SCA test strips wtw

homelessduck

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I had the same problem. After countless blank stares I gave up. Amazon or Ebay.
 

larson

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K locally NAPA and Lordco got no clue *** I are speaking of let alone where to get them.

Anyone???

Did you tell the idiots at Napa that you needed the ph test strips that are used with the napacool? They did the same thing to me until I mentioned they are used to test the napacool additive.
 

riotwarrior

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Did you tell the idiots at Napa that you needed the ph test strips that are used with the napacool? They did the same thing to me until I mentioned they are used to test the napacool additive.

PH is not SCA though...I cam get Ph strips ....however my understanding was SCA additive was different.....please correct me if I am wrong
 

Runningaford

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FWIW, the diesel shop nearest to me, don't use the test strips. They were very adamant about them not handling temperature variation very well, and will just not work after a little bit of age due to that. Funny enough, while I was in there, a man came in asking them for test strips, and they went through the diatribe again with him; in their opinion, the rated life of coolant with SCA's 'should work', and when taking the cost of the test strips into play, and them going bad, it would be cheaper to just plan on changing your coolant on time, or to install one of those coolant filters that will keep your SCA's up.

I'd think if you change your antifreeze that doesn't have sca's, you could just base the additive SCA's by volume, or more easier, just use a precharged coolant; like fleetgaurd.

The shop was Deer Valley Diesel Repair, phx, az.
 

larson

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PH is not SCA though...I cam get Ph strips ....however my understanding was SCA additive was different.....please correct me if I am wrong

Well the test strips I bought from Napa test for ph,glycol percentage and nitrites. I believe thats right. I'm not at my house to give you the exact answer but it does test all 3. Also I pretty damn sure the nitrite test pad on the strip is what is telling you your sca levels. My sca level has read right at 8.5 the 2 times I have dipped one of the strips in there.
 

larson

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FWIW, the diesel shop nearest to me, don't use the test strips. They were very adamant about them not handling temperature variation very well, and will just not work after a little bit of age due to that. Funny enough, while I was in there, a man came in asking them for test strips, and they went through the diatribe again with him; in their opinion, the rated life of coolant with SCA's 'should work', and when taking the cost of the test strips into play, and them going bad, it would be cheaper to just plan on changing your coolant on time, or to install one of those coolant filters that will keep your SCA's up.

I'd think if you change your antifreeze that doesn't have sca's, you could just base the additive SCA's by volume, or more easier, just use a precharged coolant; like fleetgaurd.

Just store them in the house. It reads clear as day to keep stored in 75f environment with low humidity.
 

riotwarrior

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Cookson motors an IH truck dealer is hopefully bringing the correct ones in. They sell single test kit but then I cant test the other folks rigs here who hqve asked.

If someone can assert the napa ones are correct even with exhange they are much less than Cooksons strips.
 

larson

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Cookson motors an IH truck dealer is hopefully bringing the correct ones in. They sell single test kit but then I cant test the other folks rigs here who hqve asked.

If someone can assert the napa ones are correct even with exhange they are much less than Cooksons strips.

4106 thats the part number for the coolant system test strips that I bought at Napa. Thats the part number i got off of google and it came up on napa's website. Hope that helps man. It comes as a bottle full of strips inside of another screw cap 3.5in round container also with a little ****** sucker syringe and a very small vial to put your coolant in to dip your strips. I personal just dip the strips in the rad cap hole but what ever works for you really.
 

laserjock

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Amazon sells like a 5 pack I think. I think they came from an international dealer in Wheeling, WV. Check the dates. They do go bad. No sense in buying the 30 pack unless you are servicing a fleet.
 

Runningaford

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I wouldn't go to that shop ever again.....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

The shop has a solid reputation. I talked with them several times, and at length. The shop as far as I've researched, has top notch reviews, and they do a lot of performance work on larger rigs. Which like you, shocked me when they were talking about the test strips, BUT as Larson pointed out, 75 degrees, and 'low humidity' is hard to come by, and keep in place; at least the many places I've lived.

Laserjock came up with a workable situation for myself, I can swallow buying a 5 pack for the right price, over getting inaccurate results from a larger quantity of older strips.

SCA's are definitely necessary for these engines, but inaccurate measuring tools could end up making things worse.
 
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