Oil Change

[70Post455]

I just purchased a 1987 Diesel this week and I am starting to do some maintenance on this pickup.
I am going to change the oil this weekend and I was wondering if anyone uses synthetic oil? and if you do what weight? 15-40?
I have a friend who swears by it on his 1999 PSD with 540k miles on the clock.

Also I did stop at our local ford dealership to see if they have the coolant test strips to check my coolant but they did not.
I will have to drive 40 miles up the road to get to a International dealer to buy the test strips and also the fleetguard antifreeze if I need it.

Does anyone know if Ford or NAPA have the correct coolant?

The radiator is new and the coolant in the radiator looks to be a red in color to me, but I have not actually removed any to see. The previous owner might have the correct coolant in there now, but I need to test and see.

TIA,
Tom

 

[argve]

Congrats on the new to you truck.

Ok first you will need 3 gallons of oil - yes syn oils work well - I ran both in my IDI and I loved the syn oils - dropped my wear levels considerably on both my IDI and my Cummins.

I assume Ford carries a diesel rated coolant but can't say for sure but Napa does - Napa also carries the test strips and the Diesel Coolant Additive (DCA) but it's different than what you will get from the International dealer and the test strips won't interchange - but typically the one from Fleetguard (DCA4) is the most common (you can get this at the international dealer).

 

[Diesel JD]

If its an 87, its probably a 6.9, which means much less worry about cavitation, but you should still use either a low silicate green coolant with DCA(DCA2 like NAPA kool, or CAT SCA) or a diesel rated ELC precharged conventional coolant with DCA4 or VC8. Since you have that red coolant, there's a really good chance its either CAT ELC Fleetguard SCA or something similar. Go down to NAPA and get the NAPA Kool test strips...they're pretty cheap...they test for pH, freeze point and nitrite level(nitrite is one of your SCAs, molydbate is the other one. ) I would(especially with a 6.9) check your nitrite level and if it was good, assume that the SCA level was okay as well. Good luck with your new purchase.

 

[smokin69]

If you wanted you could change out the coolant and put in the gold coolant that Ford puts in the Powerstokes and that stuff is precharged with SCA. I perfer Delo 15w-40 for oil.

 

[tonkadoctor]

I run synthetic in my diesels now and won't go back to dino. I run 5w-40 Rotella, you can get it at Walmart for about $16 gallon.

I find that my trucks start noticably better in cold weather with the synthetic.

I also run Fram Tough Guard oil filters and will try the extended guard filter on the next change. Both of these filters have synthetic media in them. With the tough guard my oil still looked new after 3000 miles.

 

[[email protected]]

I run synthetic in all my engines now. In my diesels, including my 88 7.3 I use John Deere Plus 50, 0W-40 oil. It's about the same price as other sythetics, and it's designed for diesel engines. Details are at

http://www.deere.com/en_US/parts/partsinfo/oils_and_lubricants/oil_0w40.html

John Deere (and I'm sure other tractor dealers) sell precharged low silicate antifreeze cooland and the test strips.

Wayne

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

actually the gold is not recomended for any system with copper or brass, at least that is what i have been told on the psds, the early ones with green antifreeze, have brass injector sleeves, and the later that have gold antifreeze have stainless.
ford has the green AF and additive, and napa aslo has it too.

 

[sle2115]

Or you can go to Tractor Supply and get Fleet Charge which is pre-SCA charged. I have been running it in my truck for the two years I have owned it with good results.

 

[70Post455]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to go with a synthetic on my next oil change.
Also Diesel JD the motor is a 6.9, however I just bought it and the previous owner just had the motor rebuilt. I am not sure how much he had it bored, but becasue of the fact that it was I am sure my cylinder walls are not as thick, and may be a little closer to a 7.3 thickness now.
The anitfreeze currently in the truck is red, so I am trying to get in touch with the gent I bought the truck from to see if he can tell me what brand of antifreeze he is/was using. I am going to stop at our local CAT dealership and pic up a gallon of CAT ELC for now.
My radiator is a little low because he claimed that the lower radiator hose had a leak, however I have not noticed it yet, but what little I have driven the pickup so far I have been smelling antifreeze in the cab, so I am guessing the heater core might need replaced. I was going to add a little of the CAT ELC to the radiator to fill it back up, but I am not sure if that would be a good idea since I am not 100% sure what is in the rad now.

 

[smokin69]

I would say that may not be a good idea because it could gel up in your system and create lots of problems.

 

[70Post455]

I finally called an was able to get in touch with the gentelman I bought my 87F250 6.9 from. I asked him what brand of antifreeze he was using in the radiator and he said he always used CAT ELC.
I bought a couple of gallons today since my radiator needs to be topped off. I think my heater core needs changed so the radiator is down just a bit.

I did read the CAT Extended Life Coolant gallon jug, and they claim you can add CAT ELC extender at half life of the coolant. I know I have heard about VC-8 from Ford, is the CAT ELC Extender the same thing?
The owner I bought it from thought it was time to charge up the system.
Thanks again for all the help. I am wanting to make sure I get this all down pat for when I start to work on all the fluids in the truck next week. I will then start to drive it, and not just let it sit in the driveway.

Also I am a little amazed at how little the NAPA salesman and the CAT salesman new about any of this stuff. I asked them both for the test strips and the both looked at me like I was mental. The CAT salesman is going to check into it for me on Monday.

TIA,
Tom

 

[Mr_Roboto]

The ELC's I've used you recharged at 175,000 miles. You may have a ways to go........

I'm not surprised the Cat dealer doesn't know about the test strips, since you don't need to check the ELC's like you do regular coolant.

 

[Diesel JD]

Is it 175000 or 300,000 miles that the CAT ELC needs recharging. I haven't yet been disappointed with the ELC. It will protect you from cavitation and all the worries associated with diluting coolant with water and such. The bad thing is that it's expensive, just like a lot of other things CAT sells, but it sure does its job. The ELC has both SCA additives and uses orgainic acid technology to make it last a LONG time. Ad far as having the motor bored, you'd have to go about .110" before you were close to a 7.3 from what I read. Your standard .020 or .030 or even .040 overbore is probably not getting you anywhere close to getting the big C