When I lived in Wyoming for a winter, I found out more about anti-freeze in a few hours than I would have learned in a lifetime. Not having lived in 60 degrees below zero weather, why would I know? I needed to learn a little more about antifreeze. Something that could protect us in lower than the typical 20 degrees most of us prepare for. We had a pickup truck with a Cummings Dodge diesel engine in it and wanted to use the correct anti freeze We liked the fact that it used the environmentally-friendly propylene glycol, and the term “Lifetime Heavy Duty”. My education in coolant was just beginning.
As is often said, oil is the lifeblood of engines. In fact, it’s so important, we can sometimes forget about the other lifeblood, coolant. Coolant is critical to the proper function of any engine, especially diesel engines. The new engines introduced by manufacturers in the last few years are designed to lower fuel consumption and meet current and future federal emissions laws. As a result, the cooling systems for these new designs must operate at much higher temperatures, making careful cooling system maintenance necessary to avoid engine damage due to boiling, deposits, or pitting. Improper mixtures of antifreeze can cause corrosion, rust, overheating, and even cylinder wall cavitation, which can turn into little pinholes-and that’s an engine’s death sentence.
The proper mixture of water to antifreeze (50/50 is recommended as a general starting point) doesn’t only protect the engine from freezing. It also lowers the boiling point. That’s very important in today’s high-tech motors, with radiators sometimes blocked by aftermarket bumpers, jacks, shovels, winches, and lights.
There are two types of antifreeze commonly available: Propylene glycol and ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is considered to be highly toxic, and is poisonous, so dispose of it carefully. Its alternative, propylene glycol, is a colorless, odorless liquid, which is generally recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition to its use in antifreeze, coolants, and aircraft de-icing fluids, it is also used in foods, fragrances, cosmetics, and personal care products.Propylene glycol is slightly less effective at lowering the freezing point though, so a little higher concentration must be used in extreme locations like Alaska or Siberia. However, for normal use it has a higher heat transfer efficiency. That’s an advantage when you’re lugging up a long, hot trail in low-range, or pulling a trailer over a pass where the signs warn, “Turn air conditioner off-next 8 miles.”
By now, you should be wondering how you can tell what’s in your cooling system. There are three important ways you can test. A refractometer can be used to determine the freezing point protection for ethylene glycol and propylene glycol. By placing a drop of your coolant on the refractometer’s viewing plate, (after first calibrating it with distilled water and using the internal scale), you can calculate the freezing temperature.
Specifically for diesel engines, there is a danger of cylinder cavitation or pitting. According to www.thedieselstop.com, this is a localized low-pressure zone that forms adjacent to the outer wall of the cylinder. It is caused by the flexing of the cylinder wall due to the high cylinder pressures experienced in diesel engine ignition. This fast cylinder wall movement causes a low-pressure zone to be created in the coolant adjacent to the cylinder wall. When this pressure zone drops below the vapor pressure point (temperature, coolant ratio, and additive dependant), a vapor bubble is formed. When this low-pressure zone returns to a high-pressure state, the vapor bubble collapses, causing an implosion, or pitting phenomena on the cylinder wall (like hitting the surface with a microscopic ball-peen hammer). If left unchecked, it will eventually eat all the way through the cylinder wall.
To prevent cavitation, a diesel engine’s coolant should be checked at regular intervals with a test kit such as the one of the four-part test strips kits. By simply dipping one of these test strips into your coolant and reading the chart, it will tell you the freezing point and the concentration, which in turn will determine the number of Supplemental Coolant Additive (SCA) units per gallon in the system. The test strips also measure pH levels. With this knowledge, you can add the appropriate amount of additive, antifreeze, or distilled water to bring the coolant back up to a safe level.
A third method of testing, and perhaps the best, is to have your coolant analyzed by a professional lab.
Having your coolant analyzed by a professional lab can alert you to easily correctable problems. It’s sort of like going to the doctor to have a blood panel done. High cholesterol? Just add a few units of XYX-37?, or maybe Lipitor might work better. More serious results could suggest a full transfusion (radiator drain and flush) with a quality 50/50 mix of propylene glycol.
Hopefully you get the idea. Being responsible to your coolant and cooling system is perhaps more important than changing your engine oil, since people tend to overlook it. You can bet your bottom dollar if you buy a rebuilt diesel engine from GotEngines.com, you will get instructions on engine installation and what anti freeze to use.
What choice you make in Diesel Engines for sale can be made very simple by Calling GotEngines.com @ 1-888-344-8044 and speak with an expert that is knowledgeable on every aspect of engines, an educated consumer makes better decisions and usually performs the proper maintenance procedures on time.
GotEngines.com @ 1-888-344-8044
Thanks for starting my education in coolant!
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