Coolant service cost

You can see what was done to our coach while at the Gaffney, SC Freightliner Service Center last year.

Unfortunately, the total service charge does not detail the flush / refill, but maybe it will give you some ideas.

Click on http://newmarkountrystar.com/ then select "Our Coach", scroll down to the Freightliner Service Invoice link.

timjet wrote:
On my '07 Cummins ISL the coolant change is every 72 months with an extender added at 36 months.

A caution. Many of the OAT-based coolants call for an extender after 36 months. And, that advice is correct for an OTR truck piling up 100,000 miles a year.

Is is NOT accurate for a motorhome only doing a few thousand miles a year. In fact, Caterpillar when back and changed their slide presentation on RV maintenance to omit the extender recommendation for Caterpillar ELC. So their ELC (and likely all other new-generation coolants of the same chemistry are "6 years, zero maintenance".

I had my local Freightliner shop drain and flush coolant system and refill with extended life (CAT 3126E). Total cost was $305.53.

I only use distilled water in all my vehicle coolant changes.

On my '07 Cummins ISL the coolant change is every 72 months with an extender added at 36 months.

ppine wrote:
In the old days cars wore out around 100,000 miles or a little more. People did not change the coolant and sometimes ran straight water in the radiator. It was common for radiators to plug up and overheat engines. In 1969, I returned from a summer trip of around 8,000 miles in a 1957 Chevy. It overheated and quit within 100 miles of home. We removed the radiatior and had it boiled out. Now I change the coolant like manufr recommend.

Indeed. Manufacturers back in the 70's thru early 80's regularly sold vehicles with only distilled water in the radiators. Owners would later flush their systems only to then add regular tap water to the radiator. Not too mention many of the vehicles sold didn't even have recovery bottles. So when on the road if water need to be added guess what was added?

Tap water.

I believe it was sometime in the mid 80's manufacturers got their game together and decided on making coolant use standard practice.

In the old days cars wore out around 100,000 miles or a little more. People did not change the coolant and sometimes ran straight water in the radiator. It was common for radiators to plug up and overheat engines. In 1969, I returned from a summer trip of around 8,000 miles in a 1957 Chevy. It overheated and quit within 100 miles of home. We removed the radiatior and had it boiled out. Now I change the coolant like manufr recommend.

This is a project I'm going to do in the next 30 days. I have the ELC coolant and all new belts and hoses. So far I have around $200 into the materials and parts, but my son-in-law is the Shop Manager for a Trucking company, so I'm getting the stuff at their cost (but not more than a Cummin's shop would pay).

I have a Cat. The ELC is good for more miles than I'll put on the coach in several lifetimes....6 years for aging, though. As others have said, it's not a hard job, just time consuming and low tech.

Brett Wolfe posted his change procedure a number of years ago and I'd highly recommend it. I had a 2008 Allegro Bus with a Cummins ISL that I changed out the coolant for one of the newer OAT types. My only difficulty was that the unit did NOT have a coolant drain, so I disconnected a lower radiator hose at a convenient location. First drained then replaced with tap water, Ran it until temps came up, pulled the hose again, refilled again with tap water, and drained again. Finally, put the correct amount of UNDILUTED OAT coolant in, and filled it to full with Walmart distilled water. I did have a bubble in it on the final fill, but when it worked it's way out, a fill to the full point with distilled water was all it took. Brett's procedure works.

Check radiator cap as well. Proper cooling system pressure will reduce cavitation and cylinder liner damage. This was a required check when I worked servicing standby generators. Also took fuel, oil, and coolant samples. The coolant sample decided whether to flush or use additives.

Carl