Tractor antifreeze

I've got a 1979 vintage Massey Ferguson 20c with the Perkins diesel. I'm getting ready to drain and flush the cooling system. With all the different changes in antifreeze over the last 40 years, I'm somewhat confused about what to use as the replacement coolant. Currently it has green coolant which I believe to be Prestone ethylene glycol. Should I stick with that or are there newer better options?

Sty with the old type of the newer universal type. The new red stuff does not mix with the green stuff and cause you to have to rebuild an engine

(quoted from post at 13:58:34 06/05/20) I've got a 1979 vintage Massey Ferguson 20c with the Perkins diesel. I'm getting ready to drain and flush the cooling system. With all the different changes in antifreeze over the last 40 years, I'm somewhat confused about what to use as the replacement coolant. Currently it has green coolant which I believe to be Prestone ethylene glycol. Should I stick with that or are there newer better options?

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Since you are going to flush anyway I would go with the newer long life red which gives you longer corrosion protection.

Just to caution you. If the red and green ever get mixed together it forms a jell in the engine block and the only way to remove that jell is by having the engine block dipped. So if it had green in it even if you flush it I would not take the chance of using the new red stuff. But you can use the newer universal which pretty much has the same protections of the new red

Red and green or
Orange and green???

Stay with the ethylene glycol. I have tractors with the same antifreeze in them for twenty years. It works.
If you change, you just open up Pandora's box.

Either way you mix the red/orange and green and you will run into big problem that can cost you an engine

As long as you drain whats in there, fill it with whatever you want. Even the ASE tells you its okay to mix up to 15% of the wrong kind. If worried, you can always flush it with water. But Id just drain and refill.

I do not know the correct answer, but use cool guard in all my equipment.

The link below passes along some good information from a reputable source .... interesting stuff !!!
Anti Freeze/ Coolant 101 basics ....

No offense, but that article is horrible. That reputable source is a professional copy/paster, she knows zero about vehicles. She just copies things she reads online and rewrites in her own words. One of her credentials is actually listed as having driven numerous vehicles.

Harper,

green coolant has a life of about 6 to 9 years. Drain, flush, operate, drain again. I t will be fine for diesel and gas engines, by my experience and backed by laboratory samples.

I prefer the older green stuff, and it has a proven record for use.
watch out for dogs and such, it is poison and they like it,

D.

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will stick to the tried and true green ethylene glycol.

If you use the std antifreeze, you need to add the diesel additive to prevent cavitation. You need to test with test strips to get the mix correct. Your local tractor dealership can provide the test strips and additive. Google diesel coolant cavitation to get the complete story.

Back 20 years ago when they first came out with some newer antifreeze they had trouble with gaskets on the older trucks. I have stayed with the older green antifreeze in 2 semi's and a dozen other engines. I do test every year in the fall and add additive according to the results.

> Just to caution you. If the red and green ever get mixed together it forms a jell in the engine block and the only way to remove that jell is by having the engine block dipped. So if it had green in it even if you flush it I would not take the chance of using the new red stuff. But you can use the newer universal which pretty much has the same protections of the new red

That is simply not true. If mixing antifreeze types was that dangerous, manufacturers such as Prestone would specifically warn against it. They don't. Mixing inorganic additive antifreeze with organic additive antifreeze negates advantages of the organic additives, but it won't immediately turn it into sludge. If you have gel in your coolant, something else is going on.

I put green stuff in our 4586, and it ran really hot. Drained the system and got a surprise! The first flow was bright purple, then bang, it turned green. In the catch basin, the green floated on the purple stuff so it wouldn't circulate through the rad! Flushed it with lots of water and put all green in it, ran for years. Weird! Never did find out what the purple stuff was, it was in the tractor when we got it.

(quoted from post at 00:31:29 06/06/20)
If you use the std antifreeze, you need to add the diesel additive to prevent cavitation ...... Google diesel coolant cavitation to get the complete story.

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Since your putting it in a diesel, use a [u:f7dbee7094][b:f7dbee7094]Diesel rated[/b:f7dbee7094][/u:f7dbee7094] conventional green ethylene glycol coolant to avoid cavitation problems.

rew1953 has got it right

You can buy this already formulated for diesel engines.

MJ ..... OK, maybe you could tell us specifically what is posted that is incorrect ..... with a reputable source to back your claim. I'm no expert, just passing along some information I came across.

It is IMPORTANT to remember just color does not make antifreeze Diesel compatible.

Well I guess the owners of more then one auto repair shop don't know what there talking about then so I dare you to mix the red and green and run it in any thing. You too are one I have asked not to answer my posts but again no respect

(quoted from post at 08:37:17 06/06/20) Well I guess the owners of more then one auto repair shop don't know what there talking about then so I dare you to mix the red and green and run it in any thing. You too are one I have asked not to answer my posts but again no respect

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Wow, there are two auto repair shop owners who will never mix types of antifreeze? And they are both in Missouri? Wow!! who would have believed that??

> Well I guess the owners of more then one auto repair shop don't know what there talking about then so I dare you to mix the red and green and run it in any thing. You too are one I have asked not to answer my posts but again no respect

As long as you continue to post inaccurate and/or misleading information, I'll continue to correct you. If you don't like my responses, get your facts straight before you make dubious claims, such as your absurd statement that mixing antifreeze types will create such a mess that the block will have to be dipped.

Are you saying that you personally had a vehicle that was perfectly fine until you added the wrong antifreeze, and then you had to completely disassemble the engine and have the block dipped to get it right again? Or are you just repeating what some other shadetree mechanic told you?

Here is a personal experience. Take it as you see fit. My SIL switched antifreeze from green to red. The engine started overheating at about 2000 miles on the switch. We pulled the plug on the oil pan and got NOTHING. Mike swore the oil was at the correct level. I started fishing in the oil drain pan with a welding rod with a small hook on the end. I hand pulled out what looked like a bunch of rubbery strings. Just my scrapings yielded 1-1/2 quarts of this material. This was on a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.7 L motor. I took the sample to 5 good mechanics in the area. None had a clue to what the stuff was or how it got into the oil pan. One had a BIL who worked on a lot of Dodge diesel motors that he said he had seen this many times before and knew the cause. We immediately went to chat with him to see what could be done to bring the motor back.

Larry told us that the production of the rubbery looking stuff was the result of a bad engine design flaw by Chrysler engineers. The problem centered around #8 cylinder, which received insufficient cooling under normal operation. The #8 cylinder would blow the head gasket on the piston side of the head. The antifreeze would form a gelatine consisstancy when exposed to the high ignition temps. THERE IS NO CURE. The block is completely plugged up and almost impossible to get it back to serviceable condition. Larry said this would happen regardless of the antifreeze used. He said the gelatine was caused by exposure to high heat and not mixing antifreeze types. His proof is aftermarket replacement engines from companies like Jasper are advertising replacement engines with the design defect cured. My SIL had purchased an extended warranty when he bought the truck used. The warranty covered the purchase cost of a replacement Jasper motor, but no installation costs. Probably the best he could do with a used truck. Take this as you will. Larry seemed to be a very smart certified mechanic that knew what he was talking about.