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Antifreeze/coolant that is compatible with original

bevanet

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Hi, I have a M817 dump with the NHC-250 engine. I need to move it a little way and would like to top off the coolant. I'm not planning a flush/fill at this time. What coolant is compatible with the original?
thank you
 

Superthermal

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You want something with SCAs. I used Napa Commercial. The reason you want this is the NHC 250 is a "wet sleeve" piston cylinder.
Here is the info from my build.
 

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87cr250r

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The NAPA coolant is misleading as it is not an SCA type and is likely incompatible with SCA. It contains no nitrites.

Conventional coolants that meet ASTM D4985 and ASTM D6210. 4985 will require a pre-charge of SCA while 6210 does not. They both require additional dosing of SCA, usually every 300 hours.

Conventional coolants are essentially obsolete and are not easy to find. Check the SDS, if they contain chemicals that end in acid or "ate" they are extended life and not conventional. Carboxylic acid or hexanoate are examples.

Extended life coolants typically only require a booster at half life of 7500 hours. If you're concerned about liner cavitation, there are extended life coolants with nitrites just like the conventionals. Check the SDS. It should say sodium nitrite or sodium salts. Cat ELC is readily available and does have nitrites. Havoline and Chevron have equivalents. If you see coolants with an X in the name like Xtended or XLC they are typically nitrite free formulations

If you don't need antifreeze you can also run straight SCA at 16:1 with water or Cat, Chevron, Havoline ELI at 7.5%.
 

Superthermal

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
303
837
93
Location
Utah, Murray, United States
The NAPA coolant is misleading as it is not an SCA type and is likely incompatible with SCA. It contains no nitrites.

Conventional coolants that meet ASTM D4985 and ASTM D6210. 4985 will require a pre-charge of SCA while 6210 does not. They both require additional dosing of SCA, usually every 300 hours.

Conventional coolants are essentially obsolete and are not easy to find. Check the SDS, if they contain chemicals that end in acid or "ate" they are extended life and not conventional. Carboxylic acid or hexanoate are examples.

Extended life coolants typically only require a booster at half life of 7500 hours. If you're concerned about liner cavitation, there are extended life coolants with nitrites just like the conventionals. Check the SDS. It should say sodium nitrite or sodium salts. Cat ELC is readily available and does have nitrites. Havoline and Chevron have equivalents. If you see coolants with an X in the name like Xtended or XLC they are typically nitrite free formulations

If you don't need antifreeze you can also run straight SCA at 16:1 with water or Cat, Chevron, Havoline ELI at 7.5%.
Interesting, What kind of additive would you recommend I add to my now... crappy NAPA coolant? :)
 

87cr250r

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It appears that I missed that line about nitrites. It's also pink. The NAPA coolant must be a true conventional.

I still don't like the use of the SCA name. SCA stands for supplemental coolant additive. That's what you're supposed to add to conventional coolant every 15000 miles.
 

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Superthermal

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Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
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I was shooting for 60% Antifreeze and 40% distilled water. In the graph below you can see the freeze point dip. This is for three reasons,
First my engine I have never seen above 200 °F any time I have driven it which includes 100+ ambient temps, I am guessing my radiator is doing well and is not clogged at all. Mixing with too much antifreeze really can affect the cooling ability in the summer. I am not so worried about overheating with my experience so far.
2nd, I also have a filter on my coolant to catch extra particles that didn't come out in my flush that I did last year. Since I am going to loose a bit of coolant each swap of that filter, I figured having a bit more antifreeze wouldn't hurt me any.
Third reason is if I am actually going to be using this rig after the nukes fly, the absolute freezing temps that are going to be the normal for a significant while are going to be legit cold as it can go. Hopefully I will have a shop or equipment shed to keep it in to minimize the harshness.
To make sure I was getting close to this mixing goal I bought one of the simple spectrometers off Amazon to measure my actual mix. Now this device maybe wasn't necessary as what I was calculating with the extra water left in the bottom of the block from the hose in the flushing. I was calculating on how much antifreeze to add first then started to add distilled water. This ended up nearly perfect.
1730730631976.png
 
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