antifreeze gone, oil thin
Oil and filter change and drove 38 miles to home and parked for a month. Went to check fluids and the antifreeze level was empty in the top reservoir. Put one gallon Fleet antifreeze in and then a sec...
Forum Discussion
Good morning,
I'm the antifreeze/thin oil guy. Thanks again for even more thoughts and ideas for me. The oil analysis came back good (actually excellent considering the alternative bad scenarios.)
Here is what Caterpillar found from my sample:
1.16 % Fuel.........Well acceptable below the 2% limit.
13.9 % Oil Viscosity.......Also very good. No traces of water or
antifreeze. The oil change was possibly the different feel it had to the fingers. They put Rotella 15W X 30W in, instead of the 15W X 40W I had been running.
Anyway.........good news and now hopefully the leak is not the radiator, although still good compared to head gasket "talk."
Hopefully the last question for you all. Tuesday I plan on driving it at 55 to the shop 38 miles away. I am going to fill the radiator with water and watch my engine TEMP gauge, LOW WATER light, any lights that are signaling temp change on the trip. First of all.....???
I'm going to be filling it with city water today that will be filtered though a Whole House large filter to try and find the leak. Letting the city water sit in the bottom of the radiator after the rest leaks out, is that a problem to the metal or anything else. I would feel a lot better knowing what volume of a leak I have. I plan on filling up 1 gal jugs of water and see how many it takes. I'll double check the coolant capacity. I'm not wanting to go 12 miles and the fluid is coming out and I have a hot radiator that I can't put extra gallons of water into. So, will I hurt anything by using City Water to check for leaks and leaving some in there for 3 days and then fill it up and go, if the leak is not too bad.
There is 40,000 miles on the fluid now after the new radiator and hoses were put in. The previous owner kept articulate records. Nothing about Flushing out the radiator in 40,000 miles in a 6 year span of time. It would be well due for a flushing and fresh antifreeze. I am wondering about how strong the power washer was set at. I know you can write your name in a wood house if you wanted. A hose getting hit from 14" away could act like a knife. Will probably spend the extra money on CAT antifreeze that is good for 6 years. Babbling again...........Thanks everybody.
I'm the antifreeze/thin oil guy. Thanks again for even more thoughts and ideas for me. The oil analysis came back good (actually excellent considering the alternative bad scenarios.)
Here is what Caterpillar found from my sample:
1.16 % Fuel.........Well acceptable below the 2% limit.
13.9 % Oil Viscosity.......Also very good. No traces of water or
antifreeze. The oil change was possibly the different feel it had to the fingers. They put Rotella 15W X 30W in, instead of the 15W X 40W I had been running.
Anyway.........good news and now hopefully the leak is not the radiator, although still good compared to head gasket "talk."
Hopefully the last question for you all. Tuesday I plan on driving it at 55 to the shop 38 miles away. I am going to fill the radiator with water and watch my engine TEMP gauge, LOW WATER light, any lights that are signaling temp change on the trip. First of all.....???
I'm going to be filling it with city water today that will be filtered though a Whole House large filter to try and find the leak. Letting the city water sit in the bottom of the radiator after the rest leaks out, is that a problem to the metal or anything else. I would feel a lot better knowing what volume of a leak I have. I plan on filling up 1 gal jugs of water and see how many it takes. I'll double check the coolant capacity. I'm not wanting to go 12 miles and the fluid is coming out and I have a hot radiator that I can't put extra gallons of water into. So, will I hurt anything by using City Water to check for leaks and leaving some in there for 3 days and then fill it up and go, if the leak is not too bad.
There is 40,000 miles on the fluid now after the new radiator and hoses were put in. The previous owner kept articulate records. Nothing about Flushing out the radiator in 40,000 miles in a 6 year span of time. It would be well due for a flushing and fresh antifreeze. I am wondering about how strong the power washer was set at. I know you can write your name in a wood house if you wanted. A hose getting hit from 14" away could act like a knife. Will probably spend the extra money on CAT antifreeze that is good for 6 years. Babbling again...........Thanks everybody.
