What coolant do you use?

[Elkins45]

The manual for my 3800 says change coolant every two years but that seems excessive with today's high quality extended life formulas. What coolant do you use and how often do you change it?

 

[RjCorazza]

That's a normal interval for the "standard green" coolant that comes in all of the Kubota machines I've owned.
The first coolant service gets Zerex G05 hybrid coolant with a five year service interval. There are other long life coolants that are popular, with even longer intervals.
I would read up on various coolant chemistries, as some are made specifically for closed to air systems (pressurized recovery tanks). GM DexCool comes to mind as one that has been problematic in systems that are exposed to air.

 

[Chewwy]

The manual for my 3800 says change coolant every two years but that seems excessive with today's high quality extended life formulas. What coolant do you use and how often do you change it?

So does the manual for my L3240. It also calls for flushing the coolant system every 2 years.

I did mine after 15 years. Don’t recall what coolant I used for the change. That was ctainly excessive, but whenever I checked the coolant it had no indication of rust (still bright colored) and exceeded the freeze protection needed for my area. I only use that machine around 30 hours a year and it had never overheated during use.

BTW, the belt around the water pump and alternator is still original equipment.

 

[jonsstihl]

I may get flack for this but I use John Deere coolgard 50-50 mix. and I change every 5 years. the test strips are expensive and they expire quickly so I figured just changing it was cheaper in the long run. plus I did the first change in 2020 so it is easy to remember next change is in 2030. bottle says its good for six years but the easy to remember interval is what I'm after.

 

[Smokeydog]

Just changed the original coolant in 2016 B26. 850 hours. Bright green and clear in catch bucket. Few small solids but maybe from draining splash. Core looked brand new looking down from pressure cap. Flushed with water. Added flush made with 50% distilled vinegar, used till operating temperature for about an hour and waited over night. Clear. Next day extensively flushed water several times. Added green Prestone 50% with distilled water. Coolant says good for 10years or 300,000miles.

Honestly don’t understand changing every two years for my usage. Do think modern coolants are better than older types.

Don’t forget to clean and fill the overflow container.

 

[Chewwy]

The owners manual for both my Chevy truck and my wife’s Chevy SUV recommend draining and refilling the cooling system every 150,000 miles. That’s every 10 years based on average annual mileage of 15,000. Not clear why a tractor should so much different.

 

[Elkins45]

I used the Rural King house brand coolant the last (which was also the first) time I changed it two years ago. I think I'll do one more change with it just to use it up, then switch to one of the long life formulas.