Ralph.. Need your Opinion..

[Mykro]

I'm getting ready to put another Frantz on my PSD
as a coolant filter.. Check out this coolant from Evans... It's a waterless coolant.

http://www.dieselsitetoo.com/product.asp?0=207&1=220&3=42

Yay or Nay?

 

[RalphPWood]

Myko,

Propylene glycol is known as an excellent coolant. Water is a terrible thing to put in a radiator. At one time Amsoil sold it. I don't know if they still do. I think Auto Zone and other auto stores sell it. I don't know if the formula is the same. Ethylene glycol should have been eliminated years ago. Normally when I buy a rig it has over 100,000 miles on it and it isn't of too much benefit to go to it. I bought an old 84 6.9 Ford diesel that needs a ring job. I have driven it five years using a qt every 600 miles. Been thinking about putting a Cummins engine in it rather than repairing it, then I will go the propylene glycol and different oil route. I put some synthetic oil in a piece of equipment at work and the temp dropped 40 degrees. I am a long ways from being an expert on oil. I do have an open mind.

Ralph

 

[Weatherlite]

I've read about NPG before and know of one owner/operator that runs it. He swears by it. Like the guy Unstead in the article link at the bottom of Evans' webpage, he got about an extra MPG out of his rig.

Lets see.....an engine that normally gets ~7MPG fully loaded has an increase to ~8MPG. That's about a 14% increase in fuel economy!! So, for a PSD with ~16MPG you're talking an increase to 18.25MPG! That alone should recoup the costs quickly.

However, there may be another issue to look at here. I don't know diddly squat about big rigs so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But, PSD's are definitely operated by computers. Don't know if rigs are or not but the guy I know, his is old enough that it's not so when he made the changes everything was adjusted by hand. Well, anyway, aren't these computers designed to run the engines based upon certain parameters? And in these parameters isn't coolant temp one of them? What I'm getting at is this will require a reprogramming of the computer to take advantage of the new abilities and I didn't read anywhere on that webpage about them having the capability of doing that.

Now then, if there is capability to do this should you perhaps be considering warranty? Don't know how many miles are on your truck. Will this void the Ford warranty? Will Evans cover breakdown costs that Ford won't?

Next....

.....if you did decide to go this route why would you even consider a coolant filter? Or are you just saying this would be an alternative to the filter?

Finally...

I have never heard of anyone having a problem with this stuff...if I recall some of the older corvettes use it in their reverse flow cooling systems? I'd say that if you plan on keeping the truck for a long time then go for it. Even if you have a lot of miles.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Mikie

 

[Mike_dup1]

quote:

---

Originally posted by RalphPWood:


At one time Amsoil sold it. I don't know if they still do.

Ralph

---

Still do;

 

[RalphPWood]

A 203 degree F thermostat isn't very radical.
I converted my old 82 Mazda to propylene Glycol. I didn't change the thermostat. The stuff I used I got at Pep Boys Auto Parts. I remember it was Sierra brand. I didn't keep the truck long enough to form an opinion. I sold it and bought the old Ford diesel because I needed more power. I put an old Motor Guard on the coolant. The first change was a nasty mess. The element looked like it came out of a mud hole. This surprised me because the coolant looked very clean. It seems to me that the reasons you need a coolant filter is caused by water.
I got an email from a Marine unit in Okanawa, Japan wanting a military contact to talk to about coolant filtration. Gulf Coast filters sells portable systems that they pull from one truck to the next. They have a fitting brazed into a radiator cap. They pull coolant out of the bottom of the block clean it and return it to the radiator. They use a Baldwin test strip to test the coolant. They also can circulate a drum of used coolant. I saw about 350,000,000 dollars worth of purchase orders from the Department of Defense. Most of it was for coolant, cleaning solvent fuel and that sort of thing. They have these big systems that take like 24 rolls of Bounty Big Roll Paper
Towels. The big paper towel filters were invented because out in California it was a hassle to deal with a bunch of Frantz oil cleaners on the big fishing boats. One paper towel filter could replace two Frantz three stackers. Motor Guard manifolded 4 tp filters on one bracket and mounted them on an over the road truck. What would you do with an offshore rig like Gulf Coast deals with? I am bringing back the multiple Motor Guards. Motor Guard has found happiness with industrial filtration. They have no interest in the hassle of automotive filtration. David out there, the President, said "judging from your purchases you have been busy." He says we have been getting more and more calls about lube oil filters. I am their top volume dealer of automotive filters.

Ralph

[ January 10, 2004, 01:10 AM: Message edited by: RalphPWood ]