?? About Antifreze

[AlbertC]

I have a 1999 new holland 3930. I am going to change the antifreeze and according to the manual you are supposed to ad an "inhibitor" with the antifreeze water solution. I asked my new holland dealer about this and he said they didn't have any and to not worry about it, just to put a good quality antifreeze in the tractor.

Any opinions about this? I feel they wouldn't have specifically mentioned the need to add this inhibitor in the manual if it was not needed, but on the other hand,maybe antifreeze has improved since my tractor was made and the inhibitor is no longer needed.

What do you think.

Thanks

 

[drizler]

I'm about sure all antifreeze's have corrosion inhibitors in them. Supposedly those are what actually wears out in old anti freeze.

 

[TractorTech]

Albert, the dealer should have had it and it is a concern on ALL diesels. He could have said 'any good diesel antifreeze' would have been more correct. FW15 from New Holland *which the dealer should have) added to good standard antifreezes is one solution. Diesel antifreeze can be purchased at an auto or truck parts store.

 

[BTDT2]

Most of today's premium extended coolants such as Caterpillar's ELC do not require inhibitors and the change intervals have increased to thousands of hours and two to six years depending upon the coolant and usage. On a side note the term "coolant" is fast overtaking the term anti-freeze as the engine manufacturer's continue to increase engine operating temperatures to reduce emissions. The days of using water as an engine coolant are long gone due to the high operating temperature limits of today's engines. Bottom line- In today's world I agree with the dealer... if you use a brand name extended life diesel engine coolant you don't need to add inhibitors on the initial fill. jc

 

[Egon]

If your tractor has a wet sleeve anti cavitation additives are used in the coolant.

In the past few years the coolants have changed so I sure you use the proper one.

 

[Deere Dude]

Albert, the dealer should have had it and it is a concern on ALL diesels. He could have said 'any good diesel antifreeze' would have been more correct. FW15 from New Holland *which the dealer should have) added to good standard antifreezes is one solution. Diesel antifreeze can be purchased at an auto or truck parts store.

That is a new one to me. I never heard of "Diesel antifreeze," and I had diesels a long long time. I'll have to check that out. I always thought there was the green antifreeze and the newer orange for aluminum blocks engines. I better quit there before I show my igoranse.

 

[3930dave]

Like Egon said, cavitation corrosion can be be an issue in certain diesel engines.

http://www.advantageengineparts.com/pdfs/CavitationErosion.pdf

Older formulations of coolant relied on SCA (or DCA) additives to deal with this issue. As stated well already, the newer good quality formulations of extended life diesel coolants deal with cavitation corrosion issues, w/o needing SCA added.

Ex. Chevron Delo ELC

https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=76884&docFormat=PDF

Less commonly an issue, but I've read that cavitation corrosion can also occur in certain gasoline engines.

The belt-and-suspenders approach (which I agree with) is "If you have a diesel engine, use a coolant that offers cavitation corrosion protection". It's way cheaper to have it, and not need it, than the other way around.....

Lots of good diesel ELCs out there now. One of the reasons I went with Delo is that it will tolerate the presence of other coolants (25% max) better than some earlier ELC formulations.

Rgds, D.

 

[Spanky100]

Albert

Some of the information above talks about wet sleeve cylinder bore liner "cavitation" erosion. If your tractor engine has wet sleeve bore liners you normally either need to add a supplement to the coolant or buy a coolant that has the Supplemental Coolant Additives (SCAs) included. The other option would be to use a coolant that controls the cavitation erosion without the Supplemental Coolant Additives (SCAs). Either way I would suggest to use a "long life" coolant. The long life coolants still use ethylene glycol to increase the boiling point and decrease the cooling point but have a different corrosion package. Many use Organic Acid Technology (OAT). Look up Peak Final Charge on their website. Other are available as well.

