Antifreeze change out

[Gerry H]

Well my bus seems to have automobile antifreeze in it (8v92) don't know for how long, previous owner had empty jugs in bay, so I want to drain, flush and refill with the proper stuff. Oreilly's has Fleet Charge for $12.99/gal, I know it takes 24 gal (50-50 mix) to fill. What type of cleaner/flush should I use, what type of water to use, and do I need to change out the filters before I refill? Thanks for your advice in advance guys and hope I don't stir up the nest with this question! Gerry H

[belfert]

I would upgrade to the Final Charge anitfreeze also at O'Reilly.  It has a longer drain interval and should be $19.99 a gallon.

[rv_safetyman]

Gerry, first of all I am really glad that you are aware of the need for a special antifreeze. 

I would simply drain what you have and fill the radiator with distilled water or even tap water if your water supply is not too bad.  Then get the engine up to temperature and drain.  Then add the correct antifreeze.  I would change the filter.  As far as I know, there is no issue mixing the two types and what little residual you have left should not be a problem.

I would buy the full strength and dilute with distilled water.  We can find distilled water for considerable less than a dollar in our local grocery stores or Wal Mart.

Don't overlook the truck dealers as a supplier for antifreeze.  I think some might use it as a loss leader.  I got the DD PowerCool for less than $11.00 at a truck supply place in Denver.

Jim

[John316]

I might add one thing.

After you have run your new coolant for a while, pull a sample, and have it analyzed at a lab. Then you can maintain it from there yourself. Most truck places will have the lab test kits. They aren't that expensive.

God bless,

John

[luvrbus]

Gerry, read the jug if it less than 0.15 max silicates and a ethylene based antifreeze it is not going to hurt your 8v92.
A 8v92 is not a true wet sleeve engine and was around a long time before all this designer antifreeze.
I use the green stuff heavy duty from Frieghtliner 10 bucks a gal and use R/O water from a machine at .20 cents a gal am I cheap or what.


good luck

[brando4905]

I am definitely no expert, but I just did this on my bus. I also used Fleet Charge from the Irish place.

I initially drained the existing coolant, and refilled with tap water, ran engine for ten minutes and drained again. I repeated this process 8 times, until there was no green residue left. Maybe a little over-kill, but the Fleet Charge is pink, and I didn't want my new coolant to turn brown. I don't really know how important it is to get all the green out, but this is what I did.

Brandon

[Chopper Scott]

I agree with Cliff. Sometimes people go a little overkill. If one is planning on putting a half a million miles on the ole girl then it might be a wise decision. But for the little "walk in the park" trips most bus nuts do....... Like Cliff said. Back in 72 when my bus was made they didn't have a lot of choices.

[gus]

As already posted twice, the plain ole green stuff is fine for these old two-stroke DDs.

I use it in my 671, that's all there was in those days. The fancy pink, red, whatever stuff didn't even exist.

Why waste good money on stuff you don't need?

[luvrbus]

Gus just any plain green antifreeze does not work in his 92 DD has a spec on what to use if he follows that he will be fine.
Folks like Jim and John their antifreeze is the life of the series 60 if he feels better about using the pre charged long life antifreeze that is what he should use it is not going to harm his engine.
I buy good green antifreeze from Freightliner and was told they would not be selling the heavy duty green any longer after the supply is gone.
Next change if I still have the bus it will be pink,purple or whatever but I will not by antifreeze from places like Auto Zone 



good luck

[rv_safetyman]

Been a while since I did the research for the antifreeze article in BCM.  Folks talk about using automotive antifreeze in the good old days.  The implication is that the "fancy new stuff" for diesels is "marketing hocus pocus".

My take is that what has changed is the automotive antifreeze.  When automotive engines started using aluminum heads, there was a problem with the old formulation.  To resolve the problem they added a bunch of silicates.  Those silicates then created a problem with diesel engines.

I am too tired tonight to re-research the subject, but I am reasonably sure that this is the issue with the automotive antifreeze TODAY.

Jim

[Barn Owl]

This topic has been covered in depth before. You might find the best answer doing a search. The way I recall it: 71 series is a dry sleeve and normal off the shelf anti-freeze is fine. 92 series is wet sleeve, and you need to add additives. I think all anti-freeze is low silicate now (read the jugs the next time while out shopping). You can buy the anti-freeze and the additive separate, blend it yourself, if you want to save some $$. That is how all of the owner/operators do it that I know.

[Lin]

Don't know about other issues, but products like Napa Kool were made to eliminate cavitation corrosion.

[PCC]

I am not chiming in as any kind of expert, but how can we find out what a previous owner has put into the radiator, to know whether or not we need to be concerned about the antifreeze issue in our 8V92 engines?

[luvrbus]

Buy you a test kit from Cat and take a sample back to Cat dealer it will tell you what you need to know if the silicates are under 0.15 and a ethylene based your good to go.
People confuse the 8v92 with a wet sleeve engine it is not like the 4 stroke engines only 2 inches of the liner comes in contact with the coolant and that is the top part it is water around it that helps a 8v92 make power .


good luck

[rv_safetyman]

Clifford is correct.  Get it analyzed.  That will tell you a bunch.

While I was researching the article, the prevalent thought was that silicates were bad from a cavitation standpoint **AND** that silicates could cause seal and water pump issues.  I have not heard of any issue with seals or water pumps, but it showed up in several references.

One of the issues seemed to be that the silicates settle out.  I think this is accelerated when the additives are added to automotive antifreeze in an attempt to make it "agreeable" with the diesel engine.  If all of that is true, then I think the precipitated silicates could cause a problem with seals and WPs.

As I recall, some of the labels I  read for automotive antifreeze had very high concentrations of silicates.  I think most labels give that value.

Jim