The cavitation problem is not uncommon, and not limited to diesels, but in my experience it is pretty specific to particular engine designs.
On Hyster and Yale fork lifts in the late 80’s and early 90’s we had very high warranty costs for erosion in the cylinder heads on the 4-cylinder GM gas engines, 4-cylinder Mitsubishi gas engines, and 40-50 HP Yanmar diesels used in our smaller capacity models. The clue to finding the fix was that the pinhole leaks that developed in the Mitsubishi engine were always next to the exhaust valve for the #2 cylinder (we didn’t use that many of the GM or Yanmar engines), appeared between 2000 and 3000 hours of operation, and the problem seemed to be exacerbated by the use of high phosphate coolant. Mitsubishi (and Yanmar) modified the head casting to put a bit more metal in the problem area which changed the harmonic that caused the cavitation. And we sent out a bulletin to dealers and customers telling them to not use certain brands of coolant. I remember that the folks who make Peak pitched a big bitch and threatened to sue over the service bulletin. To this day I don’t use Peak in my car, jeep, or boats. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Josh Muckley via CnC-List Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2017 7:21 PM To: C&C List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Josh Muckley <muckl...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List antifreeze weterbeke diesel 44B four Amsoil has convincing marketing regarding their antifreeze. Its propyleneglycol to start with so... safer for pets, children, and the environment. If any even made it to your bilge you might sleep easier. Amsoil also introduced me to a phenomenon in water jacket diesel engines where by the diesel combustion actually causes ultrasonic cavitation in the coolant. This internal engine cavitation causes metal pitting which eventually erodes through the engine internals. Is you engine susceptible? Who knows. Is this really a common problem? Again, who knows. It does give me a little peace of mind to know that they have identified the problem and have addressed it with the formulation of their product...for whatever that is worth.
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