JD 455 collant testing question

[cowboydoc]

Boots,
You are right and the majority of people never have a problem with this. It usually takes awhile for this to happen. Most people will get away with it never happening. To me it's just cheap insurance.
Richard

 

[Boots]

I went and talked with a 'shade tree' tractor mechanic that I work with and he said that the last two tractors he rebuilt had heavy cavitation damage to the piston sleeves. He said it was the # 1 killer of diesel engines in his opinion, and that for whatever reason, only commercial diesel users seem to be aware of this issue. Not anymore thanks to this board!

Ya'll take Care.
Boots

 

[dmccarty]

Thanks for the answer guys. I have a 1995 Chevy PU with an oil burner and this is the first I have ever head of this. I don't remember seeing anything in the manual about using a specific antifreeze. I just had the stuff replaced and I guess I should go get some of these test strips.

The plan is for the truck to last at least 200,000 mile and I really am hoping for twice that milage. Its getting close to the 70,000 mark but once we get the property that number will rapidly go up. I need this thing to last for a few more years.....

TBN does it again. The information on the TBN is simply amazing. You never know what you will find.......

Thanks and Amazed.
Dan McCarty

 

[gvw]

If you want more info try ford-diesel.com and look in the 94-97 section - - also look at fleetguard.com ----in the coolant section. Easiest way to go is to buy the 50/50 mix and change on a perodic basis. SCA test strips are also avaiabe from you local International dealer.

 

[vtrick]

Boots,
As it always seems, there are down sides to antifreeze with DCA additive. At work we were having problems with the antifreeze in our equipment plugging radiator, heater cores, and thermostats. After alot of research and testing, we found that the DCA will actually separate and settle to the bottom of a mixture in a fairly short time span. When starting an engine that had been setting idle over a weekend, the initial circulation of coolant was found to be super concentrated DCA and very little antifreeze - therefore plugging smaller passage ways. Our solution was converting to extended life antifreeze for diesel engines which does not separate over time. The new product (like the green product) has very minimal silica content and a higher ph. Also this stuff will maintain cavitation protection through increased surface tensions of the fluid mixture approximately 5 times longer than the DCA mixture. Another problem with the DCA antifreeze is that it is very easy to loose control of the proper concentration of DCA when topping off the coolent system through time. I hope this help shed another light on this topic. Thanks Rick

 

[richh]

any body have any imput on changing your antifreeze to propylene glycol from ethylene glycol??? this stuff is non toixc. Will we have the same problumes with the additives? or will the stuff even work in a diesel?

 

[gsxr1100]

richh -You won't have a problem changing from one to the other. Just make sure you flush the system good. This also goes for ELC (extended life collants, blue red in color).

About the SCA additive, I really don't know. I think it should be okay. The only thing you have to worry about is the SCA additive you can't mix DCA (John Deere additive, FW-15 or FW-16) and Napacool (might be spelled wrong)together. The chemical difference will cause problems.

In my judgement I would stay with EG collant. Last I heard is that the PG collant did not do a good of job with dispersing the heat. I know that Ford does not allow PG collant in my Powerstroke!

"Were going to need a bigger boat" JAWS
Got the tractor, need bigger yard to play in!

 

[richh]

burnickas- thanks for the info, i to have a ford PSD and must be changing the coolant soon [115000 now] gusse i won't be using the PG. The kubota only has 59 hrs. on it so it wil be a while be for i have to change it. oh that ford-diesel.com site is the closes thing i have found to TBN.
rich

 

[cowboydoc]

Rich,
That site used to be the same as this one, big enough to have good information, but small enough you could keep up with the threads. It originally just talked about ford diesels in general. Then it grew into what it is now being specialized for each pickup. I was one of the first ones on the site and it used to be I read all the posts everyday. Then it took off and I couldn't even read the posts everyday on just my own year pickup. Just like this site though, a ton of good information and good guys.
Richard

 

[BobinCols]

Liner pitting is from "electrolysis" not cavitation I believe. Most current Cummins, Cats, and Detroits come with a standard pre charged coolant filter which is normally changed at each service or twice a year. You can purchase the dca additive such as Napacool at Napa or other large equipment suppliers. Liner pitting can occur in any diesel engine but usually occurs in larger engines than compact tractors with wet cylinder replaceable sleeves. When the pitting occurs over time, the liner will develope a pin hole and coolant will end up in the crankcase thus needing an in frame major. You can buy the test kits at Napa. Napakool is sold by the pint-a large diesel with a 12 gallon system usually takes 3 bottles if it doesn't have a filter.