Coolant leak & advice

[RSG]

Antonio
Yes they added a pint and I plan to test it this weekend to confirm it is ok (Got new test strips last week in Indy that got this whole thing started!!)

Dennis,
thank you for that info on coolant. I really do believe it was always the green stuff, and it for sure needed to be changed out if nothing else, just to reduce the sand load in there. Manual says change at 40k and I'm at 58k.

Thanks again for your help, Rich

 

[roosterdiesel]

Antonio
Yes they added a pint and I plan to test it this weekend to confirm it is ok (Got new test strips last week in Indy that got this whole thing started!!)

From my understanding you are suppose to add 3 pints of SCAs after a complete flush.

 

[kieran]

Hey y'all, some questions for consideration:

My truck ('02 PSD CC 4wd) got 20+mpg on a run to Illinois last week, and I was happy to stop by Indy and pickup a 6-pack of fuel filters from the Wabash shop, and a shiny new spare CMP). I also picked up some coolant test strips, and upon returning home crawled under to a) loosen the CMP bolt, b) get some coolant from the radiator drain and c) admire the view.

I noticed a big drop of coolant hanging off the bottom pulley and more up above it. The coolant SCA(?) checked out at around 2.1 which means add more additive (added 1 pint last month). I'm thinking with 58k miles on original (green) coolant that it is long overdue for a change (bought it used, assuming it wasn't changed).

Sorry for the long wind , here's the q's:
1. should I worry 'bout that leak, and if so, advice on diagnosing (water pump I assume...is that a warranty item?). Replacing all that coolant just to tear into a water pump seems short-sighted, eh? OEM vs other water pumps, advice?

2. would you go with more green coolant, or swap to yellow, or other?

3. after this long period (58k over 4 yr) is it still advisable to put on a coolant filter?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas. Appreciate it!

Had heck of time figuring out about the additive because no one wants to tell the story or just doesn't know
1Have no idea on leak
2.Can't recall the numbers on the test strip but between 1.8 and 2.5 seem OK.
3. According to book and my research at Briattan intl does these motors
after 15k check additive,at 30 k change antifreeze and add 4 bottles of additive. Ford bottle says 2 bottles but that is at 15k and no change.

 

[bartman]

I'm glad your warranty covered it. My brother and I just swapped out his water pump last week. He was out of warranty and he was quoted $600 or so over the phone by a local dealer.

On a side note, I was under my truck this weekend and I noticed I have the same spot on my crank pulley as you did. Looks like I'll be swapping out my WP over Thanksgiving. Nothing like two WP's in two weeks.

 

[RSG]

Hey all,
Yeah I'm feelin' pretty lucky 'bout now with the warranty. 2 WP's in as many weeks is at least 1 more than I would want to stomach for cost and knuckle skin....it's cooling down a tad here...

Regarding the "strips" and how much additive is needed...the dealer didn't indicate how much they added so I added 1 pint and tested and I was "in the green" on the test strip chart for SCA. Don't recall the number but it was on the inside of the border.

I figure to need more soon, and I had to add 1/2 gal more (green) coolant after I put on the coolant filter, swapped the t-stat, and burped it. Just haven't re-tested yet. I'm not in a rush since there can be either too much or too little additive and I'm not running it hard these days.

My only problem with the bloody "strips" is reading the colors. I've got my non-color blind wife for that though. She assures me I (was) on the right side of the line...thanks again to all your help.