Antifreeze with sca's or not?

[nod]

Well i decided to change my antifreeze in my 8560. None of the brands listed in my manual have the sca's in it. I went down to the dealer and they sell the shellzone brand. It does not have the sca's added to it. The owner nor the parts people there has ever heard of sca's. Does the mahindra tractors not need the antifreeze with the sca's?

 

[oosik]

Wow!! I had to look up SCA - silicone coolant additive. I would have to say - since your OP manual does not call for this additive - as my Kubota manual(2009) also does not - then I would not worry about it. I know from what I could find on the internet - in a brief search - it appears this must be a newer type of coolant additive. Neither of the brands of antifreeze I use - Prestone & Zerex - have sca's in them or at least they aren't listed on the container. Both of the brands I use were purchased within the last year & are designed for HD off road/farm implement use.

I stand corrected - SCA = supplemental coolant additive, I obviously misread the article. Thanks for the correction. BTW, its KC7SW here.

 

[Pepsiboy]

nod,

In my experience with diesels (35+ years OTR) I have learned that SCA's WERE important (at least that is what MOST mechanics thought), but in reality they are not. If you are changing the antifreeze, I would flush out the entire cooling system at least twice. Then replace with a 50/50 mix of Propylene Glycol antifreeze. Use the brand you are comfortable with. Usually this antifreeze will be RED in color. (that is to be able to tell the difference from Ethylene Glycol visually ) The cooling properties and the antifreeze properties are VERY similar to Ethylene, but SCA's are not required. It used to be that SCA's had to be checked and added periodically in diesel engines. Why, I'm not REALLY sure. There used to be a problem with diesels called cavitation in the water jacket around each cylinder that caused pitting on the water jacket side of the cylinder. VERY damaging over time. Switching to Propylene Glycol fixed this problem.

I'm no EXPERT, but I have switched EVERYTHING I have over to Propylene Glycol so I don't have to stock 2 different types of antifreeze. :2cents: Take it for what it is worth, but I have had NO TROUBLE with any of the cooling systems of any of my vehicles. Plus, I found that at Wal-Mart the red stuff is a little cheaper. IMHO this is a win / win deal. :thumbsup: :dance1: :cool2:

Dave

 

[hosspuller]

SCA are required for wet liner engines. That is ,the diesel engine has a sleeve for the piston to travel in. This sleeve is subject to cavitation caused by vibrations during the diesel combustion process. Without the SCA, the liner is perforated and bad things happen. If the engine cylinder is bored out of the cast block, NO SCA is required. The mass of the block dampens the vibration and no cavitation occurs.

Deere engines are wet liners, Mahindra ????

 

[Pepsiboy]

SCA are required for wet liner engines. That is ,the diesel engine has a sleeve for the piston to travel in. This sleeve is subject to cavitation caused by vibrations during the diesel combustion process. Without the SCA, the liner is perforated and bad things happen. If the engine cylinder is bored out of the cast block, NO SCA is required. The mass of the block dampens the vibration and no cavitation occurs.

Deere engines are wet liners, Mahindra ????

hosspuller,

SCA's are no longer REQUIRED in diesel engines. The last 2 trucks I drove OTR had wet liners in the engines and BOTH Cummins and Detroit sent them out WITHOUT SA's. They both had the RED antifreeze in them, which DOES NOT have SCA's present. big truck engine manufacturers have not required SCA treatment since 2009 or 2010, to the best of my knowledge.

That is why I have changed everything I have with a liquid cooling system over to the red stuff. Besides, it is a little cheaper at Wal-Mart.

Dave

 

[nod]

That is why I asked about it, I have a 99 ford power stroke with the wet liners and it says to use sca's. Since posting this i found out that mahindra's have wet liners too. It would be nice to be able to swap over to one antifreeze on both of those and not worry about the sca crap anymore.

 

[Pepsiboy]

That is why I asked about it, I have a 99 ford power stroke with the wet liners and it says to use sca's. Since posting this i found out that mahindra's have wet liners too. It would be nice to be able to swap over to one antifreeze on both of those and not worry about the sca crap anymore.

nod,

That is why I switched everything over. It will not be a problem if you do a thorough flush of the system before putting in the red stuff. when you get around to doing it, let me know how it goes. :dance1: :2cents:

Dave

 

[burzynsr]

Tractor Supply sells "Fleet Guard" with the SCA in it.

 

[nod]

My tractor manual says use of supplemental corrosion inhibitor along with ethylene glycol will add increased rust prevention and reduce scale formation. I am assuming that means I need sca antifreeze. I'm going to get fleet charge. I'm also assuming that since my tractor has ethylene glycol in it that I won't have to be so careful about flushing all the old out?

 

[hosspuller]

hosspuller,

SCA's are no longer REQUIRED in diesel engines. The last 2 trucks I drove OTR had wet liners in the engines and BOTH Cummins and Detroit sent them out WITHOUT SA's. They both had the RED antifreeze in them, which DOES NOT have SCA's present. big truck engine manufacturers have not required SCA treatment since 2009 or 2010, to the best of my knowledge.
That is why I have changed everything I have with a liquid cooling system over to the red stuff. Besides, it is a little cheaper at Wal-Mart.

Dave

Pepsiboy. The Cummins engines that were factory filled have liner protection built into the coolant. Even so, the additives have to replenished after time. Cummins sells such. See here : Fleetcool

I just looked at a bottle of automotive extended life coolant. No where does it say diesel liner protection.

I do not believe all "RED antifreeze " will properly protect wet liner diesel engines. I think you're making an unsupported assumption that SCA's are no longer required. Can you provide a link that supports your point?


A dollar or two saved today may mean many $$$ with a perforated liner later.