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Lets talk and over think Coolant

J

JRM

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I know the sticky daybreak posted says to use standard green coolant- are these iron engines in MEP's immune to the problem modern pickups owners are facing when using standard green? My friends power stroke had a hole eaten threw the block behind the water pump- the diesel shop said it was due to the silicates and borite (spelling) in green coolant vibrating when each cylinder fires, said its called stigmatization and to use special coolants or conditioners. Napa sells a conditioner, probably safer than those new OAT coolants that use organic acid's
Thoughts?
 
Light in the Dark

Light in the Dark

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Are we talking about cavitation? I know the older 7.3s were prone to this. The fix was to use an ELC (with SCAs in it). In my machine I use Rotella ELC.
 
R

Ray70

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Yea, kind of sounds more like cavitation. I thought green antifreeze was correct for iron engines ( as well as others ) and all these other orange, pink, red, yellow etc. were all different manufacturers "Solutions" for aluminum heads and all aluminum engines?
I just use plain old green Prestone in pretty much everything and I use GM Dexcool in ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, because it's garbage!
 
J

JMP308

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dexcool

Ray70 said:
Yea, kind of sounds more like cavitation. I thought green antifreeze was correct for iron engines ( as well as others ) and all these other orange, pink, red, yellow etc. were all different manufacturers "Solutions" for aluminum heads and all aluminum engines?
I just use plain old green Prestone in pretty much everything and I use GM Dexcool in ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, because it's garbage!
Click to expand...
I have used dexcool in my backup genset for my house , shops ect ,it has been in there since 1998, look down the radiator , it looks new, brass radiator , no deposits of any kind in tubes Murphy industrial diesel, dry liner engine, marathon 12 wire 60 KW gen set I run it a week at a time ,use Shell rotella 15-40 and load it heavy, it used 92 gallons diesel during ice storm ran 124. 5 hours water temp 190F, I pre lube to 40 PSI before start up--- 230 volt single phase 200 amp transfer switches at my house , and shops, , use shell ELC in my cummins , and John Deere engines , it was not on the market in 1998, it has an additive package for diesels with wet liners, will use it in my Kawasaki m1030m1 diesel motorcycles also I think that dexcool has excellent anti corrosive properties, all my cars , have used this with no problems, I don't have any plastic radiators except in my wifes Mercedes 350 SDL diesels, also use it in my military m 966 hmmwv , in two clark forklifts also
 
Weller

Weller

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Several years ago I won sealed 55 gallon barrels of coolant, oil and atf at a construction site auction. Been using them in my tractors, gen sets, and vehicles ever since. My overthinking involves finding a clean enough jug to pump into, and not using the oil jugs for coolant.
 
B

Bmxenbrett

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A buddy of mine worked for Prestone for many years in there testing lab. I asked him what to use . He said use motocraft VC7B. Its usualy about $20 a gallon in consentrate. I believe autozone carries it.

Do not use Dexcool in anything..even if thats what it calls for dont use it. It turns to mud and you can never clean the stuff out. Theres many reports of it and easy to fid.
 
pjwest03

pjwest03

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JRM said:
I know the sticky daybreak posted says to use standard green coolant- are these iron engines in MEP's immune to the problem modern pickups owners are facing when using standard green? My friends power stroke had a hole eaten threw the block behind the water pump- the diesel shop said it was due to the silicates and borite (spelling) in green coolant vibrating when each cylinder fires, said its called stigmatization and to use special coolants or conditioners. Napa sells a conditioner, probably safer than those new OAT coolants that use organic acid's
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
It affects engines with wet liners. Meaning the liner is in contact with the coolant. Most modern diesel engines in trucks and such are built this way. It reduces the weight of the block by leaving a whole lot of metal out of the casting. It also makes it a bit easier to cure cylinder issues by replacing the liners. The small MEP's and other small displacement, small bore engines rarely have liners. It keeps the cost and complexity down.
 
J

JRM

Member
166
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Location
Brightwood, Oregon
yes cavitation - I figured our mep's were immune being a battle field built, pretty much iron everything! With all these OAT and HOAT coolants it gets confusing. The one thing the shop owner did say is to never mix the coolants, that's when dex-cool turns to a solid. Standard green with napa SCA's is going into my 803A :)
!
 
Daybreak

Daybreak

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JRM said:
I know the sticky daybreak posted says to use standard green coolant- are these iron engines in MEP's immune to the problem modern pickups owners are facing when using standard green? My friends power stroke had a hole eaten threw the block behind the water pump- the diesel shop said it was due to the silicates and borite (spelling) in green coolant vibrating when each cylinder fires, said its called stigmatization and to use special coolants or conditioners. Napa sells a conditioner, probably safer than those new OAT coolants that use organic acid's
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Howdy,

OK, Let's discuss Coolant.

The Lister-Petter LPW engine design has been around a long time.
The military likes to keep things simple out in the battlefield. Green coolant, Diesel, JP8, Grease.
The Military has been using the standard old world coolant for ever. Why screw with something which works.

Here today, 2019, you need to be a scientific analyst to go over the various types of coolant out there.
Green
Orange
Pink
Red
Purple
Blue
Amber
Yellow

Standard operating procedures for military is, it comes from the factory with whatever color coolant. Around the time break-in oil is change, the coolant is supposed to be changed to standard military coolant. This might have been to different from a Fermont MEP coming off the assembly line already with green coolant. Today, the Cummins Power Generation AMMPS unit roll off the assembly line with a different color. The first field operators are suppose to change the coolant to standard green.

Have fun.
 
csheath

csheath

Active member
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FL
smokem joe said:
https://www.peakhd.com/product/final-charge/oat-extended-life-coolant-antifreeze/

This is what I run in all my diesel engines. It is nitrate and borate free.
Click to expand...
Used this in my backhoe when I changed it this year.

When I did the MEP I used Rotella ELC.

Both are rated and recommended for diesel engine so I figured I would be safe. Could not find anywhere on the green Prestone label that it would be okay to use in a diesel. Regular Prestone says it Protects your car or light-duty truck.

That said, both of my John Deeres have green stuff in them. It's clean and checks okay with the hydrometer so it hasen't been changed. Could have been put in them by previous owner since I bought them used.
 
Last edited:
Daybreak

Daybreak

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Howdy,

Military Old World Anti-freeze/coolant is not prestone.

Whatever works for you.

I use the John Deere Cool-Gard II, since I already have it on hand. It's a amber color.
 
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