1985 S-10D coolant additive

By itself, no, it isn't.

Everything I've read on the issue says they'll start having cavitation problems at around 120k-150k miles, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. That's what the DCA is there to fix.

I could probably go on for quite a while with no problem without DCA, but why take the chance?

Fram got back to me and said that they recomend a 1:1 ratio of one unit of DCA to one gallon of coolant in their precharged coolant filters. Well, that means that the 4 unit precharge filters I have would give a

1.33:1 ratio. Overcharged by a third, darn it.

So does anyone have any idea what the effect of a 33% overcharge of DCA might be?

AP

"Alan Petrillo" wrote

And why is that "the wrong answer"? I dare say that they probably know a whole lot more about what works in diesels then most folks.

The most important thing is to change your coolant religiously. All these coolant additives are really nothing more then snake oil designed to remove money from your wallet. If they were so important, GM would have included coolant "filters" right from the factory. As it is.....simply changing the coolant every

2 years/40,000 klms will keep most problems away. Almost every problem I've ever seen with cooling systems is either poor design of components (nothing you can do to prevent failure in that case) or lack of maintenance of the cooling system...(easily preventable by simply "maintaining" the cooling system.....read: change your coolant every two years)

Ian

Like I said, I could probably go on for quite some time with no problem, but why take the chance.

There are a lot of people who disagree with that statement.

A lot of them are worthless, certainly, but by no means all of them. Particularly, diesel fleet operators wouldn't be without their supplemental coolant additives.

They do in their heavy duty trucks and industrial engines. Detroit Diesel operators, particularly, wouldn't be without coolant filters and DCA. Why should little diesels be any different? Small diesels actually deal with _more_ stress than the big industrial models.

And besides, it is in the manufacturers' financial best interest to keep the general public in the dark about coolant filtration, DCA, and cavitation. They sell more parts and more new vehicles that way.

Cavitation isn't most problems. It's a problem that is specific to diesels. Gasoline engines don't have the compression or the ignition impulse to make cavitation happen.

(No, but you can delay it as long as possible with due dilligence.)

And filter it. The coolant in your engine is the only fluid that isn't filtered. Even the cheap screen filters like this one

remove an astonishing amount of crud from your coolant. Bypass filters will remove even more. An interesting thread on coolant filters can be found here: If the Big Guys wouldn't be without them then why should us little guys?

AP

"Alan Petrillo" wrote

I doubt that you are "taking a chance"...but as I've said before, half the battle is how you feel about things. If it makes you feel good/safe...etc... it's probably worth doing.

Now we are talking about a different ball of wax.

I think you are comparing apples/oranges.

Being the sceptic that I am about the good intentions of car manufacturers....I might actually agree with you on this point. But I still think that there is no evidence that you need to run coolant filters and special additives on light trucks or cars. And that would seem to include the vehicle that is mentioned in the Subject line.

Actually, I believe that some gas engines have had problems with it too. But I would suspect that automotive coolant has the needed additives already in it to deal with most of the problems......people just don't change it enough and then wonder where the problems came from.

So what "due diligence" could anyone do to stop an intake manifold gasket from leaking on 3100/3400 v-6 GM engines? I think you missed the point....a poorly designed component will fail no matter what you do. All the coolant filters and additives in the world won't stop those gaskets from failing. There are many other types of well known failures that cannot be stopped by "more and better maintenance".

Because the "Big Guys" cannot afford to have costly breakdowns. Again, you are comparing your little diesel S-10 mini truck to some big highway rig that is often running 24/7. But then again, while the coolant filter and additives may not actually help your diesel last longer....it will most certainly help to relieve some stress in your life.... and who can argue against that?

Ian

Diesels need an additive if they have a wet cylinder liner. If you bring in a John Deere for warranty work, you better have the additive in it. It prevents the superheated water along the surface of the liners from boiling. The water will rather quickly make pits in the outside of the lining, leading to failure. I'm not sure what type of liners are in the S10, but if the book calls for an additive, use it. There are other issues with metallurgy used in some of the diesels that make them more prone to rust, also.

Well, specifically, it keeps bubbles from forming and adhering to the surface of the cylinder liner.

The S-10 book, as with most light and medium duty diesels, says zilch about additives.

The cylinder liners are integral with the block, so if the liners get whacked then the whole block is junk.

AP

Good point.

Indeed. Fleet operators demand the highest reliability from their equipment. I just don't see why I shouldn't demand the same.

I don't think so. IMHO, it is at worst and apples/pears comparison.

Certain problems are common to all diesel engines, and cavitation is one of them.

Perhaps. But I think it'd be better to run a coolant filter than to have to clean crud out of my heater core and radiator. Especially since coolant filters are so cheap compared to heater cores.

I wouldn't be too surprized. Particularly if the cylinder walls were made really thin in an effort to cut weight and costs.

Could be some of it, like Dexcool, already does. But most of it is made to deal with gas engines, since gas engines overwhelmingly dominate the American market.

Definitely. Frankly, I wouldn't expect even the 5 year rated coolants like Dexcool to actually last 5 years. I definitely agree with you about changing your coolant every other year even if you are running Dexcool.

I see your point. But, never having had to deal with one of those, I wouldn't know.

Yes, you're right, bad design is bad design, and sometimes there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

What I had in mind were more the head-hotspots, worn out waterpump seals, clogged heater core, and clogged radiator problems. My mind was still stuck on cooling issues.

And little guys like me can?

I don't see why I shouldn't. The engine may be smaller, but the technology is the same.

The difference, mostly, is with expectations. Most people expect their light duty vehicles to go 100k miles. A few expect 200k, and some fleeting few like to see 300k before consigning a vehicle to the junkyard. By that time a big rig is just seeing its first in-frame overhaul. If that early. The world record holder for mileage on a passenger car is an old Mercedes 220D, which you'll note is a diesel, with 1.3 million miles. A big rig might make that by the time it's 10 years old, and can be expected to go much further.

Yup. There is that. And this, I suppose, is why there is a whole additives and accessories industry out there to separate consumers from their money.

AP