Lets talk Coolant for the Ecodiesel

[Camaroboi13]

I was gonna do this to mine but just continued living my life... I'll probably add water to my coolant if it starts getting low. 2 years, 5 months old and 54k miles on the clock.

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[GladiatorPilot23]

William from the FB group EcoDiesel Differently Enabled is who EOC learned about the poor performance of the Mopar coolant as did I.

I'm going to do a mass replacement. Mine was 7.5pH at 1900 miles.

Here is the best way so far to change it unless there is better. I drain by opening the petcock with 19mm 6 point socket. It VERY hard to turn by hand. I have a petcock socket coming which will be better. I removed my shield to get better access. I used 5/16 ID clear tube and slid it on to drain into pan. I then used a Vevor Pneumatic extractor from Temu for $46 shipped. Looks like there out but other sell the same one different name. https://www.temu.com/goods_snapshot..._1738476629793_8kfflzizvz&refer_page_sn=10032

The extractor had a tube that fit snug on that 5/16ID clear hose. I then pull a little more out creating some vacuum in the system with the coolant reservoir cap almost closed. After that I vacuumed filled it with the AirLift. This pulls all the air out then fills it with coolant so no air pockets or bleeding needed. I love this thing! https://www.amazon.com/UView-550000...ocphy=9031176&hvtargid=pla-435688359104&psc=1 In went the the new MUCH longer lasting higher quality Zerex HD Extended Life Diesel claimed 10 years or 1 million miles. It is yellow and OATs compatible. Here is the link to the best place I found and bought 2 case 12 gallons 50/50. https://www.maxwarehouse.com/produc...bUXb7NiL4htx0yH4QmY_pvcfzhT386xxoCuAAQAvD_BwE

Im going to keep doing this until I finish the 12 gallons. Then test with Acustrip and change from time to time at 7.5pH This is the BEST coolant and will hold pH much longer then Mopar.

 

[1945gpw]

William from the FB group EcoDiesel Differently Enabled is who EOC learned about the poor performance of the Mopar coolant as did I.

I'm not doing a mass replacement. Mine was 7.5pH at 1900 miles.

Here is the best way so far to change it unless there is better. I drain opening the petcock with 19mm 6 point socket. It VERY hard to turn by hand. I have a petcock socket coming which will be better. I removed my shield to get better access. I used 5/16 ID clear tube and slid it on to drain into pan. I then used a Vevor Pneumatic extractor from Temu for $46 shipped. Looks like there out but other sell the same one different name. https://www.temu.com/goods_snapshot..._1738476629793_8kfflzizvz&refer_page_sn=10032

The extractor had a tube that fit snug on that 5/16ID clear hose. I then pull a little more out creating some vacuum in the system with the coolant reservoir cap almost closed. After that I vacuumed filled it with the AirLift. This pulls all the air out then fills it with coolant so no air pockets or bleeding needed. I love this thing! https://www.amazon.com/UView-550000...ocphy=9031176&hvtargid=pla-435688359104&psc=1 the new MUCH longer lasting higher quality Zerex HD Diesel claimed 10 years or 1 million miles. It is yellow and OATs compatible. Here is the link to the best place I found and bought 2 case 12 gallons 50/50. https://www.maxwarehouse.com/produc...bUXb7NiL4htx0yH4QmY_pvcfzhT386xxoCuAAQAvD_BwE

Im going to keep doing this until I finish the 12 gallons. Then test with Acustrip and change from time to time at 7.5pH This is the BEST coolant and will hold pH much longer then Mopar.

thanks for the write up, Very helpful. I’ll be sending a sample off in the next few weeks of my mopar fluid. It is about a year old and has 10k miles on it so interested to see how it is.

 

[biodiesel]

William from the FB group EcoDiesel Differently Enabled is who EOC learned about the poor performance of the Mopar coolant as did I.

Not that it matters, but I was the first to actually pull a sample and send it to a lab for an analysis, and that was before the 3rd gen EcoDiesel was released. I shared my results with William, who later bought a 3rd gen EcoDiesel and did his own testing.

 

[GladiatorPilot23]

thanks for the write up, Very helpful. I’ll be sending a sample off in the next few weeks of my mopar fluid. It is about a year old and has 10k miles on it so interested to see how it is.

Please let us know on the pH. Also meant to say in the beginning doing a mass total replacement of mine.

 

[GladiatorPilot23]

Not that it matters, but I was the first to actually pull a sample and send it to a lab for an analysis, and that was before the 3rd gen EcoDiesel was released. I shared my results with William, who later bought a 3rd gen EcoDiesel and did his own testing.

Oh nice so your the man that started this snowball down the hill lol! I apricate you sharing that info with us! I would have NEVER thought much of it and waited 10 years to do it. By then, it would have leached metal into the coolant and god knows how much life from the cooling loop. You know Tyler that went 530k miles I think original engine. He said, I remember correctly, that coolant was real old more then 200k miles since the last drain and fill. lol then he lost the headgasket. Had he been watching it, I think it would not have happen because there was no overheating issue he said.

I'm on my 3rd flush now. Will be going for another ride maybe 2 and do another drain and fill again. With the drain and extractor. I'm getting out about 1.25 or so Gallons each time.

