Coolant jelling

[LSteiner]

A friend of mine at the local volunteer fire dept. is in the middle of installing

a aircompressor for a soon to be grassfire truck. It is a 2005 2500 4wd.



After draining the coolant and letting it set for a couple days, he noticed it

seemed to be somewhat jelled near the bottom of the plastic pail. Asked how much,

he said he would estimate about a pint. He used towels to strain in thought before putting it back in the system and said it was like jello. I asked if he

tried to agitate it to see if it would mix back with the other coolant but he

said no.



Seems if it would do that it would also do it in the overflow tank and for that

matter anywhere in the coolant system after setting. Pretty sure there is no

problem otherwise there would have been much talk about it by now. But wondering

if anyone has run into this sort of thing before?



Thanks

Larry

 

[Scrappy]

It will probably re-liquefy as soon as the engine warmed up but I have never seen or heard of this before.

 

[JStieger]

It will probably re-liquefy as soon as the engine warmed up but I have never seen or heard of this before.

I had been worried with high potassium values in my oil analyses a few months ago and checked my coolant in my radiator for oil slicks. When I removed my radiator cap, I noticed this jello like substance on it as well is on some parts of the radiator fill neck. So I freaked out and had a coolant and oil analyses done at my next oil change. The results were everything was great. I've checked the radiator cap and neck since and nothing has returned for the past 15k miles.



The jello substance had the texture of wet soap scum or semi solid dish soap.



Weird!

 

[LSteiner]

Sounds almost like a built-in stopleak.



Thanks for your report!



Larry

 

[rbattelle]

A little more than a year ago I had my coolant flushed and replaced with top-of-the-line Fleetguard Propylene Glycol. I have about 2 gallons mixed up and ready to go in a gas can in the garage. It's been sitting there for about a year without any agitation. If I can remember I'll check it for gel when I get home.



-Ryan

 

[Big_H316]

I have read several times (can't remember where) that if you mix two different types of anti-freeze it will gel. I always flush my system out completely with 6 gallons of distilled water and then mix the factory recommended anti-freeze 50/50 with distilled water. No problems yet at 200k.

 

[Alan Reagan]

I have read several times (can't remember where) that if you mix two different types of anti-freeze it will gel. I always flush my system out completely with 6 gallons of distilled water and then mix the factory recommended anti-freeze 50/50 with distilled water. No problems yet at 200k.

Not only will it gel, the mixture is corrosive to the cooling system. I was looking at the effects of switching anti freeze when I changed on my 01. Checking various websites, I found one with the impacts of mixing the older types. I used the Fleetguard premix when I changed it out.



If you are going to change types, the system is supposed to be flushed thoroughly before putting the new type in.

 

[rbattelle]

Checked my coolant that I had sitting in a container for about a year. No gel that I could see. Fluid looked very good.



Before making the switch I asked Fleetguard about mixing the coolant with the factory HOAT formulation. I was told that, other than the color, there would be no adverse effects and no harmful reactions. The containers of Fleetguard coolant specifically state that it is 100% compatible with every other coolant on the market.



In the year since I installed the PG I have experienced no abnormal cooling system function.



-Ryan

 

[JStieger]

I have read several times (can't remember where) that if you mix two different types of anti-freeze it will gel. I always flush my system out completely with 6 gallons of distilled water and then mix the factory recommended anti-freeze 50/50 with distilled water. No problems yet at 200k.

The weird thing is that I've never added any coolant since new until after I cleaned the gel off the cap and took a sample. Added maybe a pint of makeup to the overflow recovery tank after with no ill affects.

 

[RM]

this information might be helpful http://www.motor.com/MAGAZINE/Articles/082004_04.html

 

[LSteiner]

Pretty interesting stuff.



Ryan;

Forgive me if I'm a little dense, but was that 2 gallons the original HOAT that used

to be in your truck or the Fleetguard PG?



Latest:

My friend brought a little sample of a somewhat dried up little puddle left in the bottom of the pail that the HOAT used to be in. It was like a flatwasher (yes, even

had a hole in the middle, probably the way the bucket/pail was molded).



