Cavitation question (yes, I read the sticky)

[Mad Maxine]

So after reading the article (which was very informative), I'm still wondering about whether to change my coolant and put in the additive. My take-away from it was that if you run a 7.3, you'd better damn well be running additive, and if you're running a 6.9, well, it's probably a good idea but not that critical. The guy I bought the truck from was a dyed-in-the-wool Ford IDI guy, and when I asked him about cavitation, he just sort of grunted and said, "It ain't ever had it. That's a problem with the later engines."
This engine has 250k miles on it, BTW.

Opinions? (yes, I know I've stepped in the middle of it.)

 

[IDIoit]

id bet if you pulled the cylinders out of the block, you would find signs of cavitation.
IMO, its cheap insurance.
every one of my diesels gets peak fleet charge.

 

[BDCarrillo]

Not knowing when the coolant was last changed, I'd assume never. 250k mile old coolnt ain't gonna be working as well as it should, for corrosion protection and heat transfer. Change it, the T-stat, cap, and hoses and you'll KNOW it was done right.

 

[madpogue]

^^^^^ +1; Clint would ask, "Do I feel lucky?".... Cheapest option I found was to use Fleet Charge, which is old-school EG anti-freeze (aka "green") pre-charged with SCA. Just happens to be dyed pink. Order it online for in-store pickup from Advance Auto, use TRT30 discount code, 30% off, aprx. $11 / gallon.

 

[IH444t]

how many gallons of 50/50 do we need for a coolant change?

 

[madpogue]

The whole system takes eight gallons. If you're literally referring to buying 50/50 pre-diluted anti-freeze, you're ripping yourself off. That's just a very expensive way to buy distilled water. And since there's always a little water left in the system after a flush and complete drain-out, if you use the pre-diluted stuff, you'll end up with a slightly weak mix. Just buy a slew of distilled water, so you have some to use for the flush, and four gallons of full-strength anti-freeze.

 

[jaluhn83]

In a 6.9 I wouldn't worry too much about SCAs. Wise to use, since it's cheap and easy, but not at all the end of the world if not. I would be concerned if the coolant hasn't been changed, since old coolant can become corrosion and cause other problems.

The reason it's a problem in the 7.3 is the thin cylinder walls for 2 reasons. Primarily, this allows enough flexing to cause the problem, but also means there's much less metal to eat through. 6.9 has more metal, which means much less flex and thus much less erosion damage, and much greater thickness to have to go through before it becomes a problem.

I would say a 6.9 is going to be 5-10 times as resistant to cavitation than a 7.3, and may not even experience it especially in NA form.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

A completely honest question: Anybody on this forum ever seen a 6.9 with a cylinder eaten up from cavitation? I was always under the impression that this was a 7.3 specific IDI problem. I agree that coolant servicing is a good idea from a corrosion/general cooling system maintenance standpoint, but I was under the impression that SCAs in a 6.9 was a complete non-issue.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

A completely honest question: Anybody on this forum ever seen a 6.9 with a cylinder eaten up from cavitation? I was always under the impression that this was a 7.3 specific IDI problem. I agree that coolant servicing is a good idea from a corrosion/general cooling system maintenance standpoint, but I was under the impression that SCAs in a 6.9 was a complete non-issue.

iv read reports of 6.9l with block worm.all high compression engines (gas and diesel) need some sort of cyl wall protection.it's not 7.3l specific.6.9l's are not exempt.

 

[Wvdirtroad]

FWIW I bought and plan to give CAT's ELC cherry red coolant a go. It has the additive in it and I believe a 7 or 8 year life guarantee.

 

[Black dawg]

A completely honest question: Anybody on this forum ever seen a 6.9 with a cylinder eaten up from cavitation? I was always under the impression that this was a 7.3 specific IDI problem. I agree that coolant servicing is a good idea from a corrosion/general cooling system maintenance standpoint, but I was under the impression that SCAs in a 6.9 was a complete non-issue.

I have seen the cylinders that were cut out of a high mile/beaten on 6.9. There was LOTS of cavatation damage, just nothing clear through. This engine also had the ends of the injector nozzles worn down badly too, who knows what it had been through.

 

[chris142]

Why take the chance? Your probably due for new coolant anyway.either use the correct coolant or add the addative to fresh coolant.