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Old 07-03-2016, 01:51 PM   #1
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refilled coolant but did I mess up bad?

Ok so in another thread I asked about refilling coolant as I tore down all of my heating systems for rebuild...

I refilled the coolant with the new heater valves installed and closed..

got great circulation temperature stays at 180... new valves stay closed.. all is good

BUT

I did this last night when it was kind of dark... now its light and i realized the new coolant is PINK!

my old was bright green..

it is FleetCharge by peak that says it has SCA additives built into it... and list a bunch of different brands of engines you can use it in including navistar Type II (whatever type II is??)..

I have a DT-360... i cant find any manufacturer that makes and specs PINK coolant as a color.. it appears by reading PEAK's site that this stuff is just PINK so you know its SCA charged..

anyone ever used this stuff before???

will I blow something up? when I look in the bottle now of course my color is nasty but it wasnt foamy or anything..

im really hoping I dont have to flush and fill?? I have no facilities to do that.. and im having a REALLY tough time finding test strips and SCA additives if I use regular green.. so i thought id use the stuff already mixed together..

did I mess up bad??

-Christopher

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Old 07-03-2016, 06:08 PM   #2
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We have a DT360 and have used Fleet SCA additive coolant (pink) in it for close to 14,000 miles. The coolant that the bus garage used before we bought it was pink too.
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:05 AM   #3
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To answer your last question - Yes. Mixing different types of coolant can sometimes result in them turning into a viscous goo that will block the radiator and engine's passageways, or at least cause excessive silicate dropout. I suggest you flush the entire system, including your heater loop, then refill with whatever your engine manufacturer specifies. Besides, who wants coolant the color of baby diarrhea?

I buy my test strips and SCA from NAPA.

John
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Old 07-04-2016, 06:40 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceni John View Post
To answer your last question - Yes. Mixing different types of coolant can sometimes result in them turning into a viscous goo that will block the radiator and engine's passageways, or at least cause excessive silicate dropout. I suggest you flush the entire system, including your heater loop, then refill with whatever your engine manufacturer specifies. Besides, who wants coolant the color of baby diarrhea?

I buy my test strips and SCA from NAPA.

John
so green and pink SCA coolant are incompatible? how does an individual flush a cooling system without making a mess? draining my coolant was easy as i used my heater pump to pump it into a 5 gallon bucket.. took it to jiffy lube and poured it in their fluid tank...

to flush means im going to have lots and lots of water mix i have to do something with... I cant catch it all and my guess is the tree-huggers wouldnt like it going down the storm drains..

I couldnt find a procedure in my service manual on how to flush the system... I figured id introduce fresh water into the system and pump it around with my heater pump? but that doesnt get the radiator as the thermostat will be closed since the engine is off and closed..

any ideas on where i introduce the water and procedures on flushing would be a help..

the NAPA here when I asked said they can get the SCA's and test strips special order up to 10 days.. I need the bus on the road before 10 days..

the good thing is my heater loops are currently disconnected so they are already empty until I rebuild the heating system..

-Christopher
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:23 AM   #5
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I just ordered these, best price I've found. Don't know how soon you would get them.

Aquachek Cool Trak 311519 Coolant Ph Boilpoint Freezepoint Test Strips 50 Pack | eBay

Quote:
any ideas on where i introduce the water and procedures on flushing would be a help
I just unhook one of the heater hoses, open all of the valves, take radiator cap off and run water from a hose into the removed heater hose until the water runs clear. It seems some areas allow down the drain, unless you have a septic system, and some don't.

Dick
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:30 AM   #6
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is pH all i need? the guy at NAPA told me I needed to measure some kind of Nitrite level or something(level of the SCA?) that required a special test strip which he recommended for any wet-sleeve engine...

i found pH strips at tractor supply.. if thats all i need im in easy.. I didnt know pH was the only thing the SCA did?

-Christopher
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Old 07-04-2016, 08:06 AM   #7
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My bad, thanks for pointing that out, I got the wrong thing, I thought the price was too good. The nitrate strips are expensive. If you have a heavy truck shop nearby they should be able to test it for you, they will also have the additive if needed.

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Old 07-04-2016, 09:40 AM   #8
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its rather confusing actually with so many engines, coolants, and different tests out there... easy to order the wrong stuff or mix the wrong stuff...

it Looks like the chemical makeup of the Pink coolant is the same as the green just has the SCA added into it... the pink is definitely NOT the purple dodge stuff or the Red DEX-Cool from GM.. so I likely didnt create a disastrous mess.. but yeah the color is now wierd..

