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Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

November 17, 2011, 09:45:22 am

Does anyone know where to purchase the coolant extender in small quantities? The best I can find is a six quart case. I only need 1-1/2 quarts. If that's the best deal available does anyone want to share a case?

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #1 – November 17, 2011, 09:56:20 am

Bob,

Have you tested your coolant and determined that you really need the extender?

I have no experience with the Shell product, but a lot of experience with Caterpillar ELC which is also a long-life OAT-based coolant.

Caterpillar initially recommended adding a "booster" after 3 years to give the full 6 year life.  BUT, what they found is that in an RV application that we did not drive enough miles to deplete the additive package.  So, for RV applications, Caterpillar recommends 6 year life with NO additive/booster recommended. Said another way, the coolant package is "consumed" by both time and mileage.  Time alone with low miles slows the depletion rate.

And from a practical standpoint,  after 4.5 years Caterpillar test strips (unique for ELC) test perfect-- no additive required.

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #2 – November 17, 2011, 10:18:16 am

Brett,
I am not aware of any test I can do on my own. I guess I could send a sample out to have it tested. I'll have to touch base with the lab that analyzes my engine oil to see if they can handle it.

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #3 – November 17, 2011, 10:43:35 am

Bob,

Might also give Shell a call/e-mail to ask if mileage as well of time dictates need for extender.  Of course you would need to get in touch with one of their tech guys, not necessarily someone in their "customer relations" department.

They could also tell you if there is a test for this with their ELC.

What we ran into with Caterpillar ELC was that adding the extender after 3 years/reasonably low mileage was that it brought additive package to ABOVE recommended levels.

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #4 – November 17, 2011, 12:32:04 pm

Brett,
I got in touch with Shell Oil. Please see the below response:

Dear Bob, 

To confirm our phone conversation regarding the Shell Rotella ELC and the use of the extender.    For over the road applications, including RV's, the extender should be added at 300,000 miles.  There is no time requirement  for adding the extender.  Regardless of the number of years you drive the RV, if you have less than 300,000 miles, you  do not need to add the extender.  The 3 year limit  in our product data sheet refers only to off-road use, for instance in construction equipment.  What this means is the Rotella ELC is essentially a "fill for life" product if you never reach 300,000 miles.  We do recommend periodically checking the coolant freezing point using a refractometer.  If there is any chance for cross contamination with another type of coolant or water dilution,  we recommend using the Rotella  ELC contamination test kit to confirm the proper levels of the OAT additive are present.  This kit is available from Polaris Labs at 871-251-8313 and uses an extraction technique which takes about 5 minutes and actually confirms the OAT additive level.  Should the kit indicate contamination, the coolant system should be drained, flushed, and re-charged with fresh Rotella ELC following the instructions on the container.

 

Best Regards,

 

Larry Morrison

Technical Advisor  Shell Lubricants-North America

Tel: +01-800-237-8645  Options 4,1
Email: shelltechnical-us@Shell.com

Internet: http://www.epc.shell.com

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #5 – November 17, 2011, 12:57:56 pm

I'm a LONG ways from 300,000 miles so I guess I won't worry about it. Good information. Thanks for posting it.

Craig

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #6 – November 17, 2011, 04:44:32 pm

Thanks, Bob.

Glad you opened this topic!

Sounds like Shell came to the same conclusion as Caterpillar-- DON'T add an extender in an RV application (unless you are putting over 300,000 miles on it in 6 years). Change coolant every 6 years.

Hope everyone with an OAT-based coolant reads this to avoid over dosing their coolant.

Brett

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #7 – November 17, 2011, 04:57:19 pm

Hi Brett,

Addition of the Coolant Extender is based strictly on mileage. Hard to believe, but there is no time limit on the coolant life. Coolant should be changed @600K miles.

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #8 – November 18, 2011, 09:54:29 am

Bob,

That is not the recommendation from Caterpillar.  They still recommend 6 year changeout.  I guess one could potentially extend that by having chemical analysis done on the coolant.  But the relative low cost of changing coolant vs cost of radiator or other cooling system components suggests that I will  change coolant at 6 years.

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Re: Shell Rotella® ELC Extended Life Coolant Extender

Reply #9 – November 18, 2011, 10:56:17 am

Brett,

I agree with you on the six year changeout and will be following that schedule. Still a good deal though as I will be getting three times the conventional coolant service life, with the same amount of labor.

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