Green to Gold Coolant Conversion

[bpcheramie]

Why are some people doing this? I have seen this more than once and just wanted to know.

Brent

[Ken1]

I have an 01 "X" that OEM had Green coolant that required testing every few months. I changed to Gold in 04 without any problems and does not require any test

Ken

[bpcheramie]

I am new to diesel and do you know where I can find something or a set of instruction on what needs to be done to do the switch?

Brent

[Ken1]

It was listed in the 7.3 mods site.
This is what I recall of my process to flush cooling system

1. Drain fill with tap water and run a warm engine about 5 minutes.
2. Repeat step #1.
3. Drain and fill with distilled water.Run engine for about 5 minutes
4. Repeat step #3
5. Fill with Gold.

Some of the other may have a better recall than I, but search the forum. Smokly had a method posted at one time for change over.

Ken

[Ken1]

I found the old post

Okay, it’s time for me to do what I’ve been telling you to do. Change my coolant to be sure I get out all the green coolant and have nothing in there but gold antifreeze and distilled water when I get done.


Get ready.

Go to the store and buy 4 gallons of Zerex G-05 gold antifreeze. Go to Wal-mart and buy 20 gallons of distilled water. Go to my auto parts store and buy a coolant filter replacement element for my aftermarket coolant filter system.

If you don’t already have a cooling system flush kit installed, then go to almost any auto parts store that sells Prestone antifreeze and buy a Prestone flush kit. It’s only a few bucks.

If you haven’t already done it, then you’ll also need a new lower and upper radiator hose and a new thermostat. I did that last time, so I won’t do it again yet.

Tools needed include:

- a large pair of “water pump” pliers for removing the upper radiator hose from the thermostat housing
- a 3/8th inch rachet with 6” plus 3” extension and an 8mm socket to remove the bolts that hold down the thermostat housing,
- a 5-gallon bucket. If the bucket won’t fit under the radiator pet**** and still have room to open and close the pet****, then I’ll also need a pair of ramps to raise the front of the truck a bit.
- a kiddie wading pool about 4 or 5 feet diameter and several inches deep.
- something to dip the water out of the kiddie pool and into the 5-gallon bucket. Maybe a 2-quart saucepan?
- a garden hose that will reach from the faucet into the engine compartment of your truck.
- a clear glass canning jar or plain water glass
- a funnel for pouring gallon jugs of liquid onto the Degas bottle.
-If you must haul the used antifreeze to somewhere other than your bathroom to pour it down the toilet, then you'll need a bunch of empty one-gallon milk jugs or water jugs. (Most jurisdictions allow you to pour used coolant down the toilet.)


Drain

Remove the radiator cap from the Degas bottle.

Drain the radiator into the 5-gallon bucket. Stop it from draining at about 3 or four gallons and empty the bucket by properly disposing of the used antifreeze. Then finish draining the radiator. You should get a total of about 5 gallons out of the radiator pet****..

If you have one, remove the coolant filter element and dispose of it. If you have a shut-off valve on the coolant line, be sure you leave it open so the lines will flush.

Place the kiddie pool under the front of the truck to catch any leaks and drains.

Remove the upper radiator hose from the thermostat housing (this is a heck of a lot easier said than done!). Remove the thermostat housing. Remove the thermostat. Install the thermostat housing without the thermostat. Install the upper radiator hose.

Install the flush “T” on a heater hose. Connect the garden hose to the “T”.


Flush with tap water.

Turn on the water to a low pressure but enough to run into the system faster than it drains out of the pet****. Too much pressure will damage the heater core. The water will begin draining from the pet****.

Watch the Degas bottle, and as soon as you see water begin to rise into the Degas bottle, crank the engine. Let the engine idle for a couple of minutes, then kill the engine. Turn off the water. Let the water drain from the pet**** (and maybe some from the coolant filter base).

Dispose of the water in your catch basin (kiddie pool) and get ready for another cycle.

Turn on the water and wait until the water begins to rise in the Degas bottle, then crank the engine. Let the engine idle for a couple of minutes, then kill the engine. Turn off the water. Let the water drain from the pet****. As the water drains, catch a glassful and notice the color. If there is even a hint of color in the drain water, we need to flush it again with tap water from the garden hose.

Dispose of the water in your catch basin and get ready for another cycle.

After your drain water is nothing but clear water, then replace the kiddie pool with the 5-gallon bucket. Disconnect the garden hose and close the flush ”T”. Close the pet****. If you have an aftermarket coolant filter, install the new coolant filter element. (If you don't have a coolant filter, now is an excellent time to install one. )


Flush with distilled water

Pour in 4.5 gallons of distilled water. Crank the engine and let it idle for a couple of minutes. Kill the engine and drain the radiator. Don’t try to rush the draining. It will take awhile to drain out all 4.5 gallons you just poured in.

Repeat that last step three more times – until you have poured in, circulated, and drained out a total of 18 gallons of distilled water.


Button it up.

Replace the thermostat, the thermostat housing, and the upper radiator hose. Be sure the thermostat housing bolts are good and snug, and the hose clamp is moved down to it’s original position on the hose. If you dropped a bolt and it disappeared into the bowels of the area around the water pump, then go to the Ford house and buy another one. Expect to pay more than $5 each for those 15 cent bolts. (Don’t ask how I know this. )


Filler up.

Pour in 4 gallons of gold antifreeze. Top off with distilled water. I just barely got the 20th gallon of distilled water open when mine was full. But after driving it to town a couple of times, some of the air bubbled out and it took a bit more. Hang on to that last partial gallon of distilled water for later additions.

Finally, that job is done. And it should now be good for at least 50,000 more miles with no coolant maintenance.

By using all 4 gallons of antifreeze, my concentration is about 57 percent antifreeze. That’s good enough for some very cold country.


