CVRT Coolant?

[sexton 10]

I thought this subject would have been well covered on here but searches did not find much, so please bear with me.

The coolant in the Striker I am working on showed only -12 C protection which was a bit scary as we had a very cold winter here and the poor old girl was stored outside. I drained the coolant and it came out clear, like water but maybe a bit more viscous and slimy (very subjective!). I thought it might be AL39, which is what the manual specifies, but it seems that is blue. There was no hint of blue. A diesel mechanic told me he has seen a clear antifreeze. I don't think it was pure water because it ran clear, not rusty, so I think it must have had some corrosion inhibitors in it.

Anyway, AL39 is basically an ethylene glycol coolant so I plan on replacing it with a good quality automotive ethylene glycol coolant like Prestone, in a 50-50 mix. This is much more available over here than the British spec AL39. 

Anyone know of any reason this is not a reasonable option? 

Malcolm

Edited March 18 by sexton

[robin craig 11]

The Brits use a blue coloured antifreeze and I agree it feels different on the fingers.

I always advise owners of vehicles purchase from elsewhere to change all the fluids as job number one upon receipt of their new treasure. 

Having been involved with numerous vehicles arriving in Canada from the UK I would agree that this fluids is usually the most deficient for our arctic climate.

Nothing more that a 50/50 mix of antifreeze of the common or garden variety is needed as you state.

I would point out to you that some vehicles are incapable of dealing with the massive temperature changes we endure. Our FV 432 variant has several hose to hard stainless or aluminum joints that the gear clamps seem incapable of following the size changes and habitually dumps coolant on the parking bay floor over the winter.

Until we can pull the pack out on that one we will never resolve that issue.

Spring time we top up / refill half the coolant and it stabilises and runs happily all driving season. For this reason we discourage usage in winter.

You are good to go Malcolm.

 

 

 

[andym 20]

Just be careful that you don't use any antifreeze with organic inhibitors in it.  Ethylene glycol should be OK.

 

Andy

[sexton 10]

Thanks, guy. Ethylene glycol it is. 

Thats a strange problem with the FV432, Robin. I haven't seen that here. Perhaps  old rubber with low resiliency losing all its resiliency when cold and not being able to seal rough pitted surfaces. Princess Auto sells some nice, heavy-duty gear clamps used for hydraulic suction hose that you can really reef up on. 

Malcolm

[john1950 15]

I have a friend who drove CVRTs while in service. He says the cause of most breakdowns in his experience was water hoses blowing off and dumping the coolant.

[Grasshopper 10]

We had the issue of coolant hoses leaking in the cold on a fleet of new diesel trains in 2004. We had to change the type of clamp and the applied torque was critical. I have a friend with a vintage bus who had the same issue, and up-rating the hoses for silicone and more modern clamps (in place of jubilee clips) have cured his issues. 

[john1950 15]

I have used a smear of Hermitite and sometimes modern silicone seal on the fitting or pipe before putting the hose on. I also if it was a hose that had accessability problems doubled up on the Jubillee clips without having to resort to other measures. Not wanting to upset any R.N. personnel. by not using their clips