# IH454 Coolant



## 8990TRAC (Jun 16, 2013)

Hello,

having drained the filthy brown syrup passing itself off as coolant from the IH454 I'm working on, I'm now wondering what to refill it with. I've flushed the engine and radiator with water, but is it worth running it with some sort of flushing/descaling additive before filing it with coolant?

I see Case sell a coolant called Actifull OT, but I'll bet it's expensive and it's probably way over-spec for a 454 - will any old coolant do or does the whole OAT/non-OAT red/blue coolant thing need to be worried about?

Any advice would be much appreciated,

Cheers


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## oldguychuck (Oct 12, 2012)

Hello

I have a 540 IH and had the same problem when I got it years back.

What I do is real simple - each year I drain the coolant out and flush with the lawn hose. Then I fill with my special mix - 50/50. Meaning half water and half antifreeze. The antifreeze I use is for diesel motors. We can get down to -20 F (-30C) and never had a problem.

I do let it warm up before I move or use it.
Also be sure to check the level; about once per month and top up when required. I keep an old oil jug full of 50/50 so I can top up whenever...

must work - been running it for years this way...

I don't buy anything much from IH - too expensive and/or don't have it in stock, and I have to drive 1.5 hours to get there.

Cheers

oldguychuck


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## 8990TRAC (Jun 16, 2013)

Thanks for your reply 

Do you ever put any sort of cleaning agent in before filling it with coolant? I've taken the thermostat housing off and cleaned the thermostat and the radiator top-hose is lined with brown sediment - I expect the rest of the hoses and water channels are, too. Flushing with a hose gets rid of the loose stuff, but there's still a good lining of brown filth left behind. Is it worth worrying about?

I've seen it down to -20C here and 3' of snow in the past - this year we had about 2cm of snow for one morning and basically four months of mud - thanks global warming!

Cheers


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