New Isuzu Long-life Anti-freeze Coolant Lands

The worldwide trend towards smaller but more powerful and fuel-efficient engines is well underway in both the truck and passenger car markets.

Isuzu’s clean four-cylinder diesel engine—the 4HK1—is a useful example of this in the light- to medium-duty truck segments. The four-cylinder, low-displacement, high-torque, two-stage turbocharged, and intercooled diesel engine is about as advanced as you can get. Hot to trot However, given that these types of engines must deal with significantly higher operating temperatures and faster fluid flow, their cooling systems have been forced to adapt. Cooling systems and components are now made from a variety of different materials (some 200 different types, in fact), depending on the engine type, carefully chosen for the ability to withstand higher operating temperatures.

Stay cool

Consequently, there’s an increased need to protect these components from rust, erosion, corrosion and pitting. But because the nature of manufacturing means the make-up of nearly every engine is markedly different, specific coolants and lubricants developed by the engine manufacturer are often required. Enter Isuzu’s new Long-life Anti-freeze Coolant. Developed specifically for Isuzu Trucks’ engines and componentry, the new coolant is based on the latest Silicated Organic Additive Technology (SI-OAT) and will replace the existing coolant. This new SI-OAT anti-freeze coolant offers exceptional protection against cavitation, corrosion and overheating.

Why choose Isuzu’s new anti-freeze coolant?

An anti-freeze coolant isn’t just an anti-freeze coolant. And not every coolant is the same. Using the wrong product can very swiftly damage an engine; mixing different types can have disastrous effects such as blockages or leaks, causing the engine to overheat. The development of Isuzu’s new SI-OAT Long-life Anti-freeze Coolant represents an important evolutionary step ahead of the other more generic formulas. How so? Take, for example, if your truck uses Isuzu’s SI-OAT product, but you’ve accidentally topped up with a hybrid OAT coolant. In such a scenario, nothing too disastrous happens (except for perhaps an affected coolant service life).

The product

Isuzu’s Long-Life Anti-Freeze Coolant is developed by an entirely different manufacturing process, specifically for newer, more technically advanced Isuzu Truck engines. Isuzu’s new product will be available as a pre-mix only, in 5, 20 and 205 litres. No concentrated product will be made available, so as to reduce the risk of incorrect coolant dosing. Using the new SI-OAT anti-freeze coolant will allow change intervals to be extended to 250,000 km or five years, whichever occurs first. When changing to this new product, your cooling system should be drained and flushed twice to ensure that there will be no contamination, which will provide maximum service life.

Coolant inspection

To perform a health check of your coolant, ask your qualified Isuzu technician for a refractometer test. The reading should fall somewhere between 30 and 50 per cent. If the test comes back outside of this range, ask for a drain, flush, and refill using the appropriate coolant for your engine type and age.