Coolant Question

Do you know what the proper ph would be?  Too much acid and you get pitting.  Too much alkaline and you get scaling.  I would just change the anti freeze every two years using a long life anti freeze and leave it at that.

Edited by DougS - 20 Nov 2011 at 5:17pm

If you want to get really into it you can add a treated water filter and plumb it into your system.

There is a science to anti freeze.  I can't say I'm knowledgeable in this regard, but I do have considerable experience in boiler treatments. Water behaves the same in either case. We usually ran the water a bit on the acidic side to prevent scaling. We would also use a silica formula to coat the metals to prevent pitting.  Think of anti freeze as something that does more than just preventing water freeze.  It acts as a lubricant for your water pump bushing.  It prevents corrosion.  It prevents pitting. I like the 50/50 pre-blended anti freezes as they already use distilled water.  A high quality anti freeze should come as a complete chemical package.  That should be all you need. Just change it before the additives "wear out."

We get test strips from the BG folks. For Powerstrokes, the specs they give us is above 800, the coolant is good and requires no attention. 300 to 800 the corrosion additives are weak, add a rejuvinator and retest. Below 300 must flush. I'd say if there is any question about your coolant, change it. If you have a 6.0/6.4 Powerstroke, change it!

The dampner will raddle but the more they wear, the more they will rattle.

Flush it, Fill it and run it.
It lasted this long if you get what I mean.
You can study acid, corrosion and anti-freeze properties the reast of your life and you still will get some corrosion.

Friend gave me a bottle of CAT additive.  I drain it and refresh it every spring and add the recommended amount to the mix. 

Thanks guys for all the input.  Doug S that is a very informative link, Thank You.  Dad has owned the 190 for 20+ years it replaced a D19, and the 180 for only 4 years, the 180 replaced a D15.  Somewhat know the history of the 190 (bought local from a dealer) but the 180 has been rode hard and put away wet.  They only run 30-35 hrs/yr so I didnt know if that had any effect on the coolant condition.

The 2900 engines were bad about eating up the liners. I've overhauled 3 myself that had the liners pitted to the point of leaking.

I like the water filters myself. We run them on our Cummins engines (that are also know for eating the liners) at work with good results.

I would still change the antifreeze every two years, Rawleigh.  Unless you know the engine is pristine when you first start using an extended life antifreeze.