Temperatures across the U.S. are tumbling, and the temperature swing can be a lot for a truck's components to handle, especially the coolant system. For most of at least the last six months, the coolant's ability to keep operating temperatures in line has been its primary function but soon – if not already – its ability to withstand subfreezing temps will be front and center. Chevron Lubricants Commercial Fleets Business Consultant Shelly Eckert, who joins Jason and Matt on this week's 10-44, said while a good maintenance program isn't necessarily tied to the changing of the seasons, there's no time like the present to give your coolant system a thorough checkup. Contents of this episode00:00 Coolant maintenance01:57 Refractometers 02:56 pH test strips 06:34 Pressure checking the radiator cap 07:01 Colors of coolant TranscriptThis week's 10-44 is brought to you by Chevron Delo 600 ADF ultra-low ash diesel engine oil. It's time to kick some ash.Temperatures are dropping faster than spot market rates. Are your trucks ready for the changing of the seasons? Jason Cannon Matt Cole Jason Cannon Shelly Eckert Matt Cole Shelly Eckert Matt Cole Shelly Eckert If it increases, it typically indicates that if you're running at a nitrite-free coolant, it'll indicate that you have nitrites in your cooling system. So it's a nice little trick to monitor your cooling system easily in the field. We've also, and this is where it gets a little complicated, we have these carboxylate test strips, organic acid test strips, right? That's going to be very formula specific. So you have to be careful with that one. You know what coolant you have in the cooling system and honestly, when it comes to over the road fleets, the only time that we have an opportunity to make sure that the truck has the proper amount of coolant and the proper physical properties of the coolant is when that truck is in the bay. Because as soon as it leaves and the driver has it, if they have to top up with coolant over the road, you could be commingling two different coolants. That's allowed up to 25%, but once you get to 25%, you get those dyes mixing, you can't really tell, which is why you have to really test your coolant to make sure everything's good to go. Jason Cannon Protecting your diesel engine and its after treatment system has traditionally been a double edged sword. The same engine oil that is so essential to protecting your engine's internal parts is also responsible for 90% of the ash that is clogging up your DPF and upping your fuel and maintenance costs. Outdated industry thinking still sees a trade off between engine and emission system protection and Chevron was tired of it, so they spent a decade of R & D, developing a no compromise formulation. Chevron Lubricants developed a new ultra-low ash diesel engine oil that is specifically designed to combat DPF ash clogging. Delo 600 ADF with OMNIMAX technology cuts sulfate ash by whopping 60%, which reduces the rate of DPF clogging and extends DPF service life by two and a half times. Just think what you can do with all the MPGs you're going to add from cutting your number of regions. But Delo 600 ADF isn't just about after treatment. It provides complete protection extending drain intervals by preventing oil breakdown. Before, you had to choose between protecting your engine or your after treatment system and now you don't. 600 ADF from Del with OMNIMAX technology, it's time to kick some ash. Shelly Eckert Matt Cole Shelly Eckert If you are a fleet that is on a red coolant, and a lot of times, these trucks, they're going to be labeled with what coolant is in that sump and if it's not labeled, once you put what you know you are using, label it of what is in that cooling system because the shop knows what they're using, but the driver may or may not. I've seen for extended life coolants out there, blue and red and pink and yellow. You have to just be careful because there's circumstances where marketing addresses it as being a universal coolant. Well, that may be for automotive, but not for heavy duty. So you have to know what your coolant is because honestly, 40% of the engine related failures are coolant related. So coolant is a very important piece, which is why we put the Cool Tools together to get the technicians an added kit into their toolbox. Jason Cannon https://ift.tt/v12iK9m
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