Coolant / SCA test strip question..

[Fredrickson]

I asked my local NAPA if they had any SCA test strips and the guy chuckled and
He says: "Whoa, been a while since I seen those..."

Which got me looking online.. and give me more questions than answers.. (and down the rabbit hole I went)
Nitrite only or Nitrite/Molybdate combo
DCA4
DCA2
Fleetguard
etc..

I do not know what kind of coolant is in my engine. Diesel shop changed it out when I had the radiator and cooling system serviced when I first got the truck.

I have some sort of 'light cranberry juice' colored stuff in there.

Is there a coolant the is red and NOT compatible with our engines?
From what I read, the red coolant is usually Extended Life.. which IS compatible.

Should I just test for the freeze level, and not worry about testing for additives?

insight, advice appreciated.

 

[yARIC008]

Get the strips that test the combo which I believe fleetguard makes, you can get on amazon. Napacool stuff only uses one of the chemicals and not both, pretty sure I talk about it in the cavitation article.

If I’m not mistaken, if the coolant is not green that basically means its an ELC which is not compatible with our old engines. Some dudes run ELC anyway and claim to have luck. I think the compatibility issue is with hoses/gaskets.

 

[Fredrickson]

Thanks Eric! The hoses are new... which gaskets would be subject to problems?

 

[CDX825]

I would contact the shop and see what they put in there because otherwise you are shooting in the dark.

Color won't tell you much these days when it comes to coolant. So many different coolant types and every brand is different.

ELC coolant is fine so long as its a true diesel rated coolant and meets Cummins CES 14603 spec.

 

[Jim993]

This is what I have been using for about 15 years:

https://www.amazon.com/CoolCheck-An...=1603732616&sprefix=accustrip,aps,200&sr=8-12

About $5 delivered in two days from Amazon.

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