This was undeliverable privately to the original list member, so I must
broadcast it. Sorry for the excessive use of bandwidth.
Vincent C Porto wrote:
>
> Mike;
> Please let me know where I can get more information on the Cummins bulletin.
>
> Many thanks in advance, I am now running the orange 'long-life' from
>Prestone.
> Been in the car for 6 months without any problems - but your note raises my
> concern!
I sent an email from work, which was apparently not forwarded to the
list, but here's a synopsis of what I said in that one:
Only coolants manufactured by Equilon Industries, an affiliate of
Texaco, are a problem in this country. In Europe, there is no problem,
since the coolants there are so-called "hybrids," which have a
combination of organic and inorganic corrosion inhibitors. There is a
coolant marketed in Australia with a similar formulation, and it has
been removed from Cummins' list of approved coolants, as well.
All coolants certified as complying with ASTM 6310 and ASTM 6311 are
okay, but, as the bulletin said, Texaco stated compliance originally.
Ford and Chrysler never authorized use of the coolant in their systems
because they felt, in addition to the problem with dissolving silicone,
the coolant provided minimal protection for the aluminum parts of the
water pump.
The offending chemical in the formulation seems to be ethyl-hexanoic
acid. The surest way for you to know if Prestone might be a problem is
to write their website and request a copy of the MSDS. That will tell
you if that organic acid is present in Prestone Extended Life coolant. I
would guess that Prestone is fine, unless it is manufactured by Equilon
for Prestone.
Most of the problem seems to occur in engines with 80,000 to 200,000
miles. Given that Cummins is referring to heavy-duty truck engines which
rack up miles reasonably quickly, that's probably not a lot of
time--about a year to a year and a half. If the coolant is of the
formulation mentioned above, it will probably start to eat some silicone
in that time.
Hope that helps.
Cheers, Vince.
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