Any info on changing the coolant and filter?

[odyssess]

I've got a Int'l 3800 T444E and I want to change the coolant and filter. I have the replacement filter and coolant, but was wondering if there was anything I should know before draining the coolant and just changing the filter and fluid. First, how do I drain it? Is there a plug somewhere? Is there a way to flush out the system?(Do I need to?) Any info would be helpful since I haven't tackled this situation yet. Thanks.

[crazycal]

Normally there is a petcock in the radiator. If not, I guess you would pull your lower hose to drain coolant. I don't think you can flush without a machine. The old days of letting stuff run down the gutter and storm drains are over. Don't leave the coolant out. It attracts animals and is very poisonous. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

[the_experience03]

I think that about covers it. If you wanted to take out the t-stat I suppose you could backflush it with a garden hose, but you're going to need to recover all that water which might pose a problem. You might want to look on the block. A lot of times there is a block drain as well. Pulling the lower hose will drain the radiator, but you'd be amazed how much coolant remains in the block. Pulling that plug will get it all out. Double check and make sure your coolant filter has the additive package in it. Otherwise you might need to add a separate product to get the SCA's up.

[odyssess]

What do I do with the additive packet and what are SCA's? How often do people here normally change their fluids? Do most of you do it yourself? I have always done it with my cars but this is my first big diesel. Thanks

[the_experience03]

SCA's are supplemental coolant additives. The reality of it is that if you use an automotive type green (ethylene glycol) coolant meeting ASTM D-3306 and the filter you should be ok. Most of the filters have the SCA's in them already and will slowly release it. However, if you use a "heavy duty" coolant meeting ASTM D-4985 specs you will have to add the SCA's. If you use heavy duty coolant meeting D-6210 you will be ok as well.

Using the ASTM D-3306 sounds like the easiest method, right? Well it is, but it isn't the right way to go. Regular coolant contains a pretty stiff dose of silicates. That's great for protecting aluminum in modern car engines, but doesn't do so great 9in heavy duty applications. Instead, you use the heavy duty coolant and mix it with the appropriate SCA and water to make a coolant mixture that is low in silicates, but high in SCA's to prevent cavitation. That's especially important on sleeved engines although some of our sleeveless designs also suffer from cavitation issues. I have heard that the 6.9/7.3/T444E Internationals are prone to cavitation, as is the 6.6/7.8 Ford.

Ok, it's all getting pretty technical and probably won't matter, but what's my recommendation? Get a fully formulated coolant meeting the D-6210 specs. That will have the proper SCA's in it already and will just need to be mixed. Any automotive store worth looking at will have plenty of it on hand, usually in a jug that says, "Heavy Duty," or, "Fleet," somewhere on the bottle. That combined with your filter which more than likely has an SCA package built in will keep your engine alive and happy for a long time.

[rjnye79]

Great info here, but it's from almost 10 years ago. I see a lot of "premixed" coolants (ASTM D3306 and D6210) on the shelf, with some claiming that they do "not require an initial charge of SCA or coolant extender at initial fill". Thoughts?

Also, I think my bus had green stuff in it upon purchase. Do I have to drain that out before using this other coolant??

[cadillackid]

I asked a bunch of these questions recently..

first off your 1995 T-444E should NOT use a standard ELC coolant like used in the newer Engines...
secondly.. these Pre-mixed coolants are the initial charge.. something like FleetCHarge.. its a "pink" coolant and has SCA built in... accoreding to the fleetcharge people you *CAN* mix it with green coolant however its not recomended as it makes things hard for someone else to check and know what coolant is in your bus.. as well as it makes the coolant look Wonky, so you lose some abilities for visually inspecting coolant for possible engine issues in the future..

your Spin-on Coolant filter is designed to "maintain" the levels of SCA in your coolant throughout its life.. (theres a recommended interval of coolant and filter change).. when replacing all of your green coolant with green coolant you must add an initial SCA charge to bring the levels up to where they need to be (use test strips).. then tje coolant filter maintains the levels assuming you arent leaking coolant on a regular basis...

if you drain and refill with a precharged coolant such as Peak fleetcharge. then you dont need that initial SCA charge, but will still use an SCA charged coolant filter to maintain the levels...

ELC coolants dont require SCA charge at all and use a dummy non-SCA coolant filter.. however not all engines are compatible with these newer coolants.. in the case of the 444E / Powerstroke 7.3. International put out a serial number break where ELC coolants are acceptable.. (somewhere in feb 1999)..

you CAN use a PolyOrganic type coolant in your older 444E, im using one by AmSoil in my 444E( mine is newer buit the poly works in all).

the video below shows you on the 444E what coolants are acceptable for what years.. remember ford Powerstroke 7.3 was built by International and the fluids used in it are the same cutoffs as the powerstroke 7.3, so your 444E follows the Pre-1999 ford 7.3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40WDW5xPqP4

-Christopher