Surely its not just me..

[no704]

I use any liquid I can find, often beer piss, and a couple eggs.

 

[joe_padavano]

Not that simple. I topped of the recovery tank in the old Ram. Premix was $8.** at Walmart. Full strength was, I think, ~$10.** or $12xx / gallon, plus distilled water was about $1.25.

The truck needed about 3/4 of a gallon. The math says it cost ~\$8.00 to top off the reservoir with premix, but would have cost something like $11.xxor $13.** to use concentrate, plus find another clean container to do the mixing.

Plus, the distilled water is at the other end of the store, and they’re usually out of stock.

Again, one gallon of concentrate makes TWO gallons of pre-mix. And frankly, I don't get the "clean container" thing. If you need a gallon, pour half of the concentrate out of the jug, then half of the water. This isn't nuclear science. If the actual mix is 51/49, your engine isn't going to lock up. And this may be sacrilege, but I've never used distilled, just tap water. Been doing that in every vehicle I own since the mid-1970s. Haven't had an issue in half a century.

 

[mike93lx]

Again, one gallon of concentrate makes TWO gallons of pre-mix

I am 100% sure he understands that math.

If I don't need a second gallon, it means the first one takes all the cost. If the second ever gets used, then you can argue the first cost half.

It's the same fallacy that gets people to buy huge bulk packs of food at bj's/Costco when they don't need it. If you end up throwing a bunch away, your cost per unit is a lot higher. Overbuying is expensive

 

[finn]

I am 100% sure he understands that math.

If I don't need a second gallon, it means the first one takes all the cost. If the second ever gets used, then you can argue the first cost half.

It's the same fallacy that gets people to buy huge bulk packs of food at bj's/Costco when they don't need it. If you end up throwing a bunch away, your cost per unit is a lot higher. Overbuying is expensive

Maybe my grandson will inherit that second gallon of concentrate I mixed.

I’m sure he’ll appreciate that I saved $3.00.

 

[mike93lx]

Maybe my grandson will inherit that second gallon of concentrate I mixed.

I’m sure he’ll appreciate that I saved $3.00.

It's vintage grampy!

 

[mikedodge]

Or use it towards replacing the coolant that's been in there the last 7-10 years thumbs

I can see why there's a need for pre mixed.

Murphys law comes to play when I try to buy just what i need. If i bought the pre mixed to save not buying double the amount I need I'd end up needing that second jug. If I bought concentrate and mixed it I'd never use it again.

 

[Meursault74]

I use any liquid I can find, often beer piss, and a couple eggs.

 

[joe_padavano]

I am 100% sure he understands that math.

If I don't need a second gallon, it means the first one takes all the cost. If the second ever gets used, then you can argue the first cost half.

It's the same fallacy that gets people to buy huge bulk packs of food at bj's/Costco when they don't need it. If you end up throwing a bunch away, your cost per unit is a lot higher. Overbuying is expensive

I've got shelves in the shop for all my automotive fluids (and filters). The cars, trucks, and tractors get regular changes. There is no unused extra.

 

[dchawk81]

My truck engine replacement or rebuild would be at least $35,000 these days so I'd rather spend a little extra on premix than risk contamination with less than pure water.

 

[Aaron_W]

Except you'd still have half left if you mixed it yourself so it would have been more like $7 for that top up and next time you don't need to buy any so you're ahead of the game.

Exactly, I don't think they sell coolant in quarts, so if you only need a gallon, you will have 2 buying full strength, so will have a jug of 50/50 sitting around for who knows how long (do modern cars in good shape even overheat anymore? I can't remember the last time I had to add coolant to a car built since the 90s).

 

[dchawk81]

Exactly, I don't think they sell coolant in quarts, so if you only need a gallon, you will have 2 buying full strength, so will have a jug of 50/50 sitting around for who knows how long (do modern cars in good shape even overheat anymore? I can't remember the last time I had to add coolant to a car built since the 90s).

I haven't had overheating but my truck has had various cooling system bits fail and piss it out everywhere. Big one was the EGR cooler failure, second biggest was the reservoir cracked. Other ones were just junction blocks and various ports and o rings and such. Still a loss of coolant requiring top ups or complete replacement after repair.

 

[KEH]

I haven't had to add antifreeze to vehicles I bought new in a long time, if ever, either. My opinion is that the cooling system including hoses are made better now. I remember early in my married life of discovering a hose leak in my wife's 1966 Ford that she had bought new and did not have many miles on it. I stopped at a drug store that night and bought a roll of white adhesive tape around the leak which fortunately was at the top. Went on our way and the repair held until I replaced the hose.

KEH

 

[Jeepster04]

I typically need to top off a vehicle after a year or so. There is some evaporation in the overflow tank.

I've always been behind on swapping out coolant when its suppose to be changed, but I've never ended up having too much coolant left over.

 

[Aaron_W]

I haven't had overheating but my truck has had various cooling system bits fail and piss it out everywhere. Big one was the EGR cooler failure, second biggest was the reservoir cracked. Other ones were just junction blocks and various ports and o rings and such. Still a loss of coolant requiring top ups or complete replacement after repair.

