your time!

[PGreenSVT]

Don't listen to him. If he isn't a fan of the PSD that's not who I'd be going to for advice. That Gold crap is what is clogging up our oil coolers due to the silicates it contains. Flush your cooling system and refill with ELC. You may want to ask Shawn (Eagle Eye) about going through 3 oil coolers WITH a coolant filter on board. A coolant filter is a great idea but it is not the solution. Eliminating the silicates from the coolant in the first place is what needs to be done. That's not rocket science, it's common sense.

[roadrunner]

there is truth in what your mechanic is telling you. one draw-back of any elc coolant is it can take atleast 5,000mi. to gain a protective layer in your engine. the advantage of a high quality low silicate heavy-duty coolant is the protection level is immediate.

with the age of your truck ('05) i would drain/flush, then install coolant filter. original owners manual recommendation is 5 yr./105,000mi., and you are at 5 years.

if you're not a fan of motorcraft gold, there are low silicate heavy duty coolants available, along with many elc's. i have been using john deere cool gard for almost a year now (22,500mi.) with zero issues, eot/ect temp has never been more that 10f. i have 112,500mi. total on my 07.

the problem with gold (my personal opinion) is it can't handle the high egr cooler temps, which in turn is causing the silicate drop-out. the casting sand issue seems to be confined to 03/04 model years. when the 6.0 was introduced many owners were running hot tunes, which were causing very hot exaust gasses, hotter than the egr cooler could handle, causing puking and everything else related, nothing good.

[bfrank81]

What are the chances that the dealership will put in the coolant of my choice?

[War Eagle B]

Originally Posted by bfrank81

What are the chances that the dealership will put in the coolant of my choice?

Have never asked but probably none. They will want to use the Ford spec coolant. If they service manager puts in Ford coolant and something happens then it is Ford's fault, if he puts in anything other than the recommended then it becomes his fault. Hard to blame them.

Of course if the dealership service manager is your buddy and you get all your service done there he may be willing to try it.

[bfrank81]

yea that was my thoughts also. I wonder if the truck is no longer under warranty if that would change things.

[bfrank81]

Originally Posted by PGreenSVT

That Gold crap is what is clogging up our oil coolers due to the silicates it contains.

These silicates will not be filtered out by the newly installed coolant filter?

[bfrank81]

Interesting... Called the dealer the service planner said they would put in whatever I brought. The recommend only MC Gold but they would do it. So I asked how much to bring they are going to do a flush and she said 2 gallons. I have an International Dealer right down from my house so I was thinking about going there to get the coolant. What kind do I need to buy? I'm thinking if I can get a coolant that is a different color that would be great because then I could see that actually changed it.

[bfrank81]

I think I exceeded my allotment of dumb questions for the day yesterday.

When I got to International what type and how much coolant should I be asking for? Or am I better off just going to WalMart and if so what type and how much should I get.

I'm thinking I should get the pre-mixed because I doubt they will use anything but tap water.

[pizza pig]

the dealer said to bring 2 gallons? Red flag right there, that is not nearly enough to fill a powerstrokes cooling system. I would just do it yourself it really isnt that hard at all to do. any monkey with a wrench can do it. just unplugging things and draining the fluids out. PM me any ill help you out