I suspect your using Fleet Charge. Here is a sentence from one of their bulletins.?
Fleet Charge antifreeze stands out from its competitors due to its unsurpassed performance, but it also stands out due to its unique "pink" color.
Here's a draft I'm working on for diesel engines that may help others.
Diesel Engine Coolants ? the color of MUD?
Engine coolants are a very complex subject and somewhat controversial as well. One of the complexities has to do with color of coolant. There are no real standards that forces coolant manufacturers to adhere to a color for a specific type. Therefore, one can get a pink and a green, which might be the exactly the same. In addition to color, heavy-duty diesel engines require what are called supplemental coolant additives (SCA) to prevent liner pitting from cavitation or did until the recent new ELC coolants. Coolants thus may or may not contain these additives.
The Technology and Maintenance Council has recommended practices (RP's) that act as guidelines for coolant manufacturers. There are three colors. GREEN the TRADITIONAL coolant and requires SCAs from day one. PURPLE the FULLY FORMULATED coolant? i.e. it comes charged with SCA?s and requires adding SCAs for ongoing maintenance. And the new RED coolant is EXTENDED LIFE coolant that doesn't require SCAs. One should be sure and check the coolant container conformance to the engine manufacturers coolant specification as well. Cummins coolant standard for the ISx series engines is 14603.? These are guidelines only. Thus one will find variances such as Old World Industries Fleet Charge which is a fully formulated coolant but pink in color whereas their ELC Final Charge conforms and is red in color.
Here?s another complexity. Manufacturers may install a coolant filter on a vehicle and the filter itself may or may not have SCA incorporated into it. Those filters that do have the SCA are designed to bleed it out slowly over time thus replenishing the SCA?s in the coolant and thus no need for operator intervention except changing filter as scheduled.
Let?s start where our motor homes begin at Spartan. In recent years Spartan has filled the diesel chassis coolant systems with extended life coolants. Initially, Shell Rotella ELC and more recently Final Charge Global ELC. Labels stating this are affixed to the coolant recovery tank. Note- one must be careful in looking at labels because brand names are often nearly the same for different coolants e.g Fleet Charge/Final Charge.
Here?s another of those complexities.
You?re talking to a Cummins or some other diesel engine technician and ask him/her what antifreeze to use. He replies without ever asking you any information on your specific vehicle and assumes you are using a fully formulated coolant and says Fleet Charge or some other equivalent brand. Actually your vehicle came with ELC and he should have advised to use Final Charge Global ELC or equivalent brand.
What?s the difference ? read on?
Extended Life Coolants (ELC) are red in color as noted above and provide up to 600,000 miles and 6 yrs (whichever come first) of usage with a single recharge of an extender at 300,000 miles or 3 yrs. There is no necessity to add SCA?s to the coolant.
So following the advise of the technician you have inadvertently added a fully formulated coolant that may kill the ELC coolant. The problem comes to how much dilution will kill the ELC coolant. There is some controversy here but the range seems to be between 10?25%. Final Charge says it can take up to 25%. Once exceeding those levels one will have to treat the ELC as fully formulated and begin periodic testing and replenishment of SCA?s. Shell has developed a kit to be used to changeover old trucks to ELC that have used non-ELC coolants in the past. I presume one could get back to ELC status by employing this kit.
Note- SCA?s are not required for the Cummins ISB series engines
