Coolant always confuses me! I pulled the radiator, cleaned it, combed the fins to straighten the bent ones and flushed the entire system. I need to refill. Which coolant type do I need? So many types on the market!
1845c were designed 30+ years ago. I think everything back then took just regular green anti-freeze. It's all I've ever run in mine.
I was thinking the same but realized mine was manufactured in 2000 which means they probably changed things up lol. Want to make sure I do what is right!
Since you did a flush, you could put whatever coolant you would like back in it. I wouldn't recommend putting a OAT coolant in it though. OAT coolant can react with other coolants and cause Jello like buildups in your rad and engine. Factory fill would have been the standard green coolant, a ethylene glycol 50/50 mix. I would recommend filling with this. Any parts store will have this on the shelf (like NAPA or similar). Or if your really picky, you could go to the Case dealer, or Cummins dealer.
The good old green stuff should be good. Anyone have thoughts on pre-diluted as opposed to full strength that you add water to? I know many years ago where I worked the corporate level maintenance guy took water samples from every plant in the company and had it tested and who ever did the testing said the water at most every plant was not the best to use as coolant mixture. So after that we always used the pre-diluted stuff in everything. I can understand that as being in a limestone quarry our water came from wells drilled into limestone so it would make sense it was on the hard side. I know my water at home, just about a mile from the quarry, is so hard it would destroy the heating element in electric water heater in a little over a year! I get around that by having a cistern that catches the rain water off the roof of house.
I like to dilute my own antifreeze, but I like it a bit rich on the coolant side anyways.
I've always mixed my own. 60/40 which give the better freeze protection than 50/50 premix. Which might not be a problem if you live in a warmer climate or your machine never sits outside. And always use distilled water, not tap water. Tap water has lots of crud in it that can cause buildup and lose of cooling.
I used to work for purchasing at Honeywell when they owned Prestone (when they owned Prestone-FRAM-Autolite-Bendix-Holts). The pre-diluted stuff is simply convenient. So you're getting less ethylene glycol, but gaining the convenience of the pre-mix. Since tap water (city or well) can be full of minerals that may eventually leave deposits...if you are mixing your own from concentrate, go to the grocery store and buy some DE-IONIZED water for your 50-50 blend. Basically, "de-ionized" means all of the dissolved salts have been removed. Distilled water may still have trace amounts of dissolved salts and minerals.
Nothing confusing about coolant. When I see aluminum parts that contact coolant, I pour red, when I see all cast iron I pour green.
Sometimes you have to be careful using red (OAT) coolant in systems containing aluminium. I haven't personally come across any of thee radiators yet, but I'm sure it will happen sooner or later. I came across the document when I was looking for something else (always the way). Reading the Special Instruction it appears as though only nitrited OAT coolants require the conditioner, but doesn't clearly state than nitrite-fre coolants do NOT require it. IMO that could be because CAT ELC is a nitrite-based OAT coolant and they don't sell a nitrite-free version.
Thanks for ther info! I assumed I was ok with the green since it was draining all of it. I like to buy full strength and mix my own using distilled water as it is cheap enough per gallon. I also do the 60/40 mix.
Yeah, like the other guys said, just buy purified or distilled water. Consider long-life conventional (green) antifreeze. Thats what I use. Once you have your system drained, it might be a good idea to inspect the cooling system CAREFULLY. As in the lower radiator hose and any leaks. The engines vibrate a lot on these rigs, often the bottom sides of the radiator mount (where it's soldered to the radiator) will pull away after several years. Check carefully that yours is secure. You can easily re-solder the metal mount to the copper radiator with a torch if need be. If it is loose and left alone, it can lead to radiator cracks or worse. If you have ANY doubt about the lower radiator hose, replace. What can happen is, if it sits for some time a few drops at a time on grass or gravel, go unnoticed and can drain the cooling system between uses and you'd hate to mistakenly overheat your engine. Of course always check coolant before you run your skid. If you park on concrete than you'd probably see a leak. Also the fan shroud mounting tabs often crack and may not be holding the shroud as secure as it could be. Give them a look-see. There have been more than a few Case owners who've had floppy shrouds eventually get into the fan and before they could shut the machine down it can ruin a blade, radiator and other expensive parts. The tabs on my shroud were problematic before I fixed them. There was a guy here years ago who had a shroud get sucked in ...and soon after I checked mine ...glad I did. So .....just give the rest of the system a look over before adding the new coolant so everything else is good to go for a while, and you'll have a happy machine!! Good luck
Thanks, I took the radiator completely out of the machine and had it cleaned. I also removed the fan blade and soaked it. There was significant build up on the blades. The hoses look as if they were replaced before I bought it so that was good! I will post pics soon. I have accomplished a lot!
OAT probably would be OK, but I would not use it. The plasticizers in OAT can attack old gaskets. There was a lot of controversy with OAT and Cummins during that era. Get a pre-mix Heavy Duty conventional coolant from Cat or Cummins/Fleetguard that already has the nitrate/molybdate conditioner to protect your block from cavitation corrosion. The NAPA HD coolant is fine, except you then have to measure and add the conditioner. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Stay away from the common automotive parts store coolants. They often have high levels of silica meant for inexpensively protecting aluminum. Silica tends to destroy water pump seals and cause green goo.