Long Overdue on changing the coolant on my 671's. The boat is in the Tampa Bay area - Treasure Island, FL . So I do not have to worry about freezing. Looking at the Detroit Diesel Coolant Selection Guide it looks like I can use Water + Power Cool 3000. Any suggestion or advice on changing the coolant and/or what product to use will be appreciated.
What does the instruction say? If you are going to follow factory instructions, then follow factory instructions...
Did some hunting to find Power Cool 3000 without much luck. I will expand on what I ran into tomorrow. I'm on my way to the TV to watch the RAYS beat Houston.
Unlike the other brands that fill the shelves at WallMart, Detroit Power Cool will have to be ordered or purchased from a Detroit shop. I get the white labeled gallon jugs of Power Cool concentrate and mix with water. I prefer distilled water but the instructions say tap water.
They may say tap water, but that's cause Detroits are old school and can almost run on spit. I think we've all learned in recent years that tap water is a wild card depending on where you live, with all sorts of minerals and pollutants. I'd stick with the good stuff that's the same jug to jug. As for coolant, I remember the days when if you didn't use the specified brand of oil in your car it could void your warranty cause you had some pretty questionable oils on the market and it was a great money maker for the car manuacturers. A few law suits and better quality control later and you can now use any oil you want (although the smart owner stays away from the no name brands). Pretty much the same thing with coolant. What's the difference between Detroit Power Cool and something like Prestone or a quality non-tox antifreeze other than price? Like with oils I'd stay away from no-name anti-freeze, but unless Detroit still gets away with it affecting their warranty I don't think you'll find much difference from one to the other.
+1 on the water quality. Engine manufacturers also have learned that the acidity or alkalinity (PH) as well as salts, can vary widely in the wild. It's simple science to protect cooling systems and engines. Don't use salty acidic water in a system with moving fluid. Coolant or coolant substitutes serve to control galvanic corrosion, or metal wasting. Years ago, I had to replace a thermostat housing and a water pump on a car engine because the aluminum was so wasted from plain water that the aluminum walls just disappeared until they opened to the outside. There are many dissimilar metals in a cooling system. And, there is a lot of science for coolant types. There are different formulations for 1-2 year and 5-10 year coolants, as well as different products in the same categories for gasoline and diesel engines. There are test strips to determine the level of protection available in a cooling system that's in service. CAT and John Deere, to name two, call for measuring the effectiveness of the coolant at prescribed intervals using test strips. Some may dismiss the forward march of technology, but the thing to remember is that many of these developments came hand-in-hand with longer warranty coverage and recalls. When the manufacturers have to pay, there's a sudden leap forward in product serviceability and reliability.
Well the Rays lost, there is another game tonight. Now back to Coolant. I did contact Detroit Diesel in Tampa yesterday afternoon, the part department guy was not there, so asked for service department, person there told me they do not have, use, make Power Cool anymore. Hence my comment last night about having a problem finding Power Cool. Called the parts department again this morning, they do have Power Cool, premixed 50-50 (Ethylene Glycol and Water + Corrosion Inhibitors). Looks like I will go to Tampa tomorrow and get what I need unless someone has a different idea. Does anyone know how many gallons of coolant it takes to refill the system?
With your serial number, a real Detroit shop will be able to tell you. My notes tell me to plan on at least 5 1/2 gallons. Wet turbos may need more.
Bring serial numbers with you and ask the parts guy to look it up. Since it's been so long, I would drop all of the coolant (easier to pump it out), add water and I think DD makes a flush solution......run the motors to temperature.......let them completely cool off, drain it, add straight water, drain it again, and then start with fresh........My guess would be 5-6 gallons per motor of coolant on 6-71