Diesel antifreeze

The type and change interval for antifreeze has me in my usual state of indicision, severly confused.

Before the one brand was having cavitation or block casting problems I'd never heard of special antifreeze or additives. The mechanics at work did not seem to be updated either and some of them drove diesel trucks. My Kubota maual never mentioned it.

I did know that the antifreeze should be changed at 2-3 year intervals. Now the time has come to change antifreeze in the tractor, one car and the diesel truck. We have a reverse osmosis system so that water will be used for the dilution. Normally I've gone with a 50% mix.

Now for the question. What type of antifreeze and mix should I be using. Temperatures seen may be down to -40 centigrade on the truck?

All comments will be appreciated.

Thanks
Egon

Egon, check this out Fleet Charge
Also Cowboydoc has made several posts on TBN about this subject. Do a search on "fleetcharge". Be carefull, with the new servers it is really FAST

Egon, "All comments will be appreciated"?? OK.. Why the redundancy my friend? -40 degrees is -40 degrees F or C so you didn't have to say which!

If there is any warranty issue involved, use what the mfg recommends or equivalent. Mfg recommendation is a good starting point, even if the unit is out of warranty. The Diesel coolant cavitation problem has been in the literature for quite a while but seems to drift through the popular media every so often and is treated like a new phenomenon each time.

If you haven't changed out your coolant for a loooong time then you might want to flush the system out and rinse it well before you fill with fresh mixture. 50/50 is my favorite mix and will cover your expected temps. Either 100% anti-freeze or 100% water will freeze at a higher temp than a water and anti freeze mix. If you go too strong on the anti-freeze and too light on the water you will get less protection. I forget the ratio that gives the max protection but exceeding it reduces your protection against freezing. Peerhaps counterintuitive at first blush but true.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Al; Pat;

Thanks for the replies. It's been about three years since the last change. Guess I should flush it out too as that has never been done.

Egon

Al's exactly right Egon. Go with fleetcharge. It's been around for decades and will be around longer. They do their homework on diesel engines.