12.7 Detroits blowing radiator hoses due to coolant additives????

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by 1951 ford, Sep 2, 2016.

  1. Old Man

    Old Man Road Train Member

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    With long life red you don't need a filter, just block it off, most hose problems I have seen are from switching from green to red, but nothing should hurt a good silicon hose. Wonder if you got a bad batch of hoses.
     
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  3. WrenchWrenchWrench

    WrenchWrenchWrench Light Load Member

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    You should not be constantly replacing filters with new filters that contain the most additive possible every time. You should be testing your coolant, finding out how much SCA's it needs (if any) and then either adding a filter with the correct amount and release time or just adding the correct amount of liquid additive. If it tests fine just throw a standard filter on with no additive, if it tests to bad, flush it really good and refill it with extended life red like the others said with a decent additive if needed to level out SCA's and put a filter with no additive on.
     
  4. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    The blue silicone hoses should last like 10 years. If you dump the green coolant and switch to the red ELC Extended Life Coolant that stuff is good for like 500,000 miles or 6 years. Just put in blank coolant filters, coolant filters without any additive.
     
    1951 ford and WrenchWrenchWrench Thank this.
  5. javelinjeff

    javelinjeff Medium Load Member

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    Make sure your mechanic is not using any grease at the hose ends when he installs the hose or using motor oil,,this includes on filters too,,this will kill a water hose in a very short time
     
    1951 ford Thanks this.
  6. 1951 ford

    1951 ford Road Train Member

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    They did switch colors to get everything the same. They have since added a third (universal) coolant into the mix. We will jump over a dollar to save a nickel some days around here. A bad batch of hoses was discussed, but the time span for these problems has been a couple years now and they only buy one hose at a time.
     
  7. 1951 ford

    1951 ford Road Train Member

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    The mechanic told me a couple days ago they had been doing this all along. I know they don't test the coolant either. The bosses here put all responsibility for maintenance on the garage super, and he has no clue about how a garage operates. He has the mechanics do it his way and you don't dare question his methods.
     
  8. 1951 ford

    1951 ford Road Train Member

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    That's what we thought too. It made it about 9 months. I just can't convince myself those additives are that corrosive to make a rubber hose fail that quickly. Maybe I'm wrong.
     
  9. 1951 ford

    1951 ford Road Train Member

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    I'll ask about this. He's a really good mechanic and I don't think he'd do this, but you never know.
     
  10. 1951 ford

    1951 ford Road Train Member

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    Here's an update. They flushed and refilled the coolant systems and installed new filters with no additives in them. So far no more problems, knock on wood.
     
    snowman_w900 Thanks this.
  11. snowman_w900

    snowman_w900 Road Train Member

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    What worries me is if it WAS coolant additives, i wonder what the liner o-rings look like now.

    I have seen people just add coolant additives without understanding how they work and what they do. Its very hard on any oring or rubber hose if you get the SCA additives too strong. Makes them brittle and hard.

    Fleetguard says they approve different brands being mixed into a cooling system, but i never liked doing that. Buy 1 brand and stick with it until flush time or major cooling syatem repair. Less chance of a bad chemical reaction in the system in my opinion.
     
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