What coolant additive to use - Diesel Forum

bier-man · 11-07-2009, 07:48 PM

I had to replace my water pump and the shop I had do it added a conditioner, but I was concerned and went to find test strips to test it. None of the auto parts stores knew anything about it. Went to the local Coop and they tested it, but only showed PH, Alkalinity, and freeze protection. Finally went to the dealer and bought their test strips. Test showed additive was low, so added a bottle of Ford additive from the dealer. Drove for awhile and tested again and it showed about 2.7 as far as I could tell.

Is it that different than any other diesel that noone knows about this additive? Are there other brands out there that I can use?

klutz1 · 11-07-2009, 09:03 PM

There is a myraid amount of info and posts concerning Antifreeze and additives on this forumn. Do a search. I have a 2000 F250 7.3 too and about to flush and replace my antifreeze. Your question......" different than any other diesel that noone knows about this additive? Are there other brands out...." Are you asking what additive was added after the pump was replaced? From the reading you got from the CoOp it sounds like they added nothing if they tested it right. The reading you got when you did it yourself seems correct. I am assuming that your coolant is the green stuff.

FleetMan · 11-07-2009, 09:18 PM

Look up coolant posts and Gooch and you will get more information than you can process in a week.

**SmokeyWren** · 11-08-2009, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bier-man

Is it that different than any other diesel that noone knows about this additive?

The last Ford diesel that used green coolant with supplemental coolant additive (SCA) was the 2001. Nine years ago. A tiny few early 2002s assembled in Mexico also used the green coolant. And a lot of folks with '99-'01 PowerStrokes have changed to the maintenance-free gold coolant that Ford now says is okay to use in our '99-up 7.3Ls. So the younger guys in the auto parts stores may not have heard of SCA.

Quote:

Are there other brands out there that I can use?

The Motorcraft SCA is actually Fleetguard DCA4 wrapped up in a Motorcraft bottle. You can buy Fleetguard DCA4 at most International truck or Cummins engine dealers, or at some big-truck parts stores, and at some of our sponsors. Here's one:
DieselManor - Cooling System Products
Notice Diesel Manor sells the test strips in a 4-pack, as well as the DCA4 in pints. Read the Motorcraft SCA bottle carefully, and you'll notice they specify the Fleetguard 3-way coolant test strips that Diesel Manor sells.