I just changed my tractor engine coolant which does not have wet sleeve bore liners. I used Peak Brand Final Charge Nitrate Free Extended Life Engine Coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water. It controls the erosion/corrosion without adding SCAs. They also have a version that has the SCAs added. Final Charge meets the specification of many HD Diesel Truck and Engine Manufacturer's. For off road engines from memory it is rated for up to 8 years and 20,000 hours. I will never get close to 20,000 hours but the 8 year change interval is desirable. Standard life coolants are typically rated for two years change life. When you change your coolant be sure to flush out the old coolant with clean water so none of the old coolant is remaining. Might be good to use a cleaning flush to clean the system. I see Preston brand at most auto parts stores.

Take care and remember that engine coolants are toxic. Do not leave it open or in a puddle on the ground where children / people, pets, and animals can get to.

Wayne

 

[TractorTech]

Albert, the dealer should have had the coolant or additive in stock, in my opinion, but at least differentiated between plain old green coolant, like Prestone and those designed for diesels.
Ford tractors' older blocks were heavy cast and didn't suffer from liner pitting. Later blocks were lightened up and reinforced. You can see this in your 3930 in the 'X' pattern on the block sides. They are not wet sleeved blocks either, but both wet sleeve and parent bore blocks are susceptible to liner pitting.
As was stated, it is cheap insurance to use a coolant designed for diesels, and as Wayne stated, for a little more money, extended life coolant is the way to go.
In the farming industry where there is hired labor, ELC's are great until someone starts adding water or cheap coolant to them. Then the purpose is defeated.

 

[Kioti Lee]

That is a new one to me. I never heard of "Diesel antifreeze," and I had diesels a long long time. I'll have to check that out. I always thought there was the green antifreeze and the newer orange for aluminum blocks engines. I better quit there before I show my igoranse.

Long time diesel user and never heard of special anti freeze. Learn a lot of things I should have known on this site. Will be changing anti freeze in truck and tractor soon. Thanks

 

[MORRISONSTEEL]

Fully formulated coolants typically do not require a conditioner additive (assuming you use the appropriate one). Conditioner additives are added once you have checked glycol level, inhibiter level, and pH. You can do this with test strips that "most" ag dealers should have. Blindly adding conditioner/inhibitors w/ out testing may lead to coolant gelation. This would typically be something that you would test once a year or so and add as dictated by the test strips. Will still use a refractometer for freeze point testing. The additives have lots of names, conditioner, inhibiter, extender, etc. If you are concerned I would get some test strips and check it out, they will tell you if you need to add anything to it. Good Luck

 

[TractorTech]

Fully formulated coolants typically do not require a conditioner additive (assuming you use the appropriate one). Conditioner additives are added once you have checked glycol level, inhibiter level, and pH. You can do this with test strips that "most" ag dealers should have. Blindly adding conditioner/inhibitors w/ out testing may lead to coolant gelation. This would typically be something that you would test once a year or so and add as dictated by the test strips. Will still use a refractometer for freeze point testing. The additives have lots of names, conditioner, inhibiter, extender, etc. If you are concerned I would get some test strips and check it out, they will tell you if you need to add anything to it. Good Luck

Very true if it is a "fully formulated coolant", but the dealer said "any good quality antifreeze", which would imply to most people Napa or Walmart or Prestone standard antifreeze/coolant. If that is what is utilized, then an additive is necessary. And yes there is a whole procedure of testing, etc. once you go down that road. But it is an alternative as a fresh start, standard antifreeze with conditioner (read fhe labels, do your research) would have been a route as the manual was stating. It does tell you what ratios to start with and what quantity to top off with to keep it up. Risking gelling is better than none at all.
Bottom line, just as in the motor oil, make sure the coolant is formulated for your diesel engine if you are going to buy it, then you don't need the additive conditioner.
I think everyone has contributed to this conversation as to the importance of quality products in your tractor and that a person shouldn't just assume all coolants are the same.

 

[JRobyn]

Before I changed my Kubota coolant a few years ago, I had several recommendations for NAPA "Fleet Charge" as a Diesel-spec antifreeze with the appropriate additive package for diesel engines. It's been in there for at least 3 years with no issues so far! I was very particular about getting all the old (original OEM) stuff out and flushing with plenty of clean, clear water before refill, just to be sure there weren't any compatibility issues.

- Jay