How old is the truck? The only vehicle I can remember adding coolant to other than replacing old with new is my 1969 Land Cruiser. Agree with KEH I think the cooling systems are just a lot better today (well really the past 40-ish years as none of my 80s cars were ever much of an issue on coolant either).

 

[dchawk81]

How old is the truck? The only vehicle I can remember adding coolant to other than replacing old with new is my 1969 Land Cruiser. Agree with KEH I think the cooling systems are just a lot better today (well really the past 40-ish years as none of my 80s cars were ever much of an issue on coolant either).

About 9 years. 520k now. 426k on it when I bought it almost 2 years ago.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

About 9 years. 520k now. 426k on it when I bought it almost 2 years ago.

Which color is the engine?

PS.: EGR coolers are real MOFO's, that's the hardest modern engine component to engineer (within a price point). The new Navistar engine (S13, developed by Scania) doesn't have EGR cooler, everyone in the industry is curious about how it will play out.

 

[dchawk81]

Which color is the engine?

PS.: EGR coolers are real MOFO's, that's the hardest modern engine component to engineer (within a price point). The new Navistar engine (S13, developed by Scania) doesn't have EGR cooler, everyone in the industry is curious about how it will play out.

It was red when it came from the factory. Why?

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

It was red when it came from the factory. Why?

Good color... it means Cummins.

 

[dchawk81]

Good color... it means Cummins.

No it doesn't. Not in this case.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

No it doesn't. Not in this case.

Isn't this a semi in North America? What truck and engine are they?

 

[dchawk81]

Isn't this a semi in North America? What truck and engine are they?

Yeah it's a Mack though. The engine is an MP8. Basically a Volvo D13 painted red.

The more stuff I replace the less red it gets. Lol.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

Yeah it's a Mack though. The engine is an MP8. Basically a Volvo D13 painted red.

The more stuff I replace the less red it gets. Lol.

Gotcha, now I remember you commenting about I-Shift (cough... mDrive) earlier. It's a good powertrain.

 

[dchawk81]

Gotcha, now I remember you commenting about I-Shift (cough, mDrive) earlier. It's a good powertrain.

Yeah everything I've had go wrong has mostly been age, abuse, or my ignorance. If it hadn't lived such a rough life it's first 400k a lot of the repairs I've done wouldn't have needed done.

Although I'm not really babying it either. It was and still is a local day cab. I just idle it a lot less than the original owners did and don't take it into the quarries like they did.

 

[dchawk81]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

 

[Aaron_W]

Yeah it's a Mack though. The engine is an MP8. Basically a Volvo D13 painted red.

The more stuff I replace the less red it gets. Lol.

Oh a commercial diesel, that makes sense. On fire engines we did have to top up from time to time throughout the year. Don't know if it is the nature of the engines, the kind of use they see or simply the volume of coolant which makes small losses more apparent compared to light duty cars and trucks, probably some of all of the above.

 

[dchawk81]

Oh a commercial diesel, that makes sense. On fire engines we did have to top up from time to time throughout the year. Don't know if it is the nature of the engines, the kind of use they see or simply the volume of coolant which makes small losses more apparent compared to light duty cars and trucks, probably some of all of the above.

Yeah I'd say all of the above. Lol.

I've seen my coolant go up and down quite a bit even when there aren't any leaks.

 

[PoorUB]

Exactly, I don't think they sell coolant in quarts, so if you only need a gallon, you will have 2 buying full strength, so will have a jug of 50/50 sitting around for who knows how long (do modern cars in good shape even overheat anymore? I can't remember the last time I had to add coolant to a car built since the 90s)

Good point. When I think about it I don't remember the last time I bought any antifreeze. It may have been five years ago. I certainly do not need two gallons laying around if I just need a top of!

Also, is my five year old, open jug of antifreeze any good? I would not be surprised that some of the additives have separated out.

 

[finn]

Or use it towards replacing the coolant that's been in there the last 7-10 years thumbs

I can see why there's a need for pre mixed.

Murphys law comes to play when I try to buy just what i need. If i bought the pre mixed to save not buying double the amount I need I'd end up needing that second jug. If I bought concentrate and mixed it I'd never use it again.

Service interval for coolant is 10 years or 150000 miles on the Jeep and my other, 12 year newer Ram.

This one is 60 months (5 years). Pretty sure the coolant spec is the same, and I know the engine, etc are the same, so it looks like they learned something about service life with modern coolants over the years.

It’s not 1965 anymore, where the old ethylene glycol was replaced every 24-36 months. It’s not 1949 when a chassis lube and oil change was required every thousand to fifteen hundred miles, either. I suspect they were still commonly using alcohol based coolants in 1949.

This truck has only 128000 miles, but it’s going on 18 years old. It’s relegated to seasonal use, and only gets about 3000-4000 miles / year, max, now. Coolant’s been changed twice, so it’s due again, based on the old interval, but has a couple years left on the newer schedule., but that’s unlikely to happen until fall. It sits in the garage for six months of the year.