Engine Antifreeze 2022 Travato

[SusanSan]

Hi we own a 2022 Travato and it was "winterized" but there is NO coolant in the resevoir! We suspect this is why the Defroster is not working even when there is heat in the cabin.
Any thoughts?

 

[SusanSan]

What antifreeze are you using for the Travato please? Prestone DexCool was recommended somewhere but it's orange (not pink, not red)

 

[Morich]

Hi we own a 2022 Travato and it was "winterized" but there is NO coolant in the resevoir! We suspect this is why the Defroster is not working even when there is heat in the cabin.
Any thoughts?

Speaking of the windshield defroster? And do you mean the reservoir for the windshield washer fluid?
Thinking this may not be the same issue, other than both involve the windshield!
If speaking of the windshield defroster, that should involve the water in the radiator up front and that fluid is the same as where the heater gets it's heat.
But there is a different smaller reservoir for the windshield washer.
Radiator water and antifreeze is used to heat air for front cabin heater like a car would have. Second smaller reservoir for fluid to spray on the windshield for cleaning.
But these are not what I think of as involved with "winterize" the RV!
The RV water lines and traps in the drain lines are what I think of for winterizing the RV.

I'm confused, so a little more info, please?

 

[Travato John]

Ideas for winterizing.

My post was referring to winterizing the plumbing inside the Travato. That is a different antifreeze (non toxic) compared to what you would use in your radiator and cooling system. I use the Mopar 10 year type. I’m sure there are other applications by other brands. The fluid to use in your windshield reservoir should be rated for down around -20 degrees. Walmart carries a good brand of that fluid. Hope this helps. Travato John

 

[SusanSan]

Thank you so much Morich and TravatoJohn.
The heat/air conditioning front windshield defroster is not blowing any warm air against the front window and today at the RV dealership I asked them to open the hood and there was no coolant in the reservoir meant for coolant. We didn’t look at the windshield washer fluid reservoir. We live in Michigan, so this is an important feature, even though we are driving south this weekend. The RV dealership told me to go by coolant, but they did not tell me which one. They didn’t sell any!I called Winnebago with my VIN number ready, they referred me to a number at Dodge (Fleet?) who couldn’t help me.

 

[RVSpirit26T]

The owners manual calls for Mopar 68051212AB Anti-Freeze

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007O3YFY...t_i_Z21JR7Q9EKGVNN132YB4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Morich]

Thank you so much Morich and TravatoJohn.
The heat/air conditioning front windshield defroster is not blowing any warm air against the front window and today at the RV dealership I asked them to open the hood and there was no coolant in the reservoir meant for coolant. We didn’t look at the windshield washer fluid reservoir. We live in Michigan, so this is an important feature, even though we are driving south this weekend. The RV dealership told me to go by coolant, but they did not tell me which one. They didn’t sell any!I called Winnebago with my VIN number ready, they referred me to a number at Dodge (Fleet?) who couldn’t help me.

Easy for confusion to work into a discussion, so I might throw in some of my thoughts to help clear some of that.
There is a reservoir for windshield cleaning fluid. There is also a much bigger tank for the engine cooling system that involves the big radiator out front!

In the first small tank, we put windshield washer fluid and it sprays on the windshield! That is a different fluid from what we put in the second system for the radiator and engine!
Not to confuse the two as the second is much different and will take the paint of the car if sprayed on the windshield!

Windshield washer fluid versus what we normally call antifreeze!

But the tank you may have seen under the hood and empty may be what is often called an "overflow tank".
How much to expect in that tank may vary quite a lot due to different engine temperatures and driving.
There is often a line on the side of this overflow tank and filling to that line is the normal practice. If the radiator gets a little too hot on a hot day, some of the excess fluid may move to the overflow tank. Or when the engine cools, that fluid may move back into the cooling system again.
Kind of like storing fluid instead of pumping it out on the ground and then needing to add more!

But that fluid is also what moves through the a mini radiator inside under the dash for the heater and defroster!
IF the radiator gets so low on water and antifreeze that none of the hot water gets to the small radiator inside, you will likely not get heat and this heat will also be missing in the defroster.
Both heater and defroster air blow over the same little radiator under the dash and the only thing that changes is which direction the air moves, up to the windshield or down to your feet, etc.!

But what I think may be a problem is the airflow over that small inside radiator!
The dash switches may not be changing where the air flows down to feet or up to windshield! Those both go through the same place to pick up the heat from the hot water but if you are getting warm air on heater but no air going to the windshield it is not likely to be the fluid but the controls that change where the air blows!

For antifreeze. I rarely have found any one brand or type that is far better than another. There are likely to be dozens of different brands from different companies. Ford sells FOMOCO, Dodge sells their house brand, etc.
for me, I go with a name brand like Prestone and call it good!

