Being fairly new to the diesel world, I'm not razor sharp on flushing/changing my coolant. I've done some research online and it looks like the best thing to do is to flush it out with water, and replace it with 50/50 antifreeze and water. Have seen the posts about using the regular green antifreeze and not the "longlife" stuff. Have also seen that one should not use hard water, but not distilled either. My water is low in mineral content, so from what I've seen, it should be fine. In the past I have used the Prestone flush/fill kit that incorporates a tee with a hose connection in one of the heater hoses for flushing. The hoses on my CTD look perfect for using this method. So what I'm really asking here is: Am I correct in concluding that I can use the exact same method to flush and fill the Cummins that I have been using on my other cars and trucks for years?

 

I don't see any reason you couldn't. Why aren't you going to use the extented life stuff, some guys are using it, and when I do mine I was planing on using it, don't want to do this any oftener than I have too.

 

chuck3 - <br><br>The only basis I have for not using the extended stuff is from posts I've read on several boards. There seems to be a concern with getting it and residual green stuff mixed up causing deposits. It should be fine if your system is well flushed out. I don't know why I go through so much effort and spend so much time reading hundreds of posts to come up with the best antifreeze to use when my owners manual simply says to use an &quot;Ethylene glycol-based engine coolant&quot;. I've never had any corrosion in any vehicle I've ever owned by simply doing the old every other year flush and fill of my engine coolant, and that is what I'm going to do now. I'm planning to use good old Zerex which is lower in silicates.

 

Tip of the Day: Get the biggest set of ChannelLocks you can find for that lower hose clamp on the engine end. That thing is probably the meanest clamp I've ever met.

 

From the TDR board FAQ it lists out the specifications that anti-freeze should meet for using it in the CTD.. I did some research a while back (do a search under &quot;antifreeze&quot; on this board if you want to see the entire thread) and found the Zerex met these requirements and is green.. Prestone DID NOT meet the specifications. The only other antifreezes that met the requirements were the red / extended life coolants...<br><br>From the website on several of the extended life coolants (rotella and prestone i think) it said you could mix the red and green WITHOUT problems.. You only loose the SCA when you mix.. and since we dont have wet liners, we dont have to worry about cavitation and dont need the SCA's anyway..<br><br>Not sure what damage, if any, you would do if you used a antifreeze that did not meet the specifications though...<br><br>just my thoughts..<br><br>

 

to save you the looking.. here is the thread i started on antifreeze months back<br><br>https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d=3754;start=0

 

Thanks for the link, that was one of the ones I was looking for. Anyway, couldn't find Zerex so ended up with some regular Prestone which was on sale. If my cooling system rots out in the next 24 months, I will surely post my dismay. <br><br>BTW, while looking for the radiator petcock, I found a trans cooling line that had been rubbing the front crossmember. Had a clean mark on it but seems fine. Covered it with some wire loom with nylon ties. Also found the starter cable rubbing it a bit further down. Loom/tie for it too.<br><br>ps I didn't write PETTHINGY (rhymes with petrock)

 

[quote author=Fillerupsonny link=board=4;threadid=5614;start=0#49586 date=1034035137]<br>Thanks for the link, that was one of the ones I was looking for. Anyway, couldn't find Zerex so ended up with some regular Prestone which was on sale. If my cooling system rots out in the next 24 months, I will surely post my dismay. <br><br>BTW, while looking for the radiator petcock, I found a trans cooling line that had been rubbing the front crossmember. Had a clean mark on it but seems fine. Covered it with some wire loom with nylon ties. Also found the starter cable rubbing it a bit further down. Loom/tie for it too.<br><br>ps I didn't write PETTHINGY (rhymes with petrock)<br>[/quote]<br><br>yep, I had a thread on the trans cooler line rubbing... I see i'm not the only one! I wonder who else's is rubbing unknowingly?! ??? ;D

 

The tranny line rubbing is a common problem with the 4X4's.<br>Not so much with the 2 wheel drive models.<br><br>Bit of cut up garden hose and zip ties is a good shadetree fix.<br><br>Gotta love that profanity filter. <br><br><br>phox

 

Flush and fill went great. Only thing was getting the radiator drain valve aka PETCOCK loose and running. BIG truck, BIG engine, BIG radiator, tiny PETCOCK, geez. Used the Prestone kit to flush out, and 20 psi compressed air to blow the rest of the clean water out. In the 6 gallon system, the radiator easily held the 3 gallons of antifeeze, and just topped off with water. Overflowed the expansion tank then siphoned it out and filled with 50/50. BTW real men drive any stinkin transmission they want to.... <br><br>Oh boy, there's the thingy thingy again........

 

[quote author=Fillerupsonny link=board=4;threadid=5614;start=0#49890 date=1034096712]<br>Oh boy, there's the thingy thingy again........<br>[/quote]<br><br> a Petc0ck. How's that! You know if you hit the quote button, your original text comes up fine.

 

Commatoze! You are living proof that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Yes, the quote works and I now can spell correctly. -PETC0CK- ;D <br><br>It better not come up thingy this time