Coolant leak & advice

[RSG]

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!

 

[roosterdiesel]

Hmmmm...I thought that '02s came with Gold ELC.


If it is your water pump, warranty covers it.


Yes do the coolant filter! Never too late for that, Internationals water pump has a coolant filter head built into it.


I personally switched from green with SCA's to Fleetrite HD ELC, meets NAV-1 spec which the T-444E takes.

 

[HDP]

if it is green then it has been changed. 02's came with gold. i would consider swapping a 203* thermostat while you are at it. i saw a slight mileage gain from it.

 

[RSG]

It is GREEN coolant for sure, with sand in the drain at no extra charge! Guess I'll give the dealer a shot at diagnosis for the water pump, and go from there. Definitely like the t-stat and you've convinced me of the filter assuming it will shoehorn in next to that big box the aFe intake created!

The dealer is going to give me duf over the green vs gold. Where can I get "proof" it should be gold? The manual describes both in the Diesel supplement, so I'm not convinced all '02s had the Gold?

 

[bushpilot]

should be interesting to see if youre dealer trys to charge you for
the water pump...certainly theyll nail you on the coolant price...get
it agreed upon upfront that its covered under warrenty.

last time i went to a dealer for a water pump they wanted over 400
bucks & that was parts & labor (no fluid)...on my 5.0l gas f150

 

[RSG]

Yeah, you are making me even more skeptical. I recall they tried to get me for over $1k on "warped rotors" that need to be regularly cleaned up gunk. Cost me more than I want to remember to just put it back and give it back! Don't generally use the dealer anymore...This will cost me $100 if warranty plus the wrangling over the color issue.

I guess that it is an hour of charge time to get to the water pump? Does the grill gotta come off?

 

[bushpilot]

the grill pops off, 4 screws and 3 or 4 spring clips, dont know that you
need to remove it though (ive not done a water pump on my diesel, yet).

one of my dealers in virginia (lived there last year) wanted 175bucks to
turn the rotors (on the truck)...and wouldnt do it under 3/26...i laughed
said i could BUY new rotors for that and still have money left for beer.

other dealer in my old area was charging 95 bucks per oil/filter change !

 

[RSG]

Story end...it *was* the water pump and so the pump + (green) coolant change cost me $100. I priced the pump last night alone at around $250 and with coolant at $8/gal that works out to about a $200 savings and no labor on my part.

On the Green/Gold question, they argued that '02 7.3L only had green and 6L had gold. Well, call me dumb but I didn't know there was a 6L in '02, and anyway, I felt lucky to get out of there at all with a C-note. If this gets me down the road another 60k miles, what they hey.

Now, to find me that 203F t-stat mentioned, and the coolant filter. Any pointers? Thanks for your help, 'preciate it very much.

 

[roosterdiesel]

Wow...obviously that dealership doesn't work on many PSDs!


One question, did they add the SCAs to the coolant and test the level to make sure it's not under- or overdosed?

 

[dpantazis]

Some 2002's had GREEN coolant. Some have GOLD. the switchover was not EXACTLY at 2002 models. this is probably the second most discussed topic over oil. there was an engine number that was the divider, i cant find it right now.

from the info i have gathered, if it had green, stay green. if it had gold, stay gold. if you switch, be warned.

Gooch is the resident coolant expert over 'there'. here is a snippet of advice that he gave-

"if you're going by what "Ford says", then you might want to look at official information published by Ford. TSB 1-23-06, an active, current, and non-superceded TSB, clearly says to use the type of coolant that came with your vehicle. I see no problem with using a non-Ford specified coolant in your late '99 like the Gold. But if you're going to do that, I would recommend using the best you can, like a Heavy Duty ELC. Of course the choice is yours."

dennis