coolant question

[RollingsFarms]

the coolant that came in my tractor is blue. i had a small leak a few days after i got the tractor. i noticed my coolant was a bit low and traced the leak to this, so i just tightened up the screw some and its been fine ever since. i do have a few questions though. i wanted to top off my coolant, so i went to the dealer and purchased some. the problem is it's purple and i didnt really want to mix them. so, i added a little bit of water to the coolant tank. is this ok? does anyone know if the blue coolant in my tractor is summer or winter coolant? the reason i ask is because i have a bottle of JD summer coolant and its green but the JD winter coolant is purple.

 

[Matt_Jr]

Yikes! Blue now?

 

[RollingsFarms]

Yikes! Blue now?

it was blue from the factory. the tractor only has 12 hours on it. i didn't mix the summer or winter coolants i bought from JD because they were different colors so i just added a little bit of water to bring it back up to the "full mark".

 

[Foothill Rancher]

Could it have been watered down to make the purple turn blue? I've never seen or heard of a blue unless some kind of anti-rust or extended was added.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Could it have been watered down to make the purple turn blue? I've never seen or heard of a blue unless some kind of anti-rust or extended was added.

could be. like i said, it was blue the day i bought the tractor as i went over and checked all the fluid levels when it was delivered. had a coolant leak, so i went to buy some winter coolant since all i had was summer coolant. got home and noticed the winter coolant was purple but the summer coolant i have is green. so i said the heck with it and just topped it off with water. would that be ok? i didnt want to mix coolants.

 

[Foothill Rancher]

If it wasn't alot of water it shouldn't hurt, better than putting in the wrong coolant.
You may ask your dealer what coolant was put in, he may know.
Purple,red,orange,yellow,green,amber, I've seen all these, who knows, maybe we need a blue.
If you contact your dealer let us know what his thoughts are, but you should be fine if you added a little water.

 

[Doc_Bob]

i does anyone know if the blue coolant in my tractor is summer or winter coolant?

Call the dealer.
Bob

 

[3RRL]

Man, I don't know about the different colors, but adding a little water is OK.
Did you use distilled water?
I've read where the normal 50/50 mixture should err on the water side. That is, as long as the mixture is enough for freezing and lubricating protection it's better to have slightly more water than anti-freeze. If there's too much anti-freeze, the engine could run a little hotter than normal.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Man, I don't know about the different colors, but adding a little water is OK.
Did you use distilled water?
I've read where the normal 50/50 mixture should err on the water side. That is, as long as the mixture is enough for freezing and lubricating protection it's better to have slightly more water than anti-freeze. If there's too much anti-freeze, the engine could run a little hotter than normal.

i just used an old gallon milk jug that i use to carry water out to my dogs and got the water out of the sink. didnt fill up the jug, not even close, just put enough in it to bring the coolant level back up to the line. id say it was a little over halfway empty. i ran the tractor some today loading a box blade into a trailer but noticed the tractor never really warmed up.

 

[DieselPower]

Cummins has been using blue antifreeze for years. My Snap On dealers truck has it in his Cummins powered Freightliner.

 

[Shimon]

It's probably Fleetguard ES Compleat (which is a Cummins product as DieselPower wrote). It's a very good diesel rated coolant w/SCAs. You can buy the Fleetguard test strips which will let you know the freeze point and SCA level (nitrite & molybdate).

 

[Matt_Jr]

I don't know who makes it for them, but NAPA sells a 50/50 premixed antifreeze (distilled water) that is yellow in color, and goes in all makes and models. I like it 'cause it takes out the guessing of mixing, goes in anything, and isn't very expensive. I use it in all my cars and trucks at 20 thousand miles after their first coolant flush. I'll put it in my tracor when I flush the coolant at around 250 hrs. Another thing is it can be mixed with any other coolant too. I think it may be made by Prestone but not sure.

 

[Shimon]

I like it 'cause it takes out the guessing of mixing, goes in anything, and isn't very expensive. I use it in all my cars and trucks

It's probably not a diesel rated coolant...meaning it doesn't have SCAs or DCAs (supplemental or diesel coolant additive) which is specifically added to reduce the detrimental effects or cavitation in diesel engines. If you don't know I'm talking about, use your favorite search engine and search for "diesel cavitation" and you will have plenty of interesting reading. This is not a problem that happens overnight or even after 20,000 miles...it takes a while but when it does happen the affects will ruin the engine. It's a long term insurance policy.

If you want to know if the coolant is rated for diesel engines...it will say so on the bottle. It will also say made for heavy duty trucks or engines. Not light duty trucks. Also look for the specifications on back of the bottle from engine manufacturers or ASTM (see attachment).

 

[Matt_Jr]

It's probably not a diesel rated coolant...meaning it doesn't have SCAs or DCAs (supplemental or diesel coolant additive) which is specifically added to reduce the detrimental effects or cavitation in diesel engines. If you don't know I'm talking about, use your favorite search engine and search for "diesel cavitation" and you will have plenty of interesting reading. This is not a problem that happens overnight or even after 20,000 miles...it takes a while but when it does happen the affects will ruin the engine. It's a long term insurance policy.

If you want to know if the coolant is rated for diesel engines...it will say so on the bottle. It will also say made for heavy duty trucks or engines. Not light duty trucks. Also look for the specifications on back of the bottle from engine manufacturers or ASTM (see attachment).

Glad you mentioned that.