Antifreeze ?

[Double 6]

I have 51,000 miles on my Cummins and want to flush and change out the antifreeze.

The original stuff is a blue/green color and I was wanting to use something similar. Most of the parts stores have the bright green Prestone with silicates, or the pink Dex-Cool stuff.

What are you guys using when you change out the antifreeze?

 

[jwilliams3]

Orange Dexcool stuff.

Any name brand, havoline, prestone etc.





--Justin

 

[parcher]

I went to Cummins Northeast the other day to buy some filters and asked the service manager about antifreeze for a "B" engine. He said to use plain old ethyl-glycol (GREEN) because the b motor does not have wet sleeves nothing special is required. This is straight from Cummins Northeast in Albany, NY.

 

[Motorhead]

I have used the Delo-EC1 in my truck. It is Cummins approved and it will last 6years or 600,000 mi. At the three year mark, you add an extender package for the remaining three years.

 

[tschwab]

Dex-Cool (Havoline), good article in the TDR magazine about a year ago on this and the proper way to flush.

 

[DavidC]

Or you could use Fleetguards ES Compleat. The same people you trust for your filtering needs. It is compatible with every other anti-freeze and is suppose to be lifetime, plus any Cummins dealer should carry it and the extender.



Dave

 

[Pit Bull]

I've heard that almost all of the antifreeze is made in one factory (it's all the same) and then dyed for distributor preference.

 

[JohnE]

Originally posted by Pit Bull

I've heard that almost all of the antifreeze is made in one factory (it's all the same) and then dyed for distributor preference.

Close. Most of the ethylene-glycol comes from one (1) source.



Anti-freeze/coolant ADDITIVES vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. They add the dye.



I prefer the ELC or fully formulated myself. The cavitational erosion protection is one part (we don't need) but the Ph balancing really slows the solder bloom.



Disadvantage of ELC is you should not blend more than 5% of conventional formula to protect the extended (E of ELC) portion.



Disadvantage of fully formulated is that one should test minimum of every year. Is testing a bad thing? It gets you to check your cooling system on a regular basis.

 

[Ncostello]

I switched out to Rotella ELC coolant. I poured three gallons of distilled water throught the system until it ran clear out of the petcock. I let it drain completely. Then I poured one gallon of ELC and let it drain out to flush out any extra water. I know... a waste of money but it works. Then I just fill up with ELC premixed red coolant. I fill through the water neck opening on the top of the block. Its also a good time to check the thermostat.



I'm seriously considering adding a NAPA coolant filter head system to my engine. Dont know exactly where I'll plumb it in yet but I think it would be neat. Alot of times casting sand remains in blocks and just circulates around causing wear. Not much but 1 grain is too much to me. I also like the NapaKool additive. I know we dont need SCA's but it does more than prevent cavitation on wet sleeve engines.

 

[paccool]

I just did a complete flush using Fleetguard coolant system flush, Took about 2 hours to flush, not counting the clear water flush afterwards. Took 1/2 gallon for my truck, comes in 1 gallon jugs which will do a system with 10 gallons. Used half for 1 flush. Then I filled the system using the same as DavidC used. Fleetguard ES, which is a Propylene Glycol Coolant and is a lifetime coolant with new additives added once a year or as needed. Is Blue in color with a hint of green when pouring it in.

 

[Pit Bull]

The reason I don't deal with the antifreeze changes is I don't have the facilities to deal with all of the used antifreeze and all of the used contaminated water from flushing the system. Don't want to contaminate my ground water (I have to drink the stuff). What do you guys do with that amount of waste water? I alway leave this to the dealer since they have the machine to do the flush and fill. Never had a cooling system go bad using the scheduled maintenance and just having a dealer do it with the manufactures recommended antifreeze.