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Old 10-11-2015, 07:49 PM   #9
Xsbank
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City: Pender Harbour, BC
Vessel Name: Gwaii Haanas
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Don't run your engine without proper coolant! Water is not a good enough substance for a diesel. For goodness sakes if you won't listen to me just Google "crevice corrosion..."

Yes, coolant has corrosion inhibitors because we are all scared of corrosion, there are other inclusions as well; if it was only necessary to keep things cool we could just put the anti-corrosion packages in the water and not bother with coolant. Using straight water or insisting on running expired coolant risks overheating and cylinder damage.

All those test strips and rigmarole that Cat and Cummins and others use to test their additive packages and insisting on scheduled coolant filter changing with their built-in additive packages is not just for the corrosion inhibitors.

Sorry, but "...run it for several hours underway if you can?" Sorry Bill, but I believe that is not good advice.

That brings up another thought - if you have left your engine with nasty antifreeze in it for so long that you need to flush, you are neglecting your engine. Changing the coolant is as important as oil changes and none of us here would leave the oil in an engine for ten years?

I think that attitude comes from gasoline autos which we all grew up with, most of us would only change the coolant at gunpoint, as long as the rad was full of something we were content. It's very different with cars than large diesels although Mercedes is quite insistent on antifreeze changes. I always assumed that Mercedes were just being consistent in their quest to squeeze every last buck out of their owners...but in fact their engines absolutely require good corrosion inhibitor packages.
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