I would like to do a coollant flush and change on my coach but I don't know how many gallons of coolant we are talking about and then we have the disposal issues. I am sure it would have to be flushed a few times and then more disposal. Just wondering if it's just better to take it to a Cummins Service Center and avoid the disposal hassle. I also need to replace the block heater at the same time. We will be in Florida in the Lakeland area and will need to find a service center to do the work. Any recommendations from those of you in the Florida area?
Thanks, John M. 😎
John,
Start by contacting the city/county vehicle maintenance center for your area. Many WILL accept used coolant.
And, because coolant change is very time consuming (TO DO RIGHT) and fairly low tech) it make an ideal "do it yourself" job.
Auto Zone will take the coolant.
How many gallons are we talking about in the 450 M11 and how many times does it have to be flushed out? We will have more gallons to deal with on the flush.
Thanks, John M.
Mine took about 15 gallons (cat engine) I only recovered the initial coolant drain and the first water/cleaner flush. Then flushed it 5 times with water and just drained those on the ground. The last water flush was with distilled water, then I drained the system as well as blew the lines to the dash heat out with an airgun on my air compressor. Refilled with after a 50/50 premixed Chevron Delo ELC and after a 10 mile trip tested the coolant with a refractometer and it registered right below the 50% mark, so i probably had 2-3% left behind water in the cooling system. It took me a full day to get it flushed and refilled, so If you want a good, thorough job I would fully recommend doing it yourself.
John,
Just took out coach to the Cummins Service center in Tampa. Good guys. Set appt and they did the work while we waited. Kept coach clean. I have a name and phone number if you need.
Just curious what Cummins charged to do something like that?
it was our first trip to Cummins and we only had valves adjusted and codes checked. Didn't check coolant but if I remember correctly their annual oil change and fuel filters with chassis greasing was $450 or so. More than doing it yourself for sure but seemed reasonable. They had a lot of coaches there, were ready to spend as much time talking shop as needed and brought the coach back clean. And that price was before the Power Club 10% discount.
If you have the factory ELC red coolant I don't see any need for a flush just a coolant change. Usually flushing is to go from the Ethylene Glycol to the OAT type. Yours should have had Texaco ELC from Foretravel.
What did the valve adjustment run if you dont mind me asking
Craneman, yes it does. It makes sense. No need to flush.
Thanks, John M.
John,call Foretravel with your build # and ask what they put in for coolant, color of coolant means nothing.
Couple of things I would concerns:
1. Checking with Foretravel to find out what OE coolant was used is not a bad idea, BUT (yes, large BUT) if a 1999 model coach and OE coolant, it is 18 years old! Hopefully, not an accurate assumption. And if not the original owner with good records, may not really know what is in there now.
2. No need to flush if staying with the same type (chemistry) coolant. Agree, but with a concern. There are many GALLONS of coolant in those long lines from engine to water heater and dash heater and those components themselves. While one does not necessarily need to flush the system. one certainly needs to flush or blow out those lines or you are NOT changing all the coolant.
My coach has the original Texaco ELC.
John M.
John,
If going back with new Texaco ELC, either flush or remove heater hose at either end and blow out the coolant in those circuits.
If you blow them out you could use either pre-mix or concentrate.
If you flush, make the last rinse with distilled water and use concentrate-- just add 50% of total system volume of concentrate and then top off with distilled water.
Brett isn't the Final Charge product a direct replacement for the Texaco ELC? I thought I did a extended search before I changed my coolant. I used my shop vac to clear the lines.
Sorry, do not know the answer (chemistry was a long time ago). You might check with Fleetguard.
But, even if the answer is less, you would not want to mix 18 year old anything with brand new coolant.
So get as much as you can out of the system. Go it.
Thanks guys,
John M
Brett,
I only mentioned the Final Charge as a replacement for the Texaco ELC I did remove all of the old coolant when I changed mine. The Final Charge was available at O'Reilly auto parts. The compatibility chart shows under heavy duty that they are.
http://www.solventsandpetroleum.com/uploads/6/0/3/7/60372849/_profleet-compatibility-chart.pdf