I dumped out all of the coolant including the drain on the left side of the block. Since it is basically completely empty, do I need to do anything special to refill? I had to remove the radiator for repairs. After taking it out there was about a half gallon or more left behind. When I tipped it over to empty it in a bucket I was shocked to see brown rusty crud. Both drains poured out perfect green coolant. Is my radiator plugged or not mixing correctly? Also, the manual says I should add Case's conditioning fluid to the new coolant. Does anyone do this? Thanks, Steve
When we replaced the engine in our JD 210LE, we used JD premixed coolant. It was highly recommended in the manual and was competitively priced. Premix is a good bet if your water has lots of disolved solids. Bad water can make a mess of an otherwise efficient cooling system.
Flush the cooling system with distilled water or rainwater, that is, run it good for an hour, let it idle a few minutes to cool down and drain it as soon as you shut it off. Repeat until no more sediment comes out, a light rusty tint is fine. Use the heavy duty coolant of your choice, ELC etc. Concentrate is fine, mix it with distilled water, not well water or any other hard water.
The issue with the coolant conditioner varies from one machine to the next. The biggest idem is cavitation erosion that you are trying to stop or slow down. Some newer trucks and construction equipment have a pre charge spin on filter that does this and is changed at different service hours. There are several plusses to adding a conditioner, extends coolant life, lower operating temps, helps to prevent corrosion and oxidation, prevents scale buildup, works to slow cavitation and erosion. Depending how and the type of cleaning agents used, may turn a cleaning into a nightmare. I use the same suggestion in Delmer post often with a clean water flush and go back with a good antifreeze with a small amount of conditioner if needed. I use it more on a fresh rebuild with new sleeves and let the owner know it's been added.
Thanks for the advise guys. I talked to the Case dealer and he looked in parts ordering system and no one has bought their coolant conditioner in quite some time. Steve