Authored by: Allan Zieser, STLE, CLS
When looking at coolant mixtures it is important to remember that a coolant mixture contains three main ingredients. Glycol, Water, and Additives. These three are each necessary to provide protection for the engine cooling system from various issues. Let us take a couple of minutes to break these down.
Glycol – This is added to the system in various percentages to provide freezing protection against a specific temperature. Here in the Midwest, we generally blend at around 50% glycol to provide freezing protection down to -36 C (-32.8 F). This will allow you to leave your equipment in these temperatures without the worry of freezing and expansion of the coolant causing problems with your equipment.
Water – Water is the only way that we can remove heat from the engine. The water in the water/glycol mixture is there for the purpose of removing heat.
Having the proper water is just as important as having the correct amount of water. Only Distilled or Deionized water should be used to blend mixtures for cooling systems. Tap water should never be used.
Convenient premixed coolants are available from your Ottsen Expert!
Additives – These are the ingredients that protect the engine and other cooling system components from oxidation, acids, and other chemical issues most likely to come up in your cooling systems. The differences in additives can mean the difference between a two-year (Green Conventional) coolant and an eight year (Chevron ELC, XLC, Advanced Coolants).
Also, the amount of protection the different additives can vary greatly. Antifreezes blended with SCA and Silicate additive packages need to be refreshed often and are known to cause water pump failures in cooling systems as well at pitting in the piston liners of engines. This is because SCAs and Silicates are solid additives that blanket the systems and the solids will wear away at components in the cooling system over time.
We recommend Chevron Delo ELC, XLC, and Advanced coolants because of their long, extended-life and solids-free additive package that will outlast any coolant on the market. Chevron Delo ELC and XLC are currently factory fill products in over 80% of all OEMS for heavy duty and over the road equipment. These products can go 750,000 miles before needing to have an additive extender added to the mixture and can maintain their extended life with up to 25% of non-ELC antifreeze/coolants added to the system. Potentially saving you thousands of dollars per piece of equipment that it is used in.
Curious on how much time and money you can save by switching to a Chevron extended-life coolant? Call an Ottsen Expert today and we can provide you a comparison between your current coolant usage and Chevron Delo coolants.
Share to:
.png)