| Author | Message | ||
| Russell Beam (Rcbeam)
Registered Member Username: Rcbeam Post Number: 56 Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 72.250.169.58  Rating: N/A |
P/O removed all bus heat and air except for the drivers defroster. I have a shop working on the two motors now. Finally plugged the lines where the main heater core was and opened the two gate valves. I bled the little bleed port on top of the def core until no air bubbles. The antifreeze in the bus is green. Have no idea what it is. I added three gallons of regular prestone so far, but that is not enough. After reading some posts here and on the other board I went to the DD shop and bought 6 gallons of diesel antifreeze. What I bought was the premixed with all the stuff. It is red. Only took another gallon to bring up to the drain port on the surge tank. Anyway, I am concerned about what makes up the rest of the antifreeze in the system. I do not want to drain and replace 30 gallons at $9.66/gl plus tax. Is there some test I can take on the solution in the system to see if it has enough of the proper conditioners etc? I don't want to ruin my 8V71. Also should I bleed any other places for air bubbles? Thanks guys, Russell MC8, Lexington, Ky. | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1050 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
You do not mix red with the green go to Freightliner (DD) and buy the heavy duty green stuff your going to have to change now maybe 1 gal of the red may not hurt you but it will turn to slime if you add enough red been there done that and have the tee shirt the green is not going to hurt your engine thats all they had for years before the designer colors came along now a 4 stroke it's a different ball game good luck (Message edited by luvrbus on March 02, 2011) (Message edited by luvrbus on March 02, 2011) | ||
| Cory hart (Chart1)
Registered Member Username: Chart1 Post Number: 60 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 66.203.229.1  Rating: N/A |
Luvrbus.. So for the 2 stroke 8v71 dd the color doesn't matter as long as to not mix red with green. | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1051 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
A good heavy duty green antifreeze works in 2 stroke fine I always bought mine from FreightLiner or other truck parts store never bought any from Auto Zone because I could never figure out what I was buying lol only advantage I see running the longlife red antifreeze is 5 year change out instead of 3 not worth the price difference to me plus the 8v71 are dry liner engines no contact with the antifreeze good luck | ||
| Bill Gerrie (Bill_gerrie)
Registered Member Username: Bill_gerrie Post Number: 444 Registered: 3-2006 Posted From: 216.198.139.38  Rating: N/A |
71 series engines are dry liners so a good grade of diesel anti-freeze works fine. What you have to watch out for is in the 92 series engines is they are a wet liner so should run Detroits own brand. It is formulated differently to prevent cavitation. Same on wet liner 4 stroke engines. I didn't believe that anti-freeze would actually drill a hole in a liner till I saw the results in a Cummins engine that I overhauled. The anti-freeze vibrates rapidly against the liners and it is as if a person drilled a hole through it. They call it cavitation. The extra few dollars for the proper anti-freeze in a wet liner engine is worth it. Bill | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1052 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
Same spec for antifreeze for a 92 series as a 71 I wouldn't call a 92 series a true wet liner per say 2 inches of a 11 tall inch liner touching the coolant. I never bought a new 92 series in trucks or equipment that didn't have the green stuff,I am hard sale on the designer color for a 2 stroke being around the engines for +50 years set in my ways so to speak good luck | ||
| Russell Beam (Rcbeam)
Registered Member Username: Rcbeam Post Number: 58 Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 74.131.51.40 Rating: N/A |
Jeez-o-Pete. You would have thought the DD mechanic would have known not to mix red and green. I told him green was in it already. He knows my bus, knows it's a two stroke. OK, so I guess now I return 5 gals on red and buy heavy duty green. So I'll ask part of my question again. Is there some test I should make on the antifreeze that is in there to be sure it has enough of the proper additives for my 8V71? Thx again. Russell | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1053 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
While your there buy you some test strips and start adding additives and see where you are at only way I know hopefully you can get it balanced you never know till you try it's in your DD manual on where it needs to be (Message edited by luvrbus on March 02, 2011) | ||
| Dal Farnworth (Dallas)
Registered Member Username: Dallas Post Number: 405 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 67.141.71.22  Rating: N/A |
Russell, Most people use a float gauge... the ones that look like a suck tube with a rubber bulb on one end, and some floaty balls inside. They are notoriously inaccurate, and I haven't used one since the 1970's. My preference is to use a refractometer,(SP), It will read, ACCURATELY, both the antifreeze level and the battery specific gravity level. http://www.google.com/#q=refractometer&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tb s=shop:1&tbo=u&sa=X&psj=1&ei=2cBuTZPYEcmUtweYksiCDw&ved=0CG4QrQQ&biw=1280&bih=804&bav=on.2 ,or.&fp=89e96c95c947f3f0 You can also buy them to work for beer.... which would be a good thing. | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 1458 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 66.82.9.15  Rating: N/A |
