Ford Power Stroke Nation banner

how much antifreeze to add???

31K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  1970something 
#1 ·
alright guys got another question.

I'm planning on changing the antifreeze tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much of the mix i need. when i purchased my dually i didn't get a owners manual so I'm not sure how much antifreeze( and water) i need to add after i do a flush on the system. so does anyone know how much antifreeze do i need to add to my '95 f-350 7.3, I've googled it and didn't come up with anything conclusive, i looked on the ford website and their online manuals only go back to '96. thanks ya'll.
 
#3 ·
awesome, thanks powerstrokinc
 
#4 ·
hold on i forgot to ask, how much mix do i need gallons wise? the manuals i downloaded only showed half the page, so i cant really tell how much i need to mix
 
#6 ·
my trucks used 21-22 quarts
 
#7 ·
I'd get, at a minimum, 3 gallons of concentrate. When I flushed mine a few weeks ago, I bought 4 just to be on the safe side. I also got 20 gallons of distilled water for flushing/refilling but only ended up using about 15 gallons. Don't forget the FW-16/DCA-4 additive. If I remember right, 4 pints should get you the level you need.

Cheers from Claremore, OK!
Dave
 
#12 ·
I'd get, at a minimum, 3 gallons of concentrate. When I flushed mine a few weeks ago, I bought 4 just to be on the safe side. I also got 20 gallons of distilled water for flushing/refilling but only ended up using about 15 gallons. Don't forget the FW-16/DCA-4 additive. If I remember right, 4 pints should get you the level you need.
What is the purpose of this additive you were talking about? I just purchased a retired short school bus with the 7.3 and am finding it necessary to drop the radiator in order to replace the glow plugs. Even though the bus was maintained very well, since I don't know the exact maintenance history I don't want to take the chance of reusing the current radiator juice.
 
#8 ·
Coolant capacity of the system is 32 quarts. So you would need 16 quarts of antifreeze and 3.5 to 4 pints of Motorcraft FW-16 (or is it 15?). You also can get the additive from IH, called DCA-4 in pint bottles or as I recall, DCA-64 in half gallon bottles. You can get coolant test strips from IH to check the additive level.

When you do a drain down of the coolant system using the radiator petcock, there is a considerable amount of old coolant retained in the block unless you remove the drain plugs on each side of the block. Doing it this way drains out all of the old coolant. Refilling will take 32 quarts of 50/50 coolant and additive.

I do a complete flush of the block/heater with fresh water using a Prestone radiator flushing kit. Drain down the radiator of water, add the DCA-4, add straight anti-freeze to the radiator (about 3.5 gallons) and the rest of the antifreeze into the degas bottle. This will mix over time and also result in a 50/50 coolant mix with additive.

You also can drain down the radiator, refill with water and run the engine. Repeating this process about 4 times results in a pretty fair flush of all the old coolant. Drain down the radiator and refill with coolant/additive the same way as doing the engine flush.
 
#11 ·
I just completed it radiator flush and was only able to put 4 gallons of Concentrate in and about gallon and a half distilled water back in it.. the motor i have is "vin k" turbo 7.3 diesel (non powerstroke) its in a 1994 Ford f-350 ...will check it in the morning hopefully more water will go in🤞 Let me know your thoughts.
 
#15 ·
Did you read my answer in your other post????????????

 
  • Like
Reactions: TMBerman
#16 ·
The additive is to prevent cavitation in the coolant at the cylinder wall cooling jackets. If it cavitates , it can eventually lead to pin holes into the cylinders. Cheers!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TMBerman
#18 ·
I spoke with a friend who has been a heavy equipment mechanic for nearly 40 years. He said the main reason for the additive is to balance the Ph level to prevent a chemical reaction from turning the coolant acidic by boiling and turning into steam around the hotspots, which leads to the coolant actually compromising the metal; basically eating away at the water jackets, usually around the cylinder walls where the metal has the least protection due to repeated boiling of the coolant. He said he's seen it hundreds of time over the years in both heavy equipment and street trucks.

So, yes, cavitation would also be a side effect of the hotspot boiling. Thanks.
 
#19 ·
what i do is buy 3-4 gallons of coolant then mix it 50-50 in a clean empty container. fill radiator, then go for a ride and top off as needed.
if the system capacity is 4 gallons, then i will have used 2 gallons and have 2 more to mix for a total of 4 gallons.
since i have 7 vehicles here and at one time took care of over 20, having a few gallons of coolant in the garage did not last very long. same for the additive. with three diesels i use around 3 pints a year. so i usually by 6 pints at a time so i have in stock.
as was already said, test strips will tell you the PH of the mix, and the bottle of additive will then tell you how much to add to make it good.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top