How Much Do You Know About

Heavy-Duty Coolants?
The first coolants were made of common household items, but as today’s heavy-
duty engines have evolved, so too have their coolants.

May 2013, TruckingInfo.com - WebXclusive

by Colin Dilley, Prestone

The antifreeze/cooling system for a heavy duty engine must be maintained for the entire system to operate at optimum efficiency.
Each component within the system relies on the other components for peak operation and performance.

In the emerging days of the heavy-duty industry, as liquid-cooled engines were being
developed and heaters were added to allow winter driving, finding the right coolant
could be as easy as taking a trip to your pantry.

From 1910 to about 1925, a variety of different compounds were tried as coolants,
some of which were common kitchen ingredients such as sugar, honey and
molasses. The modern age of year-round/all-season antifreeze/coolant dawned in
1927, when Prestone introduced a new cooling-system liquid consisting of ethylene
glycol.
Known as “Eveready,” the inhibited antifreeze/coolant, when diluted with water,
would not boil away or burn in the summer, freeze in the winter and did not need to
be replaced each season. This gave it a number of distinct advantages over the ethyl
alcohol-based coolants that were being used at the time.

Proper dilution with water is one thing that hasn't changed much since then. Pure
antifreeze actually freezes at a higher temperature and transfers less heat from an
engine than a 50% antifreeze/water solution. It is recommended that antifreeze be
mixed at a proper 50% proportion of both water and antifreeze. If less than 30%
antifreeze is used, temperature extremes, overheating with boilover, freezeup, which
can cause cracks in the head or block, and cooling-system component corrosion with
pitting in the cylinder liner may occur.

It is also important to avoid too much antifreeze in the mix with water. A
concentration of antifreeze that exceeds 70% may lead to temperature extremes,
slushing of the coolant, poor heat transfer that can result in overheating, additive
precipitation, water-pump leaks, cooling-system corrosion and cooling-system
component fatigue.

Improper maintenance of a heavy duty coolant system can create many performance issues for the engine and its components,
including cavitation pitting.

The importance of coolants has become more critical because they provide
necessary protection for more sophisticated engines. From efficient heat transfer to
the control of critical metal temperatures, to providing an increased cooling index and
freeze protection, to effective inhibition of corrosion for all cooling-system metals,
coolants have evolved to become one of the lifebloods of any heavy-duty engine.
If the coolant is unable to satisfy the basic requirements, the heavy-duty vehicle’s
emissions, fuel economy, horsepower and durability of engine components could be
compromised, in addition to the possibility of corrosion, pitting and cavitation.

Today, inhibited ethylene glycol—along with propylene glycol, a similar, less toxic,
odorless, colorless, viscous organic compound—remains the major component of
antifreeze/coolant. Recent years have seen a number of new inhibitor technologies
for these formulations enter the market as heavy duty engine manufacturers have
improved the capabilities of their products.

Types of coolant
Mainstream green coolant: The original, green-dyed antifreeze/coolants are called
conventional low-silicate, but the technical name for this type of coolant and its
inhibitor package is Inorganic Acid Technology (IAT). It was typical to start with a low
silicate-based product design for cars and light-duty trucks, which required dilution
with water, then you needed to “pre-charge” it with specific amounts of supplemental
coolant additives (SCAs) to protect heavy duty engine cylinder liners from destructive
pitting corrosion.

Today, most of the “conventional low-silicate” antifreeze/coolants in the market are

fully formulated with a pre-charge of SCA to protect the cooling systems of heavy
duty engines against corrosion, cavitation, liner pitting, freezing and boilover.
However, compared to OAT and NOAT coolant formulations, the IAT coolants do
require the frequent addition of SCA at an interval of 25,000 miles, or as specified by
the engine manufacturer.

Hybrid Organic Acid Technology: Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT), which
is a combination of some of the inhibitors used in inorganic IAT and organic OAT
coolants, is typically based on a low-silicate, nitrite technology. Unlike the OAT and
NOAT Extended Life Coolants (ELC), HOAT coolants, like the IAT coolants, typically
require SCA added back into the system at the first maintenance interval (25,000
miles) or as specified by the engine manufacturer.

HOAT coolants are most commonly found dyed yellow or orange. These
formulations are not compatible with the extended interval coolant formulation of
either NOAT or OAT coolants and should not be mixed with them.

Nitrited Organic Acid Technology: Extended Life Coolant (ELC) does not require a
supplement (referred to as an extender) until 300,000 miles or 6,000 engine hours to
achieve the full 600,000 miles or 12,000 engine hours of service life.
The ELC antifreeze/coolants use organic acids (organic additive technology), nitrite
and/or molybdenum as part of their inhibitor package and are referred to as Nitrited
Organic Acid Technology (NOAT) antifreeze/coolants.

Organic Acid Technology: Organic Acid Technology (OAT) has no nitrite added.
These coolants typically provide 600,000 miles or 12,000 engine hours of service
life, but their performance life can be drastically reduced if contaminated with nitrite-
containing coolants.

Color Keys
Since both water and antifreeze/coolant are colorless, manufacturers add a colored
dye to the solution so the user can differentiate between it and other under-hood
fluids and more readily know if a heavy duty engine is experiencing a coolant leak.

The growth in the number of available antifreeze/coolant formulations has forced

manufacturers to use different color dyes for different types of antifreeze/coolants.
The American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), in
its “Recommended Practice RP 351,” proposes guidelines for standardization of
engine antifreeze/coolant based on antifreeze type:

Antifreeze/Coolant Type TMC Spec Suggested Color

Code

TMC A—Conventional Low- RP 302A Green (PMS #374-

Silicate 376

TMC B—Fully Formulated RP 329 Purple/Pink (PMS

Ethylene Glycol #235-241)

TMC C—Fully Formulated RP330 Blue (PMS #297-

Propylene Glycol 301)

TMC D—Organic Acid Per OEM Red (PMS #190-193)

Technology (OAT) Specs*

*-OAT coolants are defined by the product meeting one or more of the following manufacturers:
• International—Class 8, B-1, Type III
• Detroit Diesel 7SE298 9804
• Caterpillar EC-1
• Mack 014 GS 17009

These specifications are performance-based and are being referenced in lieu of an available ASTM or
SAE specification for OAT coolants.
Additives

Scaling will prevent heat transfer across metal surfaces, which may cause premature fuel ignition. With time, escalation of scaling
may cause detachment, which can block radiator or heater cores, causing further risk of damage.

Because additives in conventional (IAC) and hybrid organic acid (HOAT) coolants
are consumed during the vehicle’s operation, they must be refortified with
supplemental coolant additives (SCA) in order to maintain effective corrosion
protection.

The OAT and NOAT coolants do not require SCAs. The inhibitor package, which is
only responsible for corrosion protection, does not determine the level of freeze or
boilover protection in the coolant.

It would be unwise to ignore that antifreeze/coolant is one of the lifebloods of a

heavy duty vehicle’s operating system. It is imperative that the driver and/or fleet
owner be aware of the type of coolant that is in the engine and how it must be
maintained, which is becoming more and more important as additional coolant
formulations and engine types are being developed.

Colin Dilley, Ph.D, is the Director of Technology for Prestone Products Corp., which
recently released Prestone Command line of antifreeze/coolants for heavy-duty
vehicles. He can be reached at the Ask the Expert at www.prestonecommand.com.