The owners manual for my 2009 catalina 309 Yanmar engine calls for Texaco or Havolin Antifreeze which are totally unavailable in my area. Any recommendations appreciated.
Don
Don
Which Antifreeze?
- Thread starter sigbear
- Start date
Strongly suggest you search for the Yanmar-branded premix coolant. The 3YM engines don't have zinc anodes foe electrolysis protection, and specify a particular coolant chemistry to protect the engine internals from corrosion. IIRC, the Texaco product is the only alternative approved by Yanmar.
I am amazed that engine manufacturers have proprietary consumables (filters, anodes, belts, impellers) and now fluids too. I wonder if this is a way to keep after sale business going?
Have a Beta which supplies cross references for NAPA diesel parts, and uses Kubota tractor parts for all the non marinized components.
IMHO any good diesel engine coolant should work well....but the dealer probably wont like that.
Have a Beta which supplies cross references for NAPA diesel parts, and uses Kubota tractor parts for all the non marinized components.
IMHO any good diesel engine coolant should work well....but the dealer probably wont like that.
exactly!!......
but in this day and age there is a LOT we should learn about coolant in an engine before just adding some off-brand stuff just because it says "engine coolant/antifreeze" on the label.....
there are 3 different types of engine coolant/antifreeze in use today, (ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and extended life coolant, or ELC coolant) and from these three, a manufacture will choose one to use in their engines and then include additives and dyes into it and call it their own... so on the market there are many different formulations of the same products. (maybe only a few formulations, but with many different labels to choose from)
once you are sure of the type you have in your engine, you can add that type no matter what brand it is, but you may not get the protection that the engine manufacture exactly specifies for that engine, unless you use the stuff they recommend.
and running without all the extra additives may be just fine if that is what you choose to do, but you should NEVER mix the different types of coolant, as that can result in a fully unprotected engine....
bottom line is, if it is the right TYPE of coolant for the application, and its a top brand name product, the correct additives are probably already in it.... even though it doesnt say yanmar, kabota, cat, detroit, westerbeke, ect..... or whatever else the recommended label name may be.
also, an engine can be completely flushed thoroughly clean, so that you can switch to a different type of coolant if you want to, but it is not usually recommended unless you are moving up to an ELC type of fluid...
an ELC fluid is formulated for a diesel engine (and can be used equally as well in a gas engine ) from the good old fashioned ethylene glycol based fluid, with some of the bad chemicals removed from it, and all of the necessary good chemicals added into it. including what some of us know as SCA's..... its all in there.
Attached is a link to a Yanmar service bulletin addressing approved anti freeze. I have used the Dex Cool the last three seasons and change the fluid every year without any issues. It is available at many local automotive stores.
http://ldmarineservice.com/files/yanmar_bulletins.pdf
http://ldmarineservice.com/files/yanmar_bulletins.pdf
One most critical component is the water used for dilution. Always use distilled, as any minerals in tap water will compromise the additives. I also use distilled for flushing so any residuals in the engine are minimized. Good AF plus distilled should last several seasons in a clean system.