Coolant change, is a step missing in the manual?

[tom wilson]

my 1996 cummins manual said to use sodium carbonate to clean the cooling system.
the cummins service dept in bloomington, ca said the same thing. cascade has sodium carbonate as its main active ingredient and it is much cheaper to use than products sold by cummins dealers. that is probably why the dealer uses cascade also.

[David K]

I have a Spartan Chassis with a Cummins 350 HP ISC. I called Spartan to check on two items 1)if my low coolant sensor would allow the change over (some do not and it is quite expensive to change to the correct one and reprogram the ECM) and 2) how do they flush for a change over.

I did have the right sensor -- mine is a 4 wire sensor and the change over could be made with no modifications.

What Spartan does is drain the old fluid, flush with water and then fill with Final Charge. They then run the engine up to temp and then drain out all of the new coolant and then refill, run, and drain again. After this they then fill for the final time. This explains the high cost of changing over when they do the job -- you are actually paying for three fillings of Final Charge.

Also, if you presently have an engine with a water filter on it -- the filter is probably the kind that adds DCA to the coolant -- mine was -- you have to change that out also.

I did the switch out myself and that eliminated the labor charge that would have been incured if I had the switchout done at Spartan.

[Camelot Camper]

After Monaco Technical Support advised me that they put Texaco Antifreeze 50/50 mix plus 2 quarts of Texaco Extender (Supplemental Coolant Additive [SCA]) in my engine at the factory, I purchased two test strip kits from Cummins. The first kit, p/n CC2602A, was to test the glycol level and SCA level; and the second kit, p/n CC2718, was to test the pH and level of chloride and sulfate. Everything tested fine with an SCA level of 2.2, which Cummins Filtration Technical Support (800-223-4583 opt 1, 4, 3) recommended that I add 16oz of DCA4 (Cummins p/n DCA60L). The 16oz bottle equates to 5 units of SCA, and because my system holds about 10 gallons that should add 0.5 to my SCA level bring it up to 2.7, which I'll go back and check in about a month or so.

Be careful when purchasing these test kits to note their expiration/use by date. The expiration date on the CC2718 kit is stamped on the top of the plastic bottle instead of on the package while the use by date for the CC2602A kit is stamped on the back of the package. For new coaches, it's really a waste of money to purchase the CC2718 kit, which is the most expensive at $17.00 for ten strips. The CC2602A kit was $6.12 for 4 strips, and the DCA60L was $5.13.

The ladies at Cummins Filtration Technical Support were great in bring the chemistry down to my level and egger to know my test results so they could compute and advise how much DCA needed to be added. They didn't know what the letters DCA stood for other than "(Something) Coolant Additive" even though DCA4 is their secret formula.

CC

[Les Stallings]

Last week Cummins Crosspoint provided this service. Their recommendations were based on the current coolant still being within specification. The options were for
1) A drain, refill, coolant filter and DCA adjustment ...OR ...
2) A complete series of flushes, refill with the new, long life antifreeze, coolant filter and DCA adjustment.

The pricing difference was huge with the required flushes of the second option doubling the cost. I ended up paying around $250 for parts and labor.

If your coolant is and has been maintained in specification, a drain/refill and filter is the way to go pricewise.