Antifreeze- is any type OK?

[KenPauling]

I have a 3 year old New Holland TN65D diesel tractor. The hours are low(225) but I decided to change the antifreeze since its 3 years old. I drained out the green antifreeze and filled it up with a 50/50 mixture of Prestone antifreeze and distilled water. I read somewhere that I need something different or an additive package to help in my diesel. What goes? I have checked at every auto store, Walmart, and even a few tractor dealers and they don't have anything special. My New Holland dealer said the regular green Prestone is OK, the people from Prestone say I need their Heavy Duty Extended life Antifreeze for my tractor! Is this true? Who do I believe? I am ready to put the old green stuff back into my tractor! I need green heavy duty diesel antifreeze or what? This is really nuts! Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Ken

[Bird]

Ken, I think the problem is that there is an anti-cavitation antifreeze for wet sleeve diesel engines. I don't think you have to worry about it; plain old Prestone should be just fine. However, if you want that special antifreeze, you can get it at Tractor Supply Co. and undoubtedly some auto parts stores if they have it for the big diesel trucks.

[crashz]

Hi Ken,

Most likely the green antifreeze that you drained out is the standard stuff. "Heavy duty" may just imply a more robust additive package that retards cavitation and corrosion. Which if you are draining at only three years is going to be fine anyway. Long life coolants are often of a modified OAT technology (think Dexcool) that have been refined over the years to actually work pretty good. These are usually colored orange, red or a light yellow. You don't want to mix these with the standard old glycol antifreeze because gelling is a real problem. But you said it was green coolant, you should be safe.

Check with your owner's manual to match the specification on the collant with what you have used. 99% of the time you can go by the rule: green to green, orange to orange, etc.

[Soundguy]

Amazingly enough.. your CNH dealer sells the massive 4$ addative you need to add to your radiator fluid.. it is.. or was FW-15.. a cavitation/electrolysys add package.

soundguy

[Farmwithjunk]

Originally Posted by Soundguy

Amazingly enough.. your CNH dealer sells the massive 4$ addative you need to add to your radiator fluid.. it is.. or was FW-15.. a cavitation/electrolysys add package.

soundguy

FRAM (the filter people) also market a concentrated additive for anti-cavitation/corrosion inhibitor that will treat 15 to 18 gallons of coolant for under $8. It's usually available at truck stops or GOOD full line auto/truck parts houses. I've used it for years with no ill effects.

NOTE: This is NOT an endorsement for FRAM filters in any shape or form.

[RalphVa]

Any more, I buy the antifreeze from the dealer for my car/pickup/tractor. They're formulated for their engines. They're a bit more expensive, but your engine is even more expensive.

Ralph

[3RRL]

Originally Posted by Soundguy

Amazingly enough.. your CNH dealer sells the massive 4$ addative you need to add to your radiator fluid.. it is.. or was FW-15.. a cavitation/electrolysys add package.

soundguy

"Contains nitrate for superior wet sleeve liner cavitation protection" like Bird said.
TSC has a great price on the stuff.
I use Fleet Charge also. Here's another link.
Fleet Charge Antifreeze

[3RRL]

To add, I did a complete "radiator flush" before adding that stuff and also changed some hoses.
You'd be surprised what comes out from flushing. Just draining out the old and putting in the new makes the old stuff look good. But you want your water carrying passages to be clean for the best cooling (and heating) to occur.
Here's a link to a thread about it.
Kama Radiator Maintenance

[Soundguy]

The CNh addative also has the added benefit of an electrolysys addative, besides the anti cavitation.

You can get the cheap bottle and swizzle sticks right at the counter.

soundguy

[Farmwithjunk]

Originally Posted by Soundguy

The CNh addative also has the added benefit of an electrolysys addative, besides the anti cavitation.

You can get the cheap bottle and swizzle sticks right at the counter.

soundguy

That's the same deal with the Fram product. Antifreeze, left in a diesel engine for prolonged periods of time tends to go acidic. The anti-electrolosys formula's balance the ph. Fram sends a packet of litmus strips with their "snake oil" to test coolant PH.

It's also a good idea on a high use wet sleeve diesel to install (if not OEM equipped) a coolant system filter. John Deere 400 series engines from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's were very susceptable to electrolosys, proned to cavitation, AND had "scaley castings" where rust particles would dislodge from the cooling passages. They would literally eat holes in the cylinder liners, at times in as few as a couple hundred hours of use.