Old 7.3 IDI Ford/IH/Navistar owners chime in!

[bullwinkle]

How many of you guys have used ELC or some other 2-EHA coolant in your older (non-Powerstroke) 6.9 or 7.3 diesel-and had no trouble using it? My '89 is too old to be recommended for G-05, and I'm thinking about losing the green/DCA-2 combo.

 

[440Magnum]

Just use G-05. No reason not to use it, and a number of positive reasons to choose it- it has no 2EHA to dissolve gaskets, some silicates for protection of all metals. Really no downside that I can see. I consider it a much safer than 2EHA or P-OATS (Asian vehicle coolants) for engines that originally called for inorganic technology coolants. And besides, you'd get commonality with your Cummins.

Heck, I'd use it in your GM 6.2 and Benz also.

 

[bullwinkle]

Yeah, actually G-05 has been in the 300D since I bought it (over 5 yrs. now), I've read about compatibility problems with ELC/Dexcool/2-EHA AF, mainly oil cooler o-rings, would love to run G-05 in it since it (AFAIK) doesn't require SCAs (at least the '04 6.0 has never had any so far)-just not sure about gasket compatibility on a pre-'99 motor.

 

[roadrunner1]

i have an '89 & '90, they have had john deere coolgard (which is compatitable with G0-5)in them for years with no issues whatsoever

 

[440Magnum]

I wouldn't say its an absolute, but I've heard of zero compatibility issues with G-05. Not having 2-EHA gets rid of most, if not all, of those issues.

 

[Dualie]

As cavitation prone as these things are even with the proper amount of SCA and low silicate coolants and the greatest of care, i wouldn't chance it.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Just stick with green and the additive. If you had a 6.9L I would say use G-05 but the 7.3L usually cannot make 150k if it did not have the additive. What blows my mind is why SCA's are not mentioned in fords 7.3L diesel owners manual suppliment.

The cavitation problems are so severe I would not chance G-05. Other than that one factor, you would otherwise be fine.