I had a leaking hose clamp on my Webasto engine heater, I added a jug of Detroit Power Cool Plus OAT type coolant to the resevoir, the same type indicated by a sticker near the filler cap.
Over the course of about three weeks I noticed a dark line forming at the top of the coolant level with some strange slim bits that I couldn't identify. This past weekend it completely covered the top of the coolant.
It is a slime skim that feels like silicone gel in your hand, placed on a paper towel it leaves a yellow stain. I thought that it was fuel contamination due to this colour and the slime was a reaction between the fuel and OAT coolant.
The dealer this morning doesn't think it is fuel, just thinks it was the wrong kind of coolant. But I still had the bottle, and the Freightliner receipt confirming it was the right coolant.
Any thoughts what it might be?
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I had slime problems when I used Waterless coolant.
I will never use anything but ELC red from now on. At least it does not have problems like that and if it gets slimed or something similar,.. I know its not the coolant itself.
Is that the first time you have had to add coolant to it since purchase?
How long have you had the truck?
What color is the coolant in it?
(02-13-2018 )Rawze Wrote: [ -> ]Is that the first time you have had to add coolant to it since purchase?
How long have you had the truck?
What color is the coolant in it?
I added three jugs, two last winter when it first seemed like the coolant was coming out the exhaust of the Webasto. In the summer I finally found a stain around the hose clamp. The last jug when I found the hose needed additional tightening.
I looked up the receipts and confirmed the right product was purchased last winter (2) and this summer (1). I still had the bottle last weekend and it was the right product. Unless it was packaged wrong.
It is a redish/purple colour, maybe closer to red.
I got the truck new in May 2016. 290,000 km (180,000 miles)
Maybe send a sample to a lab and see what the contaminant is?
Also change out the coolant filter and cut open the old one?
(02-13-2018 )Rawze Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe send a sample to a lab and see what the contaminant is?
Also change out the coolant filter and cut open the old one?
Yes 10-4. They did send it out for analysis. will be another day or two for the results.
It only happened after I put in that last jug. Thinking it may have been packaged in wrong container or something.
Will have a better idea in a few days.
(02-13-2018 )Rawze Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe send a sample to a lab and see what the contaminant is?
Also change out the coolant filter and cut open the old one?
I'd send out a sample of tranny oil as well.
That's pretty much what mine looked like when the liquid heat exchanger cracked on my tranny cooler.
Send:
1)An engine oil sample
2)A tranny oil sample
3)As much of the slime as you can
Send them to:
Metro Tech Systems
Bay 112 - 5621 - 11th Street NE
Calgary, AB T2E 6Z7
They will confirm coolant contamination, even in trace amounts, as well as match specific additives in the slime to double confirm which component is the source. Specify you are searching for cross contamination, and they will double confirm. (If it's tranny oil, they'll look for trace amounts of tranny oil additives that are NOT present in the engine oil for positive confirmation, and vise versa)
They have done so in the past for me, I highly recommend this lab for Canadians.
Got the analysis results. Says no petroleum products detected, so it is not fuel or oil.
It is detected as antifreeze, so it is some kind of a reaction with the additives.
I’ll put it down to it being a bad jug that I put in last, mis-labelled or something.
Since then, I have been daily scooping out this slime that I can access around the filler cap area. The amount of it is going down. So it will just take a while until I can get the rest of the leftovers out.
Well the problem finally showed up big time. Since the original post, I continued to get this slime on occasion. Yesterday I noticed a mild burnt oil / plastic smell. I looked around last night, no oil leaks, but the coolant level looked low in the reservoir.
I went back this morning. Looked like the coolant was down just under the lower line on tank.
I spun off the filler cap and saw the tank was completely full of diesel fuel sitting on top of the coolant. I siphoned off a gallon in the jug, coolant is bottom two inches.
Truck is now in for injector cups ... 393,000 kms (244,000 miles)
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