Rookie test strips question - cavitation

[NorthwoodsCrew]

I read Eric's article and was well educated on the cavitation issue as a result. Thanks Eric! I'm looking at an 89' E350 RV with a 7.3 IDI (130,000 miles). Traveling out of state to go look at it. The dealer doesn't have maintenance records so I'm going armed with test strips. I was able to pick up some from NAPA (Wix Filtration Systems), but I've read here that the test strips you use should correspond to the coolant in the engine. The trouble is, I don't know what type of coolant is installed. Will these test strips I've got from NAPA still give me an adequate reading if the engine has the Ford type coolant? Or is it imperative to get different strips for the different coolant just in case?

Any other tips as I check this vehicle out?

Thanks!

 

[yARIC008]

You're fine. There are a couple different SCAs out there and they basically all contain Nitrites along with other stuff. Napa test strips only test for nitrites I believe because that's all napakool uses. So, if you detect nitrites on your test strips you know you have at least something, what exactly it is isn't that critical because all SCAs provide protection.

If you detect no nitrites, then you have a problem.

If you buy it you should just go ahead and flush the coolant and start fresh anyways so you know what you're playing with.

Goodluck.

 

[NorthwoodsCrew]

Thanks Eric. I really appreciate the help. The confidence level is rising.

NWC