All this gee whiz stuff is part of finding a good place to have oil changes done as it is often part of the service to check these nit picking things.

I take things to Wal-Mart and they do it for me. If you get less personal service than you expect at Wal-Mart, I might suggest change is needed!

Point on RV dealers? IF you get within 40 feet of a mechanic and still have to ask them to open the hood, I might think them not too interested in working!

 

[RVSpirit26T]

Unless you are going to flush the engine coolant system then switch to another type. You need to use the exact same type of coolant as is currently in the vehicle. There are about 5 different types of coolant that I know of (HOAT, POAT, PHOAT, OAT, IAT), they all have their own unique chemistries you don't want to mix. i.e Prestone (POAT), Mopar (HOAT)
I find it easiest to use the manufacturer recommended brand to be safe, the color is also very useful to confirm.

 

[SusanSan]

I wondered why there is NO coolant in that reservoir - like it was flushed and not refreshed.

 

[RVSpirit26T]

The reservoir is used to maintain the proper level of coolant in the radiator. There should be Low & High marks on the tank. Fill the tank between those lines with the same coolant in the radiator. Check it a few times after filling just to make sure the radiator has not taken any to replenish itself.

 

[SusanSan]

This is great information, Richard. And this is truly my first rodeo, as my husband is the 2-year RV'er, I just join the ride now and then when our kids or friends can't join him. So I really appreciate the details on workings of the radiator and fluid. I've learned that the RV dealership, that fixes the recalls like the awning, is kind and great at referring chassis issues else-where. It's just soooo inefficient for us users and I was surprised, and angry that they couldn't even sell me the right coolant. But also, where the heck did we lose the owner's manual for the chasis? It's only 21 feet long, this RV!
Stay well and thanks again.

 

[SusanSan]

Thank you!

 

[Morich]

Ok! Always good to get to know the folks we are speaking with a bit better before we give advise.

One of the big things to know about RV is how different they are from what we are used to in cars! In cars, they are pretty much all made by the one company and that often means that company like Ford, General Motors, will take care of most anything on the car. But when we look closer, they often do have other parts like the warranty on tires and will send us to a tire company if we have problems.

But RV are far less likely to cover all parts of the RV we have and for good reasons as there are so many different parts on the RV.
The RV is more lie a house than a car but it is also built on what a truck is built on as the chassis.
When we buy a new house, there is the builder who does the concrete and almost all the stuff up to the roof! But then when we look at the inside, there are lots of appliances like the frig, furnace and all those things we add.
So when we buy a house, we have to look at who does that work when we have trouble with something like the furnace.
There may be six different companies involved in getting all those different parts together. Each group may know how to fix what they do but not very much about the rest! You don't want the guys who poured the concrete for the foundation to be messing with fixing your furnace!

In an RV we have mush the same but more. There are the folks who built the chassis/truck part and other folks who built the "house" on top plus others who build the furnace, TV, microwave, etc.
That's where we get all kinds of problem if we take the RV to an RV spot to find out about an item on the chassis! They may have some ideas about the headlights but not much as they only know about the "house" built on top!

I try to sort problems down to whether it is a RV/house problem or is it a chassis problems. Antifreeze for the engine is a car/truck item but antifreeze to keep the pipes from freezing is an RV item?

But many of us have found it works better if we can figure a lot of things out before we resort to taking it to places where they try to be good at too many things and wind up not very good at any of them!

It's a long trip of constant learning and about the time we get it figured, things change!

But I've also given up on staying on top of it all! I've spent three weeks trying to sort how to connect my phone to my car, only to find my USB connector on the phone has a problem!

Best of luck and just keep asking questions.

 

[SusanSan]

Good comparison to house, appliances and repairs - those are my comfort spots, not the truck/chassis, I appreciate those insights. One of our Ford Motor Co. engineer friends came over with the coolant recommended and he will be in the RV for the first road trip of the season too. Thanks so much for the engagement and support

 

[Usaswimdad]

Also means you're in DANGER of overheating your motor and damaging your engine block. The coolant keeps your engine cool under normal operating conditions and coolant is diverted to your heater Coil to heat the passenger compartment and windshield.

 

[MDJDCarter]

Diverter valve

I would also add to what has been said here that in my vehicles the heater and defroster have a small heat exchanger in the engine cooling system. When I turn on the heater a diverter valve opens to circulate the engine coolant through that exchanger. Sometimes the valve can get stuck and does not open in which case you will not get much heat in the cab.

 

[Usaswimdad]

You could try flushing your heater Coil lines. Those lines can get gummed up. Just look fir the hoses going through the fire wall. Normally pretty cheap and easy to do as a DIY'er.