Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Antifreeze

[bwfairchild]

Purchased 2002 truck new. Need to add antifreeze. What type of antifreeze should be added to existing antifreeze?

 

[Turbo Horseman]

What ever brand you use make sure its designed specifically for use in diesel engines.

 

[Ram_Kowboy]

You need a LOW silicate (sp?) anti freeze. Do not use the high silicate automotive anti freeze.

 

[TPlasek]

Out of curiosity, what does the low silicate do for you that the high doesn't. I honestly don't know...

 

[dremelts]

I'm just going by my poor memory but I believe the silicates will turn corrosive. There is an excellent article in issue #35 (I think). Also, the silicates will coat the metal surfaces and insulate them, reducing the ability of the anti-freeze to transfer heat out of the engine and into the radiator.

 

[TomGolden]

I personally have been using Fleetguard Compleat from Cummins West in Sacramento, CA. It is a 50/50% pre-mix, all ready to dump right in the radiator. Cost is around $7. 50/gallon as I recall.



Tom

 

[dremelts]

I need to correct my earlier post. I went back and re-read the TDR article because I flushed my cooling system Sat. The silicates are actually added to prevent corrosion, but the problem is, as I correctly stated in the earlier post, they coat the metal surfaces and reduce heat transfer.



I replaced the coolant with Fleetgard from Cummins.

 

[ed9824v]

does anyone know off hand if Prestone in low silicate???

 

[Larry Willard]

I used the Traveler brand from Tractor Supply in both the 2nd gens I had.
Larry

 

[AnOldBiker]

Per the 2002 FSM:

ETHYLENE-GLYCOL MIXTURES
CAUTION: Richer antifreeze mixtures cannot be measured with normal field equipment and can cause problems associated with 100 percent ethylene-glycol.
The required ethylene-glycol (antifreeze) and water mixture depends upon the climate and vehicle oper- ating conditions. The recommended mixture of 50/50 ethylene-glycol and water will provide protection against freezing to -37 deg. C (-35 deg. F). The anti- freeze concentration must always be a minimum of 44 percent, year-round in all climates. If percentage is lower than 44 percent, engine parts may be eroded by cavitation, and cooling system components may be severely damaged by corrosion. Maximum protection against freezing is provided with a 68 percent antifreeze concentration, which prevents freezing down to -67.7 deg. C (-90 deg. F). A higher percentage will freeze at a warmer tempera- ture. Also, a higher percentage of antifreeze can cause the engine to overheat because the specific heat of antifreeze is lower than that of water.

Use of 100 percent ethylene-glycol will cause for- mation of additive deposits in the system, as the cor- rosion inhibitive additives in ethylene-glycol require the presence of water to dissolve. The deposits act as insulation, causing temperatures to rise to as high as 149 deg. C (300) deg. F). This temperature is hot enough to melt plastic and soften solder. The increased temperature can result in engine detona- tion. In addition, 100 percent ethylene-glycol freezes at 22 deg. C (-8 deg. F ).

PROPYLENE-GLYCOL MIXTURES
It’s overall effective temperature range is smaller than that of ethylene-glycol. The freeze point of 50/50 propylene-glycol and water is -32 deg. C (-26 deg. F). 5 deg. C higher than ethylene-glycol’s freeze point. The boiling point (protection against summer boil- over) of propylene-glycol is 125 deg. C (257 deg. F ) at 96.5 kPa (14 psi), compared to 128 deg. C (263 deg. F) for ethylene-glycol. Use of propylene-glycol can result in boil-over or freeze-up on a cooling sys- tem designed for ethylene-glycol. Propylene glycol also has poorer heat transfer characteristics than ethylene glycol. This can increase cylinder head tem- peratures under certain conditions.

Propylene-glycol/ethylene-glycol Mixtures can cause the destabilization of various corrosion inhibitors, causing damage to the various cooling system compo- nents. Also, once ethylene-glycol and propylene-glycol based coolants are mixed in the vehicle, conventional methods of determining freeze point will not be accu- rate. Both the refractive index and specific gravity dif- fer between ethylene glycol and propylene glycol.