I do have a Local heavy truck shop that I have been using.. (they are also my tire shop).. they Love the bus there... maybe I should have them drain flush and refill.. though at least it looks like I didnt completely jack things up so i can continue building out my new heater loops..
-Christopher
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Old 07-04-2016, 10:07 AM   #9
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You really need to start with the engine manufacturers specs for coolant. There are several different types these days and despite the claims on the bottles, the engine specs are the only data that matters.
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Old 07-04-2016, 12:45 PM   #10
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http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f33/hd...ant-13875.html

They have come a long way in coolants since the buses were made.
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:26 PM   #11
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interesting .. the stuff I used is called FleetCharge ..

but i thought I needed nitrite for the wet sleeves.. fleetcharge has nitrites and the SCA mixed in,. you say in your othert thread that you dont want nitrites??

see this is the confusing info i get...

so theres finalcharge and fleetcharge... I watched their video and still a bit unsure.. but sounds like FinalCharge is the one I really should run? of course i cant find any info about it from the OEM as the DT-360 was out of production before eiother of those 2 products were created..

so it sort of sounds like fleetcharge is SCA pre-charged but still needs tested and topped off with SCA? or if I always top off my coolant with fleetcharge when I lose or evaporate some im fine?

FinalCHarge prevents corrosion and cavitation in other ways and requires testing with their simple strips ?(ph I guess?). but no instructions were noted in the video if I was out of spec or Failed their strips...

it appears both are compatible with the existing green coolant .. though ive resigned to the fact im going to have to flush anyway... and will do it before I re-connect my heating loops back up so im good to go..

any idea the best way to flush ? do i just drain as much coolant as I can then run water into a point say at the bleed tube and circulate tap water through the whole engine.. let it drain as far as it can.. then add pure coolant with no mix and test for temperature after im full and running?

I dont see how you can drain all of the coolant out unless you really tear things apart...

-Christopher
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:51 PM   #12
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Quite a while back I saw where someone plugged an ordinary garden hose barbed female fitting into the far end of their rear heater hose. With all the valves open and both radiator hoses disconnected, he ran clean water through the system for about twenty minutes. The heater hose will feed back into and flush the block. He then reversed the flow to run from the upper block inlet and flushed it the other way with the lower connection plugged with a rag. Then he opened the drain on the radiator and ran clean water through it for a similar amount of time.

The only bad thing was all the coolant that wound up on the ground.

BTW...it is both attractive and poisonous to dogs & cats, so be advised.
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:54 PM   #13
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I bought one of these for cars and have done will with it: https://smile.amazon.com/UView-55000...dp/B0002SRH5G/

Have no idea how well it would work on a bus. Might be best off "simply" removing plugs and the like. As for the flush water itself, I use the 97 cent gallons of distilled water from Wal-Mart.

I don't remember the research that lead me to FinalCharge, but I remember it stood out as the best.
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:59 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
Quite a while back I saw where someone plugged an ordinary garden hose barbed female fitting into the far end of their rear heater hose. With all the valves open and both radiator hoses disconnected, he ran clean water through the system for about twenty minutes. The heater hose will feed back into and flush the block. He then reversed the flow to run from the upper block inlet and flushed it the other way with the lower connection plugged with a rag. Then he opened the drain on the radiator and ran clean water through it for a similar amount of time.

The only bad thing was all the coolant that wound up on the ground.

BTW...it is both attractive and poisonous to dogs & cats, so be advised.
The garden hose approach is super convenient, but the problem there is that you get all the chlorine and minerals in the system. This is a huge problem here where our well water is extremely hard. I figure doing it 'right' with distilled water is cheap enough, though not as convenient.
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Old 07-04-2016, 02:05 PM   #15
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If the base of the coolant is the same between the pink and green then I would not worry to much. The days these engines were designed the main thing was frost protection. Later with the dissimilar materials , specifically aluminum heads and fancy head gasket more specific coolants and additives were developed.
Unless you are going to drive a 100000 miles a year the wear and tear on the engine because of bad coolant is going to be minimal.
Engines like the power stroke that had cylinder cavitation issues caused by the higher frequencies of the combustion.The coarse poor choice of cylinder wall thickness and other details forced them into additives to limit the effect.

I would just test or have your coolant tested and hear what they say before you inform them of your mixing experiment.

All in all, it is a lot better then no coolant or pure water.