 

[biodiesel]

Oh nice so your the man that started this snowball down the hill lol! I apricate you sharing that info with us! I would have NEVER thought much of it and waited 10 years to do it.

I pulled a coolant sample on my 2015 EcoDiesel since I do a lot of towing. The analysis report flagged the pH and hardness. I think the hardness could have been due to the dealer mixing tap water with Mopar concentrate coolant when they replaced the EGR cooler, but I'm not totally sure. It's the only explanation that William could come up with.

You know Tyler that went 530k miles I think original engine. He said, I remember correctly, that coolant was real old more then 200k miles since the last drain and fill. lol then he lost the headgasket. Had he been watching it, I think it would not have happen because there was no overheating issue he said.

Tyler is still on the factory engine. He ended up having a cracked head, so he put new heads on the engine. He's now nearing 550,000 miles. Everyone with cracked heads have been tuned. My theory is that the tuning is putting a lot of stress on the heads and eventually causing them to fail. It's a good theory but the evidence is still fairly weak. When I look at a small sample of 400,000-mile engines, I've noticed that the ones with cracked heads are tuned and the ones that are still running are not tuned.

I'm on my 3rd flush now. Will be going for another ride maybe 2 and do another drain and fill again. With the drain and extractor. I'm getting out about 1.25 or so Gallons each time.

Drain and fills do work. Here's how mine changed:

Mileage	Coolant SPEC	pH (8.5)	Hardness (ppm)	Mopar 50/50 Prediluted	Interval
94,993	MS-12106	7.0	68	68163849AB	94,993
105,180	MS-12106	7.1	51	68163849AB	10,187
122,725	MS-12106	7.3	48	68163849AB	17,545
126,303	MS-90032	N/A	N/A	68163849AB	3,578

 

[biodiesel]

Here is the best way so far to change it unless there is better. I drain by opening the petcock with 19mm 6 point socket. It VERY hard to turn by hand.

Be careful when using the petcock. My petcock eventually broke internally causing it to turn without threading out. I contacted a diesel tech to get his feedback. He said fairly common for OE petcocks to eventually fatigue and break with enough use. Once they break, he said they are known to eventually leak at the petcock. Mine broke last year and never leaked. This year, I developed a leak, but it was due to a rock or something that pieced the radiator. So, I ended up putting a new radiator in my 2015, which was nearly 10 years old with 126,000 miles anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

Going forward, I think I'll remove the lower radiator hose to perform my drain and fills and avoid using the petcock. Honestly, removing the bottom hose will pretty much drain the entire system, so that's better than using the petcock in my opinion.

 

[GladiatorPilot23]

Be careful when using the petcock. My petcock eventually broke internally causing it to turn without threading out. I contacted a diesel tech to get his feedback. He said fairly common for OE petcocks to eventually fatigue and break with enough use. Once they break, he said they are known to eventually leak at the petcock. Mine broke last year and never leaked. This year, I developed a leak, but it was due to a rock or something that pieced the radiator. So, I ended up putting a new radiator in my 2015, which was nearly 10 years old with 126,000 miles anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

Going forward, I think I'll remove the lower radiator hose to perform my drain and fills and avoid using the petcock. Honestly, removing the bottom hose will pretty much drain the entire system, so that's better than using the petcock in my opinion.

Thanks for letting me know. I’ve been real gentle but the issue is not the petcock, but where it’s screwed into? I did see a replacement Petcock. On the jeeps, it’s hard to get all the fluid out. You only get less than a gallon. You would need to use the extractor to get a bit more from the petcock. Now I plan to replace the plastic end cap radiator with an upgraded all aluminum Mishimoto.

 

[GladiatorPilot23]

Tyler is still on the factory engine. He ended up having a cracked head, so he put new heads on the engine. He's now nearing 550,000 miles. Everyone with cracked heads have been tuned. My theory is that the tuning is putting a lot of stress on the heads and eventually causing them to fail. It's a good theory but the evidence is still fairly weak. When I look at a small sample of 400,000-mile engines, I've noticed that the ones with cracked heads are tuned and

Oh wow at first he was saying it was the head gasket and that’s the last I heard about it. That’s when I found out. He had gone way too long on the old court and speculated. It was related to that but good to know now what happened.

That’s why I love the Derringer. It keeps a lot of failsafes, including the EGT way down compared to those tunes. Another engine damaging problem I would say is the fact that the trans tunes that go with them, they lock the torque converter and shift even sooner than the already good lower RPM shifting of the factory tune. Then they hold the gear under moderate throttle pounding the bearing as well as the crank harmonics from it.

 

[HVYMETL]

Just drained mine for the first time... drained radiator and block.
55k miles 2021 model
Old was 6.6 ph level.

 

[biodiesel]

Just drained mine for the first time... drained radiator and block.
55k miles 2021 model
Old was 6.6 ph level.

The optimal range for OAT coolant is between 7.0 - 9.0, so it was time to change it.

 

[Rusty PW]

What are you guys using to test your ph with?

 

[HVYMETL]

What are you guys using to test your ph with?

I'm using a simple tester from Amazon... $15-20

 

[biodiesel]

What are you guys using to test your ph with?

I send mine to the same lab that I send my oil samples.

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