Bad Antifreeze???

[mchero]

Frind of mine was heading out to the Fleetwood rally last week. Gets out in the "hot country" and all of a sudden his rig starts to overheat to the point the Cummins (side radiator) started derating.

Apparently he was able to get back to his house and dropped the rig of at the shop.

I was just informed that he was told by the shop that the reason the rig was overheating so severely was due to "Bad Antifreeze"

I have been to automotive school 30+ years ago. Have worked on everything from gas to diesel. I must say, this is the first time that I have ever heard of Antifreeze "going bad".

All prior trips he has had zero cooling issues. So all of a sudden his antifreeze goes bad? Just trying to grasp this one.

Ideas, thoughts?

Thanks all

[AJBert]

Anti freeze means just what it is called. It will not freeze at 32F. A couple of added benefits is that it will not boil over at 212F, normally not until 240F or above. It also has anti corrosion inhibitives.

However, the "liquid" itself only removes heat from the engine block and carries said heat to the radiator, where the air moving between the radiator removes said heat.

Any liquid will do this. Plain water will do this. Everything that anti freeze is, is also its downfall, as in gelling. I've never heard of anti freeze instantly failing, but it will do so over time. Sounds like your friend didn't bother to pull the cap and see what things looked like in there.

[mchero]

Are you kidding? 48/gallon? WOW!

[time2roll]

DD just used water. Yes we flushed a ton on rust out every year. And I remember overheating on the family vacations more than once....

I now just use the universal Prestone and Distilled water only. Never an issue and still runs cool and clear after 15 years.

Dreading the coolant change on my RAV4. The Tesla battery calls for a blue coolant that sells for $48 per gallon :E
Maybe I will just put Prestone in it.... (jk)

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The miracle PRESTONE of the 70's and 80's used to coagulate. Forced me to switch to Dow Corning. Down here, no antifreeze but a healthy hit of Nalcool 2000. Works better than any antifreeze to stop scaling.

[mchero]

Spoke to my brother who works around big rigs/diesels and he told me that it is possible for the Antifreeze to jell up IF you mix red & green for instance.
I never did get any further details. I guess we will wait for his next trip.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[wolfe10]

"Bad Antifreeze" can have many meanings-- need to find out what was wrong with it.

Common on diesel with regular "low silicate for diesels with added SCA" to check the following:

SCA concentration
Freeze Point
pH

It could also be that two non-compatible types of anti-freeze were used.

So, my observation is to get more FACTS on what was wrong.

[Cydog15]

I'm not a young buck and that is a bunch of horse poo. I need to open a new shop I guess. Remember wayyyyy back when there were a few honest shops?

[time2roll]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Yes, antifreeze can go bad. It's not a new phenomena (at least since 1970 when I started driving). Does engine coolant go bad? Click here. Although it's not done so much any more, but remember when flushing the engine was common practice?

I did not get much specific science on how the ethylene glycol breaks down and changes to some other chemical. In fact it says some last 13 years and 130,000 miles. wiki has better info.

I still wonder about past service.

[DutchmenSport]

Yes, antifreeze can go bad. It's not a new phenomena (at least since 1970 when I started driving). Does engine coolant go bad? Click here. Although it's not done so much any more, but remember when flushing the engine was common practice?

[ScottG]

Very common for antifreeze to get too old. Everyone should ha e a tester and use it yearly. It should also be changed periodically to keep the anti corrion packeage working.

[time2roll]

Low, wrong mix, contaminated or gelled I can see. But just bad? I don't buy that.
When and where was the last service? Was it topped off with the wrong stuff?

[mike-s]

Perhaps it was topped off with an antifreeze incompatible with the existing stuff. There are so many these days, and some combinations turn to gel. When Dexcool first came out, there were lots of reports of it doing it on its own, not sure if that still happens, though.

[midnightsadie]

X2 never heard of this.