If the cylinder liners do not tough the antifreeze (8V71), green Prestone will do fine. ONLY use distilled water as make up water. FF | ||
| Mel La Plante (Mel_4104)
Registered Member Username: Mel_4104 Post Number: 152 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 173.180.126.136 Rating: N/A |
go to your DD dealer and get the anti freeze that is made for the 2- stroke. it is not much more than car stuff but has the proper additive required for the DD motors also as FF said use ONLY distilled water in your rad. this alone will extend the life of your cooling system greatly | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1054 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
R/O water works just as good as distilled water don't waste your cash unless you are using the red long life that is the reason for distilled water to make the antifreeze last longer sales BS, DD never called for distilled water in the old engines,read the da book good luck | ||
| Jim Wilke (Jim Bob) (Pd41044039)
Registered Member Username: Pd41044039 Post Number: 602 Registered: 2-2001 Posted From: 184.0.13.120  Rating: N/A |
RO water is NOT the same as distilled. RO water is hungry for minerals and will cause erosion in engines OR household plumbing systems. Large yachts found this out and spent big $$ to repair machinery. RO should only be in plastic tubing. | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1055 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
Not going to get in a contest here but read the book 4 pages there and that is what the water filters and chemicals are for good luck | ||
| les marston (Les_marston)
Registered Member Username: Les_marston Post Number: 293 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 68.151.225.213  Rating: N/A |
Any water that is low on dissolved solids will be somewhat on the aggressive side. Water is a natural solvent and as such wants to contain dissolved mineral. Both distilling and any membrane purified water will have a lower P.H. than the source raw water had, but really the best quality you are going to get out of a domestic distiller or R.O. system is about 4 ppm or 20,000 ohms of resistance, neither of them are going to be aggressive enough to do any damage to the cooling system to a coach. What either of them wont have is any hard (Catatonic) mineral that could leave calcium deposits or react with the sequestering agents in the anti freeze leaving it available to keep the system clean. So go ahead and use either distilled or R.O. if you want. Les The Water guy | ||
| Don Evans (Doninwa)
Registered Member Username: Doninwa Post Number: 289 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 208.81.157.234  Rating: N/A |
Distilled water at Wally World is all of 64 cents a gallon. Don't know what antifreeze is going for today, but a few bucks for the water sounds pretty cheep. To run that much water from our RO system would require WAY more patience than I have. Don 4107 | ||
| les marston (Les_marston)
Registered Member Username: Les_marston Post Number: 294 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 68.151.225.213 Rating: N/A |
Then you need some help with your R.O. Don. What is the number on the waste water capillary... that will tell me what the membrane is rated for and from there I can tell you what it should be making for volume. Les | ||
| Russell Beam (Rcbeam)
Registered Member Username: Rcbeam Post Number: 60 Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 74.131.51.40 Rating: N/A |
I went to my friend that is the head mechanic at one of the local tour bus operations, and he said that he has mixed the red and green and never had an issue. He suggested that I use the 5 remaining gals of red as needed (right now I only probably need 1 more gal) and get test strips to test the antifreeze and buy additives to bring it up to where it should be and not worry about it. He said that you cannot buy green 'heavy duty diesel' antifreeze anymore. It is all red. So, some say it's ok to mix, some say no. The prestone tech guy of course said drain it all out and get new. I'm not doing that. Some say green is ok, but green would be 'automotive' antifreeze. So do I get automotive antifreeze and add addtives? Do I buy the red? What do I do about the 29 gals of green that is already in there? Now I'm no further along that when I started. It seems to me there should be one right answer. Frustrated in Ky. Russell Lexington Ky MC8 1976 | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1057 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.43.204 Rating: N/A |
You can buy the heavy duty green at Freightliner it sold under their house brand Alliance I bought 6 gals (case) today in Neeedles Ca a small dealer | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 1460 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 66.82.9.99 Rating: N/A |
Folks with the cheap green stuff like Prestone CAN add the chemicals to protect from cavitation. Most antifreeze is like oil, 20% is an additive package that does wear out. Most antifreeze makers suggest dumping it after 2 years. FF |