Options I didn’t use.

If you remove both block plugs as well as draining the radiator, the tap water flush should not require as many cycles to get all the color out of the system. But that is a PITA, so I didn’t even think about it.

If you replace gold coolant with gold coolant, you would do it the same exact way - except your drain water will have a gold or tan/brown tint instead of a green tint.

If you replace green coolant with green coolant, you would also do it the same way, except at the very end you would add 3 pints of supplemental coolant additive (SCA) right after you poured in the antifreeze - before you topped off with distilled water.

If you want the 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and distilled water most experts recommend, then pour in only 3.5 gallons of antifreeze instead of all 4 gallons. Then fill the half-empty gallon jug of a left-over antifreeze with distilled water, and mark the jug "50/50". Then you’ll have topping-off mixture for future use.

If you replace the top radiator hose, be sure the new one is for trucks with two altenators. Then it will go around the fan belt instead of through it.

[rock_doctor]

[ QUOTE ]
It was listed in the 7.3 mods site.
This is what I recall of my process to flush cooling system

1. Drain fill with tap water and run a warm engine about 5 minutes.
2. Repeat step #1.
3. Drain and fill with distilled water.Run engine for about 5 minutes
4. Repeat step #3
5. Fill with Gold.

Some of the other may have a better recall than I, but search the forum. Smokly had a method posted at one time for change over.

Ken

[/ QUOTE ]

That's good but run the front and rear heat when doing this and repeat step 1 and 2 enough time so there is absolutely no green coolant left (at least 5 to 7 times). If there is even a little left then the green maintained procedures still stand. You will need about 2.5 gal of gold. --> edit:You will need 3.5 gal not 2.5gal...

mark

[Larry M]

[ QUOTE ]
You will need about 2.5 gal of gold.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is excellent advice since with the aux heating you have about 2qts+ more coolant or a little more than the standard cooling systems. I would use at least 2 gal, but not quite 2.5 ... maybe 2.25. Minor differences [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

ON EDIT after pulling my head out of the dark place it was when I posted the above [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] I have no idea where I got those numbers, but normally you need 3.5gal (not 2.5gal) of pure antifreeze which is 14qts and our basic cooling systems hold 28qts. With the aux heater you would be safe to just throw in 4 gal of pure antifreeze which will get you a tad more than a 50-50 mix.

Larry

[bpcheramie]

Ok so I will only need 3 gal and use about 2.25 to 2.25? Have any of you done the coolant filter? Is it worth doing? Dose it help?

Brent

[RoyC]

If I remember correctly, it was 2002 when FMC started using the gold and not all vehicles made in that model year (if 2002 is correct) had the gold. If someone were to check the old posts there were many with owners wanting to switch to the gold BUT many others posted about the lack of compatibility between the older cooling systems and the new gold coolant. You might want to verify that your system can withstand the new gold stuff.

RoyC

[rock_doctor]

Yes very late 01 (02-model year) was the conversion year and it depended on which plant your truck was built in... They did eventually ok all years for conversion to the gold coolant. You can check the 7.3 forum for this information do a search for a list of Smokey's posts. He was the guru for this kind of stuff. I personally do not use the coolant filter but those who have them swear by them so it can't hurt anything. You may want to take a little time and ready LarryM's <font color="blue"> little secrets list. </font> This list probably should be posted at a sticky at the top of the main forum page. It is a must read for all PSD owners.

Good luck,
mark

[Larry M]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok so I will only need 3 gal and use about 2.25 to 2.25? Have any of you done the coolant filter? Is it worth doing? Dose it help?

Brent

[/ QUOTE ]

CORRECTION ... see my edit note on my post above it's fubared on the numbers and I'm glad I caught it and surprised no body else did. With the aux heater with or without a coolant filter I would put 4 gal of pure antifreeze in first which is 16qts and a standard cooling system holds 28qts and say two more qts. for the aux cooling and about 1 qt for a coolant filter which equates to about 30 to 31qts total capacity so 16qts (4 gal) of pure antifreeze will get you real close to the 50-50 mix. I didn't read over the above instructions real close, but you need to add the 4 gal of pure antifreeze in first before topping off with distilled water since unless your pulling block drain plugs and blowing out heater cores you will have a lot of distilled water already in the system.

Boy I hope no body followed my fubared information in my post yesterday.

So Sorry,

Larry

[rock_doctor]

[ QUOTE ]
CORRECTION ... see my edit note on my post above it's fubared on the numbers and I'm glad I caught it and surprised no body else did.... Boy I hope no body followed my fubared information in my post yesterday.
So Sorry,
Larry

[/ QUOTE ]

Not your fault I posted the original wrong amounts. I had meant to post 3.5 gal not 2.5 gal. I am glad you had caught it, I didn't.... You just can't proof read enough times.

Thanks for keeping me honest. My apologies to the group. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

mark

[bpcheramie]

Ok so we need 4 gals to do the job and a but load of Wally water. I am going to do this next weekend. I hope I can get it done without any problems. Anything else I should know before I do this?

Brent

[Larry M]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok so we need 4 gals to do the job and a but load of Wally water. I am going to do this next weekend. I hope I can get it done without any problems. Anything else I should know before I do this?

Brent

[/ QUOTE ]

IMHO the biggest thing is to make sure during the tap water flushes you get every bit of green tint out even if you have to do a couple of extra flushes. It's not hard by any means, but can be time consuming. I planned other stuff during mine like cleaning the interior of the Van, etc. so I didn't have to stand and watch coolant drain for minutes at a time.

Good Luck,

Larry

[bpcheramie]

Hey that sounds like a good plan. I CAN CLEAN OUT THE DIRTY INSIDE!!! Do the windows, clean the carpet, and clean the seats.

Thanks guy for all the help with this.

Brent