Which coolant to use

[Diesel Max]

I'm not sure where the "can't use Fleetcharge in aluminum" came from but I've been running it with an aluminum radiator and the jug that it comes in says nothing about it not being compatible with aluminum or that its not safe to work with aluminum components or parts.

 

[franklin2]

I'm not sure where the "can't use Fleetcharge in aluminum" came from but I've been running it with an aluminum radiator and the jug that it comes in says nothing about it not being compatible with aluminum or that its not safe to work with aluminum components or parts.

Silicates in the coolant are what protect aluminum in the old green coolant. Old school green coolants that have SCA's cannot have silicates in the formula because it interacts with the SCA's and forms a sludge. The description in the previous post of the fleetcharge components says it's "silicate free".

If they have something in the fleetcharge that replaces the missing silicates to protect aluminum, great. But there answer was not very direct, more like an answer from a politician. If they have something to protect the aluminum in their formula, just state it in plain english.

 

[Worstenemy453]

I went to my local international dealership and bought their heavy duty straight coolant and mixed it. 4 gallons of stragiht coolant for $20 bucks because it was on sale.

 

[rhkcommander]

I won't use any kind of coolant that is OAT based (which is most of the ELC's)

why not? I've got a coolant filter but haven't installed it yet.

 

[Agnem]

Organic ACID technology. Just don't like the sound of that. Who knows what it will eat. Seriously, who knows if after using that for a few years, you loose an oil cooler O-ring and don't know if it was time for it to go, or if you just accelerated the process with OAT.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

why not? I've got a coolant filter but haven't installed it yet.

If ya haven't had the opportunity to dig into an engine that has used the OAT based coolant I encourage ya to do so.

What you will find inside to cooling system will make you........

 

[rhkcommander]

I'll have to look into it I guess. I've read alot about the debate on which coolant to use but heard many using the Cat/rotella ELC were doing just fine so I dont know . Its working fine for me but if something goes wrong with it I'll come back with the results at least

 

[RLDSL]

If ya haven't had the opportunity to dig into an engine that has used the OAT based coolant I encourage ya to do so.

What you will find inside to cooling system will make you........

That's the truth. Also do a search on class action suits and Dexcool and you'll find where GM finally admitted that they knew the stuff was garbage and was eating up people's engines and head gaskets.
Back when I had my shop , I can't count the amount of damage that I had to repair that was caused by that garbage. It would turn a cooling system to rust soup in short order, and the worst part is it did the MOST damage in the very vehicles that it was designed for . However when GM admitted to knowint, they only partially admittid guilt while agreeing to pay the claims,, they still tried to claim that it was something else causing the problem,but the fact remains that the damage all occoured while Dexcool was in the engines.

An engine that has had that in it will require all hoses replaced after repeted flushes and be lucky if the heater core, rad and other parts have not worn too thin to be servicable

There are a few other OAT type coolants that are not the Dexcool formula, but they are only to be used in certain engines, and the jury is still out on them.

 

[RLDSL]

Take your clutch fan and lock it together. I highly recommend it. I am happy with mine since I did it. I like the simplicity of it also.

What's the trick on that. I'm going to have to send my fan clutch in for warranty replacement and in the mean time I should have an old near dead one around here somewhere I can pop on there to drive around with. Might as well lock that thing up and if they try to screw on the warranty on the current one, I'll just leave it on there.

 

[Agnem]

Not related, but I had to laugh the other day when Toyota announced their latest recal on their braking systems. They said the failure was due to people not using "Toyota brake fluid". The first thought in my mind was, these are all new cars under 5 years old right? Wouldn't they more than likely still have the factory brake fluid in them? Sorry for the hijack. Just had to vent.