Later J
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Old 07-04-2016, 02:21 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by joeblack5 View Post
If the base of the coolant is the same between the pink and green then I would not worry to much. The days these engines were designed the main thing was frost protection. Later with the dissimilar materials , specifically aluminum heads and fancy head gasket more specific coolants and additives were developed.
Unless you are going to drive a 100000 miles a year the wear and tear on the engine because of bad coolant is going to be minimal.
Engines like the power stroke that had cylinder cavitation issues caused by the higher frequencies of the combustion.The coarse poor choice of cylinder wall thickness and other details forced them into additives to limit the effect.

I would just test or have your coolant tested and hear what they say before you inform them of your mixing experiment.

All in all, it is a lot better then no coolant or pure water.

Later J

isnt my DT-360 basically a PowerStroke? I know its a wetsleeve engine... but I thought it was similar to early version of the powerstroke...

-Christopher
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Old 07-04-2016, 02:33 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
Quite a while back I saw where someone plugged an ordinary garden hose barbed female fitting into the far end of their rear heater hose. With all the valves open and both radiator hoses disconnected, he ran clean water through the system for about twenty minutes. The heater hose will feed back into and flush the block. He then reversed the flow to run from the upper block inlet and flushed it the other way with the lower connection plugged with a rag. Then he opened the drain on the radiator and ran clean water through it for a similar amount of time.

The only bad thing was all the coolant that wound up on the ground.

BTW...it is both attractive and poisonous to dogs & cats, so be advised.
yeah hwne I lost some of my coolant on the ground the other day I ran the garden hose on the street for a good while to flush all of ut down to the storm drain 30 feet away for that very reason... my garden hose spigots are pretty strong as I ran 3/4 lines to them when I built the house... mainly so I could run 2 lawn sprinklers off of each spigot and still have good volume...


I like the idea of the distilled water... I can easily do that as I have a heater boost pump.. currently my front and rear heaters are dry because they are disconnected and drained until I put the new and improved driver console in so no worries on the heaters..

I have a heater boost pump under the hood that sucks from the block and normally feeds into the main heater loop.. I have that looped now so I just disconnect and use that pump to push the distilled water through the system and the coolant out.. I can catch it in 5 gallon buckets whiuch are easily taken to jiffy lube for disposal.. once it starts to run clear I'll just let it go on the ground and flush to the drai nwith the garden hose until it is pretty clear...

any idea of the total system capacity in the average skoolie? once I get my heaters hooked back up I'll test the freeze levels and such and can add water vs coolant at the proper level till I reach the desired amount...

I think I'll go with finalcharge it looks ot be one step up from the fleet-charge in there now...

I'll also change the filter.. i notice I have a coolant filter on mine.. that filter is new but I'll change it anyway anbd be fresh to go!...

is distilled water the same kind of water as what comes out of my central air conditioner unit at the house?

-Christopher
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Old 07-04-2016, 02:33 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
Quite a while back I saw where someone plugged an ordinary garden hose barbed female fitting into the far end of their rear heater hose. With all the valves open and both radiator hoses disconnected, he ran clean water through the system for about twenty minutes. The heater hose will feed back into and flush the block. He then reversed the flow to run from the upper block inlet and flushed it the other way with the lower connection plugged with a rag. Then he opened the drain on the radiator and ran clean water through it for a similar amount of time.

The only bad thing was all the coolant that wound up on the ground.

BTW...it is both attractive and poisonous to dogs & cats, so be advised.
Please, please, please, do NOT drain coolant onto the ground, ever, at all. Coolant kills animals. Some years ago one of my cats walked through some spilled coolant, licked her paws clean, then died a few days later of acute kidney failure. Coolant is a deadly poison, and must be treated accordingly.

Thank you, John
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Old 07-04-2016, 02:36 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
isnt my DT-360 basically a PowerStroke? I know its a wetsleeve engine... but I thought it was similar to early version of the powerstroke...

-Christopher
I think that's the T444 engine. The DT-360 sleeves will be destroyed in short order if one does not have the proper components in their coolant. Further, the newer coolants last longer and are less hard on the components of the cooling system in general. It is far more than frost protection and mixed-metal compatibility going on.
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Old 07-04-2016, 02:40 PM   #20
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poison, it tastes sweet. copy that , do it right or not at all.
If a Dt 360 is somewhat a power stroke 7.3 then get a DT 360 test strip and see if the coolant complies.
happy 4 of july
Later j
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