Hi all, need to ask a question for my neighbor.
He owns a 99 2500 Dodge Cummins and is asking me to drain out his coolant and install the new coolant thats pre-mixed for Diesels.
Question>
1)where on his motor are the block drain/drains?
2)Is there anything I should be aware of as far as air lock in these motors when doing a coolant change?

Thanks for any help...I own a PSD, do all my own work on it...I'm not sure if theres any tricks I should be aware of before I work on his Cummins.(I know the oil filter is fun to get to).
I check is coolant for SCA's it didnt read on the test strip. His truck still has the OE coolant in it from 1999 22,000 miles and I've tood him several times its time to get it out and install some fresh antifreez. He already brought some pre mixed, pre charged coolant for his truck
Thanks for any advice.

 

well so no one ans ya i'll try, for air lock unhook the most top hose (heater) probly.as far as block drains there are none on my isb... just use a good quality antifreez with distilled water
t.m.o.

 

Thanks for the reply...I was wondering what was going on...maybe because I stated I was a 7.3 owner? :
I belive someone said theres a petcock on the oil cooler that is a pretty good source to drain the block.
I'll use your tip about the heater hose.

 

The official drain point of the ISB block is the lower radiator hose. Make sure that the rear of the truck is higher than the front to get good drainage. You might put a level on the valve cover to make sure the front is lower than the front. Otherwise you will not get the block drained fully.

 

Yet another excellent tip...Thanks!

 

Sorry, one more question about that Cummins...My neighbor bought several gallons of Shell Rotella (orange) Extended life Antifreez...his truck came with the Green stuff in it. Any reason why we shouldnt use the Orange EX. Life ????
Thanks again...Ray

 

I do not know. make sure you do a ph test once in a while no mater what kind it is

 

This is from the Rotella web site.

Q: What happens if I mix ROTELLA ELC with conventional coolants?

A: ROTELLA ELC is compatible with conventional coolants; but if you add more than 15% conventional coolant (that's about 2 gallons in a 12 gallon system), you have diluted the ROTELLA ELC inhibitors to a level where they may not be able to provide optimum protection. In this case it is recommended that you do one of the following:

 

I have and still am using Rotella ELC in my trucks. Appears to be good stuff. Meets/exceeds Cummins specs.

 

Thanks for the feedback...thought I read some where that if the Red ELC Coolant was used in a system that (had) Glycol (sp) in it, it still could gell and wasent all that good for the metal in the system such as water pump bearing and the radiator itself.
Thanks.