 

[icanfixall]

Robert... The fan clutch has that spring thingy on the front of it. Remove it and turn the blade till the fan locks up. I don't know which direction you turn the screw but I think typ4 does. I know you will feel it lock up going the correct direction. You can also heat up the spring and figure out which way it works. I remember russ modifying his to lock up at a lower temp too. Ithink he made the spring bend earlier. Kinda like shortening the spring bend. I'm not sure how much heat is needed to modify a spring. I do know that the MS Tech fans are nothing but a new Ford clutch thats had this spring "fixed" in this manner. So if they can do it I feel you or I could do it... Glad you got home safely to.

 

[RLDSL]

Not related, but I had to laugh the other day when Toyota announced their latest recal on their braking systems. They said the failure was due to people not using "Toyota brake fluid". The first thought in my mind was, these are all new cars under 5 years old right? Wouldn't they more than likely still have the factory brake fluid in them? Sorry for the hijack. Just had to vent.

Especially when you consider most if not all their dealers over that time span have included free scheduled service during warranty period, which would mean that their own mechanics were the ones to put the supposed *non toyota* brake fluid in but how many 5 and less year old cars have you seen that need to have brake fluid added during regular service if there is not a problem? the reservoirs are designed to hold enough fluid to remain in the safe zone for the life span of the brake pads ( although fluid should be changed every 2 years, only European car manufacturers reccomend this as regular service, all the others would rather see you rust out calipers )

 

[RLDSL]

Robert... The fan clutch has that spring thingy on the front of it. Remove it and turn the blade till the fan locks up. I don't know which direction you turn the screw but I think typ4 does. I know you will feel it lock up going the correct direction. You can also heat up the spring and figure out which way it works. I remember russ modifying his to lock up at a lower temp too. Ithink he made the spring bend earlier. Kinda like shortening the spring bend. I'm not sure how much heat is needed to modify a spring. I do know that the MS Tech fans are nothing but a new Ford clutch thats had this spring "fixed" in this manner. So if they can do it I feel you or I could do it... Glad you got home safely to.

Time to go diving for fan clutches. I know there's at least one out in the junk parts pile waiting to get hauled off to the scrap metal yard. I know my junk one leaked out oil, so tightening the spring wouldn't help that one, I'd need to physically crank it down ( either that or replace the oil)

 

[plywood]

You know, on the Coolant issue I'm a little frustrated.

I just had to replace my water pump, by the way got one from International for $52,00, looks like the one that is $144.00 at Napa but who knows, might be the same one Ford wanted $92-$110 for depending on which dealer I called.

Anyway, when I filled my system I used FleetCHARGE with Penray SCA since I planned on one day installing a filtration system with the Penray "need release" filter that adds SCAs as needed. Since the parts guys I lucked with were all idiots I just got gave up on the filter cause I needed to get it back together.

What bothers me is it looks like the Penray "release filters" are for the ELC coolant, not the FleetCHARGE. It would take a freaky genius to develop the chemical formulas in the products they sell so lets hope there isn't a understanding disconnect between them and the people making the website, actually, maybe I should hope that is the problem.

In any case, if you look closely at there SCA additive chart, they don't appear to offer a "need release" filter that is "really" for our vehicles, but what they do have hiding in there is an SCA (I think it was 3500) that is for small diesels that are not wet sleeve. It looks to be a high nitrate formula which FleetCHARGE claims to be so I think If I install a filter it will be no SCA and I will just add that particular SCA. My understanding of this whole thing is that for our trucks, well at least the 7.3, that the cavitation protection is first and foremost and that oil seal failure might be second, but in any case I want the Nitrite for cavitation protection.

Oh yeah, and my low/high beam switch went out yesterday at about 5:30 in the morning and left me with no lights at all. AAAArgh.

 

[franklin2]

What's the trick on that. I'm going to have to send my fan clutch in for warranty replacement and in the mean time I should have an old near dead one around here somewhere

Here's the way I locked mine. This way of locking it to the pulley, eliminates the possiblity of the fan unscrewing off the shaft when you stop the engine.

I like it because when puttering around below 2000 rpm in 5th, I don't hear any fan noise at all like I expected. Only when you are over 2000 do you here it roaring a little bit, which should work well when pulling a heavy load in 3rd and 4th gears.

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