Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) coolant water ratio

[gjacobs]

here's the dumb question for the day:

-what is the recomended coolant to water ratio

-much appreciated

 

[illflem]

The only dumb question is one you don't ask.

50/50 with distilled water preferred. Mix it before you add it to the radiator so you don't change the ratio if the system doesn't take as many gallons as it's supposed to.

 

[MLee]

coolant/water

well, acording to the book,(ownrs manual) you want a 50/50 for the proper mix. go in to the forum and do a search, theres a lot of advice, and ideas. just remember you will not all 28qts out of your engine. there is so many low areas, the engine is slopped to the rear, unless you stand it on its head,thats the only way to get all out. have fun, but instead of water out of the tap,use distilled water. it issupposed to keep the deposits down.

just my pennys worth

Marv.

 

[The patriot]

I got the Rotella ELC for a good price. I dont have to worry about mixing it, it comes 50/50.

I was told that if you run this, be sure to get as much of the old (green) stuff out as possible.

They dont like each other.

Eric

 

[gjacobs]

I sure appreciate ya'lls time. The goat started to leak coolant pretty bad and I traced it to the water pump. After replacing the pump I decided to flush the radiator. I drained a 5 gallon bucket of old then when i was replacing the new it only held two gallons of anti. I was expecting it to take 2. 5 of water and 2. 5 gallons of anti. Even ran it for about 15 min to maybe open up the thermostat. Do not know, but something to do tomarrow in the daylight!

 

[drees1]

ELC a no -no???

I noticed Patriot is running ELC. I ran a CAT truck shop for over 3 years and am convinced that ELC is the best in terms of keeping the system clean and deposit free. But on the heavy trucks like L10, M11, N14 etc, I thought Cummins stated no ELC, it would destroy o ring seals. (CAT says to use it) Who knows about this, and does it apply to our B engines? I like ELC but have been running the heavy duty green stuff and flushing every year.



Has any one ran ELC in a B for 5yrs or more and found it ok?



Doug Rees

 

[The patriot]

I dunno, maybe youre right Doug. I spoke to a Cummins dealer and they didnt object to it though.

Actually they told me it's good stuff, but did say to get all the old stuff out real good first.

Eric

 

[bnelson]

No one mentioned this-- If you have too high a ratio of anti-freeze to water (over 2/3's anti-freeze) the mixture will not cool the engine. Water and water & anti-freeze (@50-50 mix) both absorb heat, and release heat well. The coolant absorbs heat from the engine, and releases it via the radiator. Too much anti-freeze in the mix and it absorbs heat very well, but does not release the heat . Think of how simple it would be to have the lubricating oil also flow through the cooling system, eliminating the need for a separate mixture for coolant. The problem is that while oil absorbs heat VERY well, it released heat very very slowly; to the point of being not usable as a coolant in applications like internal combustion engines.

 

[JohnE]

The Extended Life Coolants (ELC) or organic acid formulas are relatively unchanged in the past 15 years. The engines however have changed. Cummins started upgrading rubber seals & o-rings about 10 years ago to survive the ELC formulations.



It takes very little conventional ethylene glycol (EG) coolant to contaminate the ELC. I believe the ELC producers say 5%. It doesn't ruin the coolant, but simply removes the extended life properties.



My experience with ELC (OEM) is that it will find any possible means to escape. A slightly loose fitting or low grade rubber seal will produce a tremendous leak.



IMHO, the absolute best coolant is a 100% propylene glycol formulation.



diesel on

-John

 

[fortunate1]

Distilled Water...

I know that distilled water is the best mixer for the 50/50 coolant that we want to have end up circulating in our block & radiator. But if I flush the radiator, heater core, engine block, and all the hoses, how am I supposed to do THAT with distilled water? I use a hose to do the flushing, and that's the water that will be left in the lower recesses of the cooling system. There's not a real good way to remove ALL the coolant from ALL the system, so far as I know. Then adding coolant & distilled water will still leave some tap water in the mixture. I do believe that the flushing is an important step in the coolant replacement, and that omitting that step is a mistake. Any ideas??

 

[MLee]

well the way that i did it, was to use a 21/2 gal container of distilled water and put food coloring in it so it can be seen when it comes out of the block. another thing i did when i was mixing the 50/50 was to check the strength of the mix with antifreeze tester before i put in. but if you use the premix you'll just have to figure out how to get the proper freeze level. i hope this helps

Marv.

 

[fortunate1]

Marv, what kind of flush pressure can you generate with a 2-1/2 gal. container? And you're right about still needing to end up with the proper mix ratio of 50/50 while remembering that there's still some clean flush water left in the lower parts of the system.

 

[MLee]

i just poured it in, now you have distilled water in the engine, or mostly, you've already pressure flushed it. your not going to get 100% of the water out any way. if you do it your self, this the bridge that you have to cross. with the 50/50 mix there might be a problem with the strength, if you want to have it done by a shop that does the pressure thing, were they power it through, then that is what you might have to do. but it is not cheap.

Marv.

 

[Eric_77]

Originally posted by bnelson

Think of how simple it would be to have the lubricating oil also flow through the cooling system, eliminating the need for a separate mixture for coolant. The problem is that while oil absorbs heat VERY well, it released heat very very slowly; to the point of being not usable as a coolant in applications like internal combustion engines.

Suzuki began doing this in mid 80s with thier race-replica mchines and contiune today with their sport touring bikes.

It can be done but it requires a fairly large "radiator" as the oil passages are bigger so to get same surface area of "radiator" the whole thing must be bigger so when power went over about 175hp per liter the additional weight and size made water cooling the answer for race bikes.

 

[JJW_ND]

DRees1...Not quite 5 years

Doug I ran it for about 2. 5 years and 100K miles. I looked almost like new when I drained it. I put in Fleetguard Complete. I change every 100K. I too think it is very good stuff. I did read something awhile back from Cummins that the ELC coolants are fine to run.



I would not worry.



I was doing 45 - 50K per year back then and could not see changing the antifreeze every year as cool as these 12V trucks run.



jjw

ND