This 'washer' was about 2" in diameter and maybe 1/32" thick. The interesting thing about it was it was pliable yet very tough. I tried tearing it at the edge but was not successful. Not the sort of thing you'd want floating around in your cooling system.



Of course, this is not to say that if the entire solution was poured back into the

cooling system it would not have returned to a completely liquid solution and

been just fine.



Thanks all for your above input.

Larry

 

[Alan Reagan]

LSteiner,



I don't know that the gel will be reabsorbed if added back to the cooling system. The website I saw was a Q&A on coolant types. It specifically referred to a GM video concerning DEXCOOL. If DEXCOOL is mixed, the video warned of possible gelling in the system. To me, that means that it would gel inside the cooling system. Right?



I haven't seen the video nor do I know how to find it.



The corrosion is caused when the inhibitors are essential cut in half due to mixing types. Finally, if DEXCOOL is used in a system it must be COMPLETELY FULL or there will be corrosion, especially in cast iron blocks where there is air. Supposedly, the DEXCOOL based coolants take several thousand miles to protect coolant passages from corrosion (according to the link in the above post).

 

[LSteiner]

Yes, thanks to ronmonical for that link, it's a keeper.



Based on all the good comments and that article, I'm beginning to think there was

some 'topping off' done somewhere/sometime. This is a new truck, not yet put into

service althought it has been driven a little.



Edit:

To clarify, I meant topping off with incorrect coolant.

End Edit:



The reason I'm suspecting a 'topping off' is I recall mine was furnished a little low. The overflow was about 1/3 full, this was not terrible but I just wanted it to be to the

full mark so I bought some of the Zerex and topped it off. Now in the case of the

vehicle in question it could have been topped off at the dealer. After all, a good

dealer would probably do that ( didn't on mine though ).



So I'm thinking the safe thing to do would be to simply flush the system and put

in a new load. I'll be printing this thread and they can decide what they wish to do.



Larry

 

[rbattelle]

Ryan;

Forgive me if I'm a little dense, but was that 2 gallons the original HOAT that used

to be in your truck or the Fleetguard PG?



Latest:

My friend brought a little sample of a somewhat dried up little puddle left in the bottom of the pail that the HOAT used to be in. It was like a flatwasher (yes, even

had a hole in the middle, probably the way the bucket/pail was molded).



This 'washer' was about 2" in diameter and maybe 1/32" thick. The interesting thing about it was it was pliable yet very tough. I tried tearing it at the edge but was not successful. Not the sort of thing you'd want floating around in your cooling system.



Of course, this is not to say that if the entire solution was poured back into the

cooling system it would not have returned to a completely liquid solution and

been just fine.

To clarify - it's the Fleetguard PG that I have sitting around. I no longer have any original HOAT stuff.



I changed out the HOAT because of what thousands (millions?) of GM owners experienced with Dexcool. I made the mistake of associating HOAT with Dexcool. Dexcool has a nasty nasty habit of gelling up if you add anything at all to it. It was originally invented to improve water pump life on GM vehicles, but in the end it actually ended up shortening the life. Modern Dexcool is a different formulation than the stuff I'm talking about; it's supposed to be more stable now.



HOAT is much different, and after I changed out to PG I sort of regretted it a little. I didn't think HOAT was very available, but now I notice it (or G-05... same stuff) all over auto parts stores. But I know the Fleetguard stuff is top-of-the-line. With all you guys talking about gelling problems with HOAT, maybe the switch to PG was a step up.



-Ryan

 

[JohnnyH]

Ryan... . Did you use the Compleat PG. I'm on the fleetguard website trying to figure out which coolant you used.

 

[rbattelle]

Ryan... . Did you use the Compleat PG. I'm on the fleetguard website trying to figure out which coolant you used.

Yup, ES Compleat PG premixed. Here's a pic of the concentrate bottle (I put the premix in, but bought concentrate for my spares because it's cheaper). It's blue - looks exactly like windshield washer solution.



-Ryan