40% of engine failures can be attributed to problems within the cooling system. Dos and Don'ts for maintenance
of your cooling system will help protect your equipment, increase reliability and prevent failure. Here are some
dos and don'ts.
Dos:
Use water that meets the specifications
✓ This includes the water that is used for the best offs, mixing a concentrate and if they are not able to remove
most of the water from the tank.
✓ Water that meets specifications will not add contaminants to the cooling system and will help maintain fluid
properties.
Use the same coolant formulation for maintenance adjustments
✓ If you cannot use the same coolant in the cooling system (this is recommended, then select a coolant that
has similar inhibitors for corrosion protection (this will maintain inhibitor levels for adequate corrosion
protection)
Test your engine coolant and observe fluid in each PM
✓ Each engine sample must have at least one coolant sample tested by the laboratory to ensure equipment
health and fluid properties are adequate.
✓ Catching problems early will stop further corrosion or potential for corrosion proactively correcting problems
found before catastrophic failure occurs.
Make sure the correct refrigerant test is included in the test pack
✓ Testing of all inhibitors in the formulation will help determine whether the levels of corrosion protection are
adequate or not
✓ Advanced tests will help determine if degradation acids are present, identify mechanical problems, and
determine if the system was contaminated with sulfate and / or chloride.
✓ Using the correct test package will provide the best recommendations and protection for your equipment.
Don’ts:
Use some type of water to mix with antifreeze
✓ This includes the best offs, diluting a concentration, or leaving excessive amounts of discharge water in the
system.
✓ Using hard water that does not meet specifications will cause scaling of system components resulting in
loss of heat transfer capabilities of the cooling system.
Mix different formulations for the protection of coolant from corrosion
