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Green coolant, your experiences?

11K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  madcat6183 
#1 ·
Long short of it, had some work done by the shop by work vs. Ford as it was way cheaper. Well you get what you pay for I guess in my case. Had a great experience last time but maybe not this time.
They did a full flush and fill except looks like they used plain green coolant. It's definitely bright green and fresh.
I have been reading, watching videos, and everything I can and having come from a 6.0 I know this can be bad news, especially in that truck. Thing is all I keep seeing on the 6.4 is people saying don't run it for long periods, don't run it because it was bad for the 6.0, don't run it because it MAY mess up your water pump or front cover, but no one has posted anything that proves any of it. I can't find a single post here or any other forum that has first hand knowledge of any issues on our trucks.
Now I don't plan to run it long because I do know it has to be monitored SCA added etc but I also don't think I want to run out and have it swapped right away.
Thoughts? And you can flame, that's fine but I am really only looking for first hand experience with bad news. There are also many people who said they run green and always have...
 
#2 ·
Phosphates and silicates are what set Orange and green apart from red. The silicates will collect together, coagulate (bond), and fall... Or worse yet, be extracted in the passeges of your oil cooler. Hence, silicate based coolant = bad for these rigs.

There are also other characteristics of different types coolants that set them apart.. Inez believe it or not, is electrical transference- where you don't want a conductive fluid because it could carry charge, which seeks out unbonded metals and eats them, or, joins them... Guess which coolant conducts electricity? Green and orange.

The silicates will suspend so long as the coolant is maintained, but the issue is it doesn't wear on a linear scale, but exponentially once it passes a certain point... One day you may test your coolant and it be fine, and three hundred miles later it falls and fails, and takes your oil cooler and front cover out wit it...

Worth the wager? I dunno.. it's your money, so... I'm in.. :)
 
#3 ·
That's pretty much what I've been reading. I planned on getting it swapped in a week or few when I get a weekday with some time. Guess we'll play the game until then. Kinda like the Saw mask "let's play a game".....
 
#4 ·
Well, fwiw, I had a mopar small block some years back that I flip flopped around rebuilding before I finally did it. It ran Orange coolant after having the green flushed at about 20k miles... Long story why that I'll spare you. Something would fail on it, be it a lifter here or there, or a water pump, ect, and idckick the can down the road instead of do what needed to be done... At about 150k I pulled the intake to fix another plenum leak, and tested The coolant.. it looked fine and tested fine... At about 180k I blew out a lifter, and figured it was time to freshen the whole engine- bored, stroked, new heads, headers, intake manifold... Pretty much everything.. in those 30k miles, never noticing a spike in temp or anything, the coolant failed.

What was pristine coolant had ate the metal, leaving everything it had touched rusted... The water pump impeller had corroded to where it was hardly there, but running an electric fan on it without the heavy clutch fan dangling off the front ofcthecpump shaft, it never made a peep.. The soft hoses were gone, looking fine from the outside, but pitted and soft inside... The radiator wouldn't come clean no matter how much flushing or what I used for flushing... Heater core, same thing..All because I figured I could get a few more miles out of it.

When it starts to fail you're only a few heating cycles from a corrosive mix. The corrosive mix attacks metals and becomes more corrosive, and conductive of electricity, which makes it happen faster than you'd ever believe. It's good when it's good, and other than silicates trapping in your oil cooler would be fine, but when it spoils? ...... Not a good thing.
 
#5 ·
I would just check with the shop to see what kind of coolant it is. At work we get a cat coolant that is green. I've never looked at the ratings on it but it is what we use in all our heavy duty diesel motors at work.
 
#6 ·
I would rather throw gold back in over green ANYDAY... I am a simpleton when it comes to coolant... I don't understand what is what. But I know what I have seen. Orange and green DESTROY our cooling systems. The best thing you can ever do for a powerstroke is run an elc coolant... Cat elc ftw
 
#9 ·
Called the shop, said it's 100% universal and they have been putting it in diesels since they opened with no reports of any issues.

Everything posted above is what I pretty much already read and knew. But I still don't see any first hand experiences with the 6.4 suffering. I know a vast majority of owners are NOT on the Forums, but not even a single one.

Going to get it flushed next week anyways by Ford and see what they say.
 
#11 ·
I know, I chuckled when he said that.
 
#13 ·
Snippet:

"...... Automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) now recommend the use of either a hybrid coolant or a full carboxylate ELC. Conventional, standard green coolants are absent from this picture. Heavy-duty diesel OEM recommendations have a wide array of possibilities. In the industrial sector, some OEMs require the use of silicated coolant, while others require silicate-free for heat transfer concerns. Similarly, some require phosphate-free to avoid hard water scale deposits. This scale tends to form deposits on the hottest part of the engine, which reduces heat transfer and can potentially induce corrosion. Finally, some OEMs require the use of nitrites to protect against cavitation, while others have no such requirement. Because the phenomenon of cylinder liner cavitation is design specific, all engines are not affected in the same way. It is important to understand the needs of specific equipment......."

From Learning Coolant Fundamentals
 
#15 ·
Monday 7:30am flush/fill at Ford. I figure since I have an extended warranty I might as well follow with Ford service to keep it in tact in case anything does go wrong. Plus it's going to be "spec" stuff.

The diesel tech, who the guy was talking to did say that the green universal is fine if you keep an eye on it, but once it goes, like stated above, it's done and can go real fast and real bad.

I'll have about 1,500 on the green stuff and am not too worried honestly once Monday is over.
 
#16 ·
Gold G05 can go fast also

I prefer a coolant that does not chit semi solids when it expires

the ( universal ) Green stuff would just scare the hell out of me
I have 4 vehicles only the Lexux and Toyota share coolant LOL

well I have 4 pwc's that use the same coolant

lake water
 
#17 ·
Yeah, I'll be glad either way. But it's all been very interesting.
 
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#18 ·
Bumping this, went to get in my truck after work, coolant dripping from the front of the engine, guessing where the water pump is.

Tried to search, my POS laptop won't work right at all today so didnt find any good info on water pump replacement. It's covered under my warranty, well should be, but question is how long of a job is it? I need to know if I need a rental car as the wife is 8 months pregger and about to burst with twins.

Leak was dripping slowing from the low point on the front of the block looking up, behind the fan, but coming from what I assume is the water pump/front cover/front cover seal.

Seals and gaskets are also supposed to be covered if they are part of a warranted part.

Since I just had the flush done on Monday of last week at the dealership where I just left my truck, think this is something that should/could have been caught when the pressure tested it etc?

I did tow my TH this weekend but only 40 miles and mostly unloaded, maybe 12,000lbs max.

Thanks!
 
#19 ·
Could be a radiator hose fitting.
 
#20 ·
Already replaced those. Tech said he thinks it's the water pump or seal. Won't have time to tear it down until Tuesday but said keep an eye on coolant and drive it. Was 16oz low tonight so will keep adding water for the next 2 days then be done and get a rental. Only driving 5 miles each way so should be fine unless it goes completely.
 
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