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My WSM says 50/50 PT Coolant. It does talk about using an inhibitor, but says not to use it with coolant? Just water then? I was really hoping my tractor and Taco used the same coolant since my tractor uses a whopping 3.2 qts. and I have added a whole 1/6th of a gallon of the pink stuff from the jug I bought 2 years ago in my taco.

It also tells you how to fill your tires with Calcium Chloride as well... Haha it lists the firing order as 1-2 lol.

 

Filling the tires with calcium chloride was a thing years ago, corrosive to the wheels but it was a thing.
If your radiator isn’t brass actually I using the pink wouldn’t hurt it, I’m a Toyota forklift tech, the pink is factory fill in these of all sizes, but unless it’s warranty we just tip off or fill with green as the cost is high on the pink. Even as a dealer. asfor firing order, gotta start somewhere…

 

Yeah, that's why I was chuckling to myself.

Firing order on a 2 cylinder seems... self explanatory IMO.

For the coolant, I'll just grab a jug of Prestone next time I am out.

 

All this coolant talk got me to thinking. I read in the manual when I bought this 1993 Ford 4630 they made a coolant conditioner and I was changing all the fluids and filters so I grabbed a bottle at the dealer.




The coolant is the only thing I never got around to changing. Found the receipt in the manual, I bought it in 2016



I need to change it and add that conditioner……..soon.

 

So I got to operate my buddies Kioti today.
Its different, a lot of similarities as far as control operation, loader control position is to close to right side of seat to the point trying to operate the foot controls was a challenge to not leg the bucket over. Seating position is too far forward for me, felt like I was straddling the steering wheel.
I’m 6’4” and my Kubota is cozy comfy.
The Kioti seemed to have good power and it lifts way higher than my Kubota does. My Kubota is 25 years old, so there have been changes over time.
He likes it, that’s the important part

 

Now I don't feel bad.

 

That’s what I do, make people feel better

 

When I was a diesel truck mechanic the 855 Cummins engines I worked on had a coolant filter that had a pellet in it with the anti-cavitation erosion additive in it. The Detroit 60 series engines I worked on later on had a bottle of additive you added at every other service.

 

I wonder what the active ingredient was?

Most inhibitors are some sort of base(high) pH chemical. I'm betting it's nothing more than a weak caustic, maybe a bicarb solution as well. Both clean very well .

It will reduce corrosion if the pH is higher than neutral, it will reduce foaming if it's not above 8 pH.

Any time you have dissimilar metals in contact or in the same environment, an acid condition will occur.

Acids go after metals.

Bases don't bother metals at all .

On the other hand, acids clean scale , but you need to have that coolant returned to a non acid state when done cleaning .

 

I don’t know if that bottle says, I’ll look at it in the morning.

 

Quoting Amsoil:

"For years, formulators have added metallic salts, like nitrites and molybdenates, to coolant that attach themselves to the liner and form a sacrificial layer.

When the coolant bubbles implode, the metallic salts absorb the pressure and break off from the liner surface rather than the metal itself."
https://blog.amsoil.com/do-i-need-a-diesel-coolant-additive/

 

That is hilarious! They tell you nothing with $5 dollar words!

I really enjoyed that!

 

At 30 years old it probably called out what is now called "conventional green" coolant. This is what I would stick with.
I did quite a bit of study on this some years ago, my take on it without writing a novel:

Conventional coolant is designed to protect by forming a film on the metal, in older vehicles the rad was the highest point and there was an air space, the metal was protected by the film.

Newer vehicles are designed with zero air space, modern long life coolants are no longer designed to film, they will form a corrosive fog in the rad air space of an older vehicle.

 

It's actually valid info. Here's what Fleetguard say about using additive test strips.

 

Also I had forgotten about using test strips on the Detroit 60s. We checked them with strips to determine if they needed the additive, It replenished the Molybdate and Nitrate that protects the cylinder liners.

 

Still no real information. The breakdown of coolant and the development of scale is a chemical reaction.

The inhibitors in the coolant stop/slow the reaction.

Obviously stopping the breakdown of the coolant and preventing scale is much better than having to clean a system after the above have developed.

The nitrates are oxygen scavengers, thus preventing the creation of carbolic acid in a high heat environment.

The molybdates coat the system reducing the chance of corrosion if the pH goes low.

The metallic salt description is new to me. I know what it is, but I don't know it's roll as a coolant inhibitor. I'm going research that.

I am enjoying the conversation.

 

This isn't about scale prevention at all. This is about cavitation erosion prevention of the cylinder liners. The additive is a shock absorber to reduce the blow of the harmonic disintegration of the liner.
https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2015/03/cavitation-erosion-in-diesel-cylinders/

 

I think we got off track.

Didn't you show pics of a scaled up rad?

Let's back track and leave the big rig maintenance routines out of the conversation.

I'm still enjoying the direction of the thread.

As long as someone learned it's better to keep up on maintenance, than trying to repair a failed maintenance procedure, I think our work will be appreciated.

 

IAT: Inorganic Acid Technology -- this is conventional green coolant
IAT protects well but doesn't last too long (2years/30K appx) As vehicles got more difficult and correspondingly more expensive to work on longer life products were developed.

OAT: Organic Acid Technology -- GM Dex-Cool was the first I believe & Prestone "one fits all"

HOAT: Hybrid Organic Acid Technology -- Ford and Chrysler started with these around 1999


Japan/Europe did a whole bunch of different things -- Amine, Nitrate, Phosphate, Borate, etc. I only researched it enough to make a decision for the Subaru, the first imported car I ever owned.

 

I have read some about that, I believe this is part of why running even slightly low on coolant is deadly to modern (passenger) engines too.