Not antifreeze.

[passgas55]

I came across a product that claimed to lower your temperature of your cooling system by adding their product to the radiator. Best results are claimed with plain water and their product. Do you think this would be a good idea to use in a diesel tractor? It was at Walmart and I think the name is Hydro something(getting old).

 

[AlanB]

No, you need the add pack that comes with "antifreeze" it does more then just keep it cool.

There are several products out there that help with that, Redline Water Wetter is what I have used in the past.

Essentially it is a surfactant (not technically correct but close enough for this discussion) that allows the water (or EG for that matter) to better contact the metal of the radiator, therby improving heat transferr. For high performance engines that are borderline hot all the time (high performance offroad motorcycles in my case) it was a beneficial product.

 

[DieselPower]

In a diesel tractor I wouldn't waste my money. Your money would be more wisely invested in a SCA/DCA (supplemental/diesel coolant additive) test strip to check the additive package of your coolant and add the required amount of DCA to bring your additive level up. This is a must do for diesel engine cooling systems using older ethylene glycol coolant (the green stuff) as the additive package is what protects your cylinder walls from cavitation erosion. Both the test strips and additive can be purchased at any heavy truck dealer and most NAPA stores. NAPA's additive is called NAPA-COOL.

 

[Skyco]

Glad you mentioned the SCA factor. Haven't seen any requirement to use it in my Kub but I will when I change coolant. I already keep it on hand for my Powerstroke where it is an absolute requirement, can't see where it would ever hurt in a diesel that doesn't spec it...
BTW I buy the precharged FleetCharge purple coolant at TSC and mix it 50/50 with distilled water.