How well do you look at your coolant?

A couple of months ago, the company switched the trucks from the old green coolant to the new red stuff. Supposed to be "long-life"???

Last week, I got to with in 100 miles of the terminal, and when I opened the hood, one of the things that struck me was the transleuscent red. Like cherry flavored jello. Actually, it wasn't the red that got my attention. Instead, it was the dark colored stuff floating on top of that. (the coolant resivoir on the Columbia is a fairly clear plastic that you can almost see through. It's easy to see the level, and the color of it.

By rolling up a paper towel and sticking it down into the stuff, I found that it gave off the smell of fuel. Yeah, I got a pretty good idea of just what happened. An "O"-ring on one of the injectors, or on one of the injector cups failed. That allows fuel to get into the coolant, and allows coolant to get into the fuel tanks. Had it happen on a Cat about 12 years ago. That company had me get to a dealer and have it fixed.

This company had me deliver the load, then pick up another one, maxxed out on weight, and bring it back to the yard. By the time I got to the yard, the cherry-red looked more like a strawberry milk shake. The temp was also going irratic. Fuel doesn't transfer heat very well.

Just trying to get an idea how often this happens. For me, last time was 12 years ago. Has anyone else had it happen more often?

 

Another possibility is if your truck has a fuel warmer that uses hot coolant to warm the fuel, that could have failed, leading to fuel in the coolant.

 

When you do your pretrip...

What's a pretrip ? lol.

 

Well, the injector cups were leaking. Should be back together and running tomorrow afternoon. No one else has said anything about having the same problem, but I know it's not all that uncommon. Was hoping to get an idea of just how often it happens.

 

I drive a '06 Volvo with a 475 ISX, and twice in the last year, the fuel sample showed coolant contamination. The maintenance guys rushed the truck to the delaer, since it's under warranty. The cause, apparently, had something to do with the EGR. I never quite understood it.