“This raises the Ph levels in the engine, which leaves aluminum surfaces open to corrosion - and can actually penetrate the surface of the metal in some cases. “You mix nitrites and aluminum and liquid ammonia forms,” he says. The main culprit in this process is the liquid ammonia, Granger confirms. So you end up with a fluid that is now causing corrosion inside the engine while offering severely reduced protection.” “And, as a result, the protective additives in the coolant are depleted. “This process causes the formation of ammonia, and the coolant to become unstable and more basic, or less acidic,” Dilley says. Problems begin, Dilley says, when nitrites under pressure react with the flux used in controlled atmospheric braising components in aluminum heat exchangers and radiators in the cooling system. But it is bad when it does.”Ĭolin Dilley, vice president, technology, Prestone, says that initially, nitrated organic acids helped prevent cavitation - a common physical reaction in a closed coolant system where miniature, imploding bubbles of air literally rip pieces of metal off of wet sleeve cylinder wall linings. And now, after years of experience with these engines, we understand that in certain conditions, there can be a catastrophic chemical reaction between nitrites and aluminum in a diesel engine. Diesel engines have far more aluminum components to save weight and boost fuel economy. “But engines back then weren’t built with much aluminum in them,” Granger says. Initially, Granger says, the new, nitrite coolants worked well, and most OEMs eventually started requiring their use as a warranty condition on new engines. And we decided to make that new Rotella coolant a red color in order to differentiate it in the market.” “As a solution, they wanted to add nitrites to coolants, which boosted cylinder liner protection. “In the late ‘90s, we were working with Caterpillar, and they were concerned about liner life in their engines,” says Stede Granger, OEM technical manager for Shell Lubricants. Including a yellow, extended-life coolant, and a new, red-colored coolant developed by Shell. And that’s really where all these different colors we have today began.”īefore long, different-colored coolants began to appear. So to differentiate our product, and help customers out, we decided to make FleetCharge coolants a fuchsia pink color. “And when you mixed them with fresh, green, automotive coolant, you ended up with a brown-colored fluid. “At the time, SCAs were red in color,” Cook recalls. This all changed, Cook says, when Old World decided to simplify things for its customers and began to offer its then-new FleetCharge heavy duty coolant with SCAs already formulated in the mixture. Most fleets simply poured green-colored automotive-grade coolants into their trucks and then added supplemental coolant additives (SCAs) to insure increased wet sleeve liner protection. Up until the 1990s, there wasn’t really an application-specific heavy duty diesel coolant on the market. Frank Cook, chief technology officer at Old World Industries, which manufactures the Peak brand of engine coolants. As is often the case, the confusion today arose from sincerely good intentions, says Dr.
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