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Old 05-05-2015, 06:40 PM   #1
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Coolant Replacement

Hello All Cummins DP Owners,
I had the fluid (oil, coolant, transmission fluid) analysis done by JG Lubricants (Tom Johnson CEO). The test results came with no concerns at all - which is a good thing.
My coolant results show 15 ppm of copper. Tom Johnson suggested I flush the coolant and repeat the test to establish a baseline which is what this post is about.
The CC sticker on the coolant reservoir says "Fleetguard ES Compleat PG". I went to the local Cummins shop (about 65 mi from me) and asked for the above. They told me that it is very rare that they ever use FG ES Compleat PG, instead they use FG ES Compleat EG. They assured me that the EG is compatible with PG. So here is what I purchased from them:
10 gallons of Fleetguard ES Compleat EG concentrate - my coach total coolant capacity is 20 gals.
1 gallon of DCA4 (Supplemental Coolant Additive) 2 units/gal of coolant. According to the label the one gallon DCA4 has 40 units. CC manual recommend 1.5 units/gal - I'm going to use 2 units/gal Cummins Sales Rep Recommendation.
1 thermostat.

I plan to drain the existing coolant, fill with distilled water, run engine until thermostat opens. Let it cool off and drain.
Repeat the above step again and drain.
Replace thermostat, add 10 gallons of FG ES Compleat EG concentrate
Add the one gallon of DCA4 - will provide 2 units of DCA4/gal
Fill the rest with distilled water and let it run for 30-40 minutes.
I have some test strips to check coolant.

If you care to share your expertise please write and let all readers benefit from your wisdom/experience.
Thanks in advance for your help!
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Old 05-05-2015, 10:32 PM   #2
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Unless you drive the coach, I doubt you can get the temperature high enough to open the thermostat
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:40 AM   #3
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Agree that you will likely never get the t stat to open unless you drive the beast. Mine will never get to operating temp sitting still.

Also, another suggestion. If you have not opened the bottles might want to consider returning that coolant and get ES Compleat OAT. Or, get some Final Charge OAT. The OAT coolants are truly long life and you don't have to mess with additives. Just drain, flush and refill with OAT and you will be done for many, many years. I believe they recommend testing the OAT after about 3 years and there is an extender that can be added if necessary.

I changed my ES PG to ES OAT.
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Old 05-06-2015, 09:05 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by smlranger View Post
Agree that you will likely never get the t stat to open unless you drive the beast. Mine will never get to operating temp sitting still.

Also, another suggestion. If you have not opened the bottles might want to consider returning that coolant and get ES Compleat OAT. Or, get some Final Charge OAT. The OAT coolants are truly long life and you don't have to mess with additives. Just drain, flush and refill with OAT and you will be done for many, many years. I believe they recommend testing the OAT after about 3 years and there is an extender that can be added if necessary.

I changed my ES PG to ES OAT.
Thanks for the input!
I'll probably have to drive it as you suggested.
As far as changing to OAT, I have read comments by various folks that they wouldn't change to OAT period. On the other hand, when I called Spartan Chassis, they, too, told me that they were using OAT. They said if a customer requests EG, they wouldn't have any problems with it.
Thanks, again, for your valuable input!
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Old 05-06-2015, 09:07 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dons2346 View Post
Unless you drive the coach, I doubt you can get the temperature high enough to open the thermostat
Thanks, Don! I'll probably have to do drive it!
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Old 05-06-2015, 01:38 PM   #6
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If you are going to install new t/stats what I would do is remove the old t/stats replace the housing add distilled water run 5 minutes dump redo until you have things clean, you never leave your driveway. Then add coolant and a new t/stat.
When I did my 06 Ford with the 6.0 I dropped the Ford Gold junk added distilled water removed t/stat use 1/2 gallon of restore then did 4 distilled water flushes then 1/2 restore+ did another 4 distilled water flushes all with the t/stat removed and cardboard in front of the rad to get the temp up to 185-190deg and ran it hard for an hour each time. Got the restore from Cummins NW. Then I did 5 distilled water flushes then added the new t/stat and 3 1/2 gallons of Delo Cat EC1 coolant and 3 1/2 gallons distilled water. I used 54 gallons distilled water and took me around 12hrs just to ditch the Ford Gold junk that kills 6.0 PSD.
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Old 05-06-2015, 06:05 PM   #7
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2 Stroker: Good idea! I have a friend who is licensed auto mechanic that is going to be helping me. I'll tell him about it.
Thanks
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Old 05-06-2015, 07:01 PM   #8
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2 Stroker: Good idea! I have a friend who is licensed auto mechanic that is going to be helping me. I'll tell him about it.
Thanks

Very good tip from 2Stroker to pull the Tstat first. It will save much time as there is no real need to bring each fill to operating temp. I would just fill with tap water a couple of times first. I had to flush 4 times before the drain water was pretty clear.

You plan is a good one and the Fleetguard ES Complete EG is a very robust coolant. I elected to stick with conventional coolant also. It's no chore at all to check the DCA level a couple of times annually. This coolant has excellent heat transfer performance.


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Old 05-06-2015, 07:11 PM   #9
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When I did the coolant change and new thermostat on the Dutch Star (ISC 350 side radiator) I found that enough coolant was bypassing the thermostat and going through the whole system. I knew it was happening since I had installed a drain port under the front cap in the heater line. I only needed to idle the engine on high idle for about 10 min for heated coolant to show up front and at the radiator drain.
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Old 05-06-2015, 08:38 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Steve Ownby View Post
Very good tip from 2Stroker to pull the Tstat first. It will save much time as there is no real need to bring each fill to operating temp. I would just fill with tap water a couple of times first. I had to flush 4 times before the drain water was pretty clear.

You plan is a good one and the Fleetguard ES Complete EG is a very robust coolant. I elected to stick with conventional coolant also. It's no chore at all to check the DCA level a couple of times annually. This coolant has excellent heat transfer performance.


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Steve: There is a lot of pros and cons on what kind of coolant to use. I did call Cummins (where I bought my coolant) today and asked them if I could exchange the EG for OAT. After having a long conversation with a different sales agent (not the one who helped yesterday), I didn't see any point in making 130 mi round trip to do it. So, I decided I will use the EG.
As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts. As a relatively novice when it comes to DP maintenance and troubleshooting, I very much value everyone's input.
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Old 05-30-2015, 09:08 AM   #11
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Final Charge makes a converter that will allow the existing coolant to be used (with the addition of the converter) and eliminates the need to drain and waste the existing coolant. End result is that you have a system that is now an extended life OAT.


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Old 05-30-2015, 09:14 AM   #12
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Here is some reading on this Chemistry for Converting Antifreeze Systems | Construction Equipment
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