Extended Life Coolant (Orange Antifreeze)

I was running Rotella ELC in my '96 Detroit series 60 until last week, when a hose burst and I lost 80% of it. I am thinking of replacing it with *Prostone EL* for cars, the kind you can buy at Wally-World or Autozone. It is the 5 year/150,000 mile stuff. Has anyone used this as their primary coolant?

 

I wrote a long post 3 days ago about my research into antifreeze and why I decided to stick with Rotella ELC, but...I am a stickler about sourcing my work so that my posts are not just my OPINION but have research you can read to back up my conclusions. Unfortunately, with all the links I used my post was not allowed (that's what I get for not reading the directions). So, without breaking the rules [I hope] I will try to point you in the right direction. For the purposes of this post the words 'coolant' and 'antifreeze' are interchangable.

In the last week I have gained some coolant related knowledge every O/O should know.

1) NEVER use tapwater to dilute 'concentrated coolant' to a 50/50 mix, always use distilled or deionized water. This goes for cars too.

2) Although some coolant makers insist it is allowable to mix different colors of antifreeze, it is not generally recommended. IF YOU MIX different antifreezes, you must treat the mixture as though it was entirely made up of the lowest ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standard of the mix (for green antifreeze that is normally ASTM D3306, the others are listed below).

3) In most older (and some pre-epa newer) heavy duty trucks, you can run green (also called conventional) antifreeze IF you add nitrates regularly and keep the nitrate level checked. A full SCA (supplemental coolant additive) package is often required. SCA comes in liquid, powder and the charged filter form MedicineMan refered to above.

Plus you need to check the pH to be sure it remains in the recommended range. In coolant, higher pH (9.0 to 11.0) is generally preferred. If the pH drops below 8.5 the formula may become unstable, and/or corrosion may occur.

4) You can run orange antifreeze (or pink or yellow or purple, etc.) made for automobiles and light trucks IF it meet the requirements of ASTM D4985 <---to find out more copy this and search on Google>
BUT you MUST ADD *SCA* (supplemental coolant additive) to this type of antifreeze when you 1st fill your cooling system with this type of coolant and you must check it at regular intervals for SCA levels and add more SCA when needed.

5) Heavy Duty Truck antifreeze that only meets the ASTM D4985 also requires an initial charge of SCA plus recharges when required.

6) If you don't want to check nitrates, pH, or add SCA, you can use coolant that meet the requirements of ASTM D6210 <----Copy and Google for more info>.

Some of the coolants that meet these requirements are :

Old World Industries Fleet Charge, Prestone Heavy duty AF977, Pencool 3000, Detroit Diesel PowerCool, GM Good Wrench SCA, Caterpillar diesel coolant additive, Shell 50/50 Rotella ELC (extended life coolant) and Cheveron now makes an ELC coolant.

****************Many of these antifreezes cannot be contaminated more than 15%******************
********************from their 50/50 mix with water or non-ELC coolant**************************
***********************and retain there Extended Coolant properties****************************
*******************If they are diluted more than 15% past 50/50 you must************************
*********************treat them like 'ASTM D4985 standard' and add SCA**************************

7) Poor or untreated coolant in diesel engines causes Cylinder Liner Cavitation <----copy and Google> which can cause pinhole leaks in the liner and allow coolant into the cylinders. Glycol in your oil will damage your engine in short order. (Google "Oil and Glycol Don't Mix")

8} Detroit Diesel does not permit phosphated coolants.




If you want to read the best article to understand SCA's and different type of antifreeze copy this ---- "Choosing and Using a Supplemental Coolant Additive" ----- and paste it into Google. This article was written in 2000 so it doesn't include cutting edge advances, as the author notes in the comments section of part II. In this article there is a link to an Antifreeze Glossary.

Hope this helps.
Dave