| Author |
Message |
steve souza (Stevebnut) (24.91.79.43)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 8:30 pm: | |
when the weather breaks this spring i will be flushing the radiator in my 75 am general.
6v71 detroit ran warm (over 200) towing my ranger pickup this summer and i do not want to ruin the motor.
Can anyone recomend a good radiator flush product that you have used and like the result?
da book says oakite??
thank you Steve |
jim mci-9 (209.240.205.60)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 8:59 pm: | |
detroit diesel sells a 2-part flush cleaner..... it works great... you mix 1 part...run the engine... drain.. then mix the other part.. run again... get ready for all the nasty stuff...then flush with clean water... use dd's antifreeze.... mix it 60/40...use test strips to keep it balanced.... |
FAST FRED (65.154.176.245)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 5:44 am: | |
Jims got it right
"...then flush with clean water..."
but the cleaner combo will break loose lots of crud, so flush & flush & flush.
Da Book talks of draining every night with refill in the AM , so its OK to drive a DD on plain water a while. We flush a couple of times and take a 30 min run to get everything circulating , then flush 2 more times.
At the last (after 5 or 6 total ) flushes there is still some tiny gunk , but in two years we will be doing it again , so thats clean enough.
Works for me,
FAST FRED |
steve souza (Stevebnut) (24.91.79.43)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 1:26 pm: | |
thanks men
I knew better than to try and use an automotive cleaner in it.
Most automotive cleaners don't work so well anyhow.
Do you use distilled water for the final antifreeze mix?
That is what i do in my cars, 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water.
It helps to stop the formation of mineral deposits.
thanks again--Steve |
FAST FRED (63.234.23.185)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 3:38 pm: | |
50/50 is what most mfg recomend , but then there selling product.
Only 35 to 40% antifreez will still give the same corrosion , anti cavitation , anti foaming and about a dozen other good things , and it will cool the engine better.Just will need changing out at the recomended 2 years , rather than the 3 or 4 some folks use.
Antifreez only has 5/8 the heat transfer ability of plain water , so a marginal cooling coach might be helped into better hill climbing.
Distilled water is one of the best investments you can make in filling any cooling system.
FAST FRED |
john wood (209.137.231.85)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 25, 2003 - 11:44 pm: | |
Fred;
Altho glycol has a lower specific heat than plain water, therefore less heat transfer, the reason for the 50-50 mix is to raise the boiling point of the coolant so we can run the engine at a higher temperature and therefore move more heat into the atmosphere due to a higher delta T. Plus it helps with "boilovers" as the coolant does not flash to steam at the normal 212F. I think 50-50 yields 260F boilpoint.
One of the best thins we can do for any cooling system other than flush it, is to clean the rad and make sure the rad cap is functioning properly, allowing the rad to keep completely full via the overflow botle. Even the rad tank is a good heat transfer surface if flooded with coolant.
jw |
FAST FRED (65.154.176.242)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 26, 2003 - 5:49 am: | |
The boiling point of antifreez is raised by raising PRESSURE.Not antifreez volume.
In a car with a 15psi cap the boiling temp is raised .
In a coach ( My Sportscar has 4# pressure release) there will only be a few degrees of difference , and the DD has a head loss attack about 210F
Far better to keep under the majic 200F with a fluid that does the MOST copoling at non distructive temps.
FAST FRED |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (67.136.219.191)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 26, 2003 - 7:34 am: | |
Just to clarify the issue, according to the Riverside County info on antifreeze:
http://www.rivcoeh.org/97-10.htm
What is Antifreeze?
Antifreeze, made up of mainly water and ethylene glycol, is added to radiator water in motor vehicles. Ethylene glycol lowers the freezing point and raises the boiling point of radiator fluid. In other words, it keeps the water from freezing on very cold days and boiling over on hot days. |
BrianMCI9A3 (198.81.26.38)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 29, 2003 - 3:03 pm: | |
I read an interesting article the other day entitled:
Why do good radiators go bad quickly.
The article details the failure of an OEM replacement radiator in a truck after less than two months in service.
The company who did the repairs were so concerned they called in experts who had the radiator shipped to a lab, along with a sample of the coolant in the system, along with some tap water.
The findings...
THE COOLANT... The company that installed the radiator filled the cooling system with 26% antifreeze.
They used a quality coolant with premixed sca's in it, but as the antifreeze premix was manufactured with a 50-50 mixture as the basis for it's sca levels, the reduced sca's (approx.62PPM) left the system unprotected once the level of sca's dropped in the system. As tested the sca's in the coolant were at 9 PPM, when optimally it should have been 125PPM
THE TAP WATER... the tap water as tested was found to be similar to other drinking water around the nation. High in sulfate, chloride, and medium levels of calcium and magnesium (unlike Vegas water which is as hard as a rock) but unacceptable as coolant make up water.
THE RADIATOR... detailed analysis (and photos) clearly show corrosion as the culprit in the failure
The reccomendation is: unless you test your city water, purified water is the best bet, or an antifreeze bought premixed to 50-50 with water.
Use 50-50 mixing ratio
Antifreeze is formulated for this ratio when corrosion inhibitor levels are calculated. Generally 250PPM sca's in full strength antifreeze
with the optimal 125PPM at 50-50
Maintain your coolant: In constant use antifreeze should be checked, using the appropriate test strips
or pyrometer (HYDROMETERS or floating balls were removed from the approved list of testing devices a few years ago), about once every three months. At the same time, using the right strips, test your sca levels, and add sca's if needed.
Their reccomendation is also to flush the system and change out your antifreeze every 24 months/30,000 miles
Pretty amazing stuff, I think.
BUT, I also think you COULD use one part antifreeze to two parts purified water...IF you add sca's (Pencool 2000 for instance) to the mixture to bring their level up to snuff utilizing test strips, but that's just ME... and DON'T overdo the sca's or they'll fall out of solution and THAT can be a big mess.
I'll probably do a 50-50 mixture in my cooling system, though.
Brian |
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