Cat 330 Coolant change

[Moder2]

Ok, tomorrow I am going to undertake my next phase of Winterization and change out my coolant in the engine.

Has anyone here done it? I see a post a couple years back from RKL, but not a lot of details.

330 cat 3126 with a rear radiator in an 01 UA 40J

John

[Moder2]

Ok, tomorrow I am going to undertake my next phase of Winterization and change out my coolant in the engine.

Has anyone here done it? I see a post a couple years back from RKL, but not a lot of details.

330 cat 3126 with a rear radiator in an 01 UA 40J

John

[skigramp]

John ...

I was at a CAT presentation at a recent FMCA rally ... they stressed changing your thermostat every time you change your coolant ...

I have never changed my coolant so I can't help you with that ....

[ichn2go]

Sold my Horizon with the 3126. But there were detailed instructions in the Cat Manual. Never heard that you had to change the Thermo also. Consider the Cat ELC coolant last longer and you don't have to do the testing that you do with the regular coolant and only have to add a charger to the coolant every 3 years. Any questions I would call Cat Customer Service. Good Luck

[Moder2]

I'm happy to report the job is done and all went well.

Yes, I did change the T-Stats. Cat does recommend every three years, and it was obvious that they were never changed. Cost was about $34.00 for both with the gasket.

They are pretty easy to get to. Fabick Cat in Saint Louis has been awesome to deal with, they had the best prices and their counter help has been second to none.

I did flush the system about 4 times to get the green crud out. I caught the first two drains in buckets to take to the recycling center. Ugh.

The job is a bit messy since you really have to pull the lower hose to drain it. Of course on mine it splashes against the frame rail.

I did buy one gallon of the concentrate (straight mix, not 50/50) mostly because I was afraid that if in WI or other northern states the 50/50 mix might not be enough protection. In the end, I am glad I did, I was only able to put in 8 1/2 gallons, so either I have a gallon of water in the system or I have air trapped somewhere. The TStats seem to be opening fine (Upper hose is warm and pressurized.) I do need to check it one more time today, since it was still hot when I went to bed yesterday, I am thinking part of the missing gallon might be expansion.

Refill procedure was listed on the back of the radiator, but cat basically said just slowly refill it, run the engine to temp and watch the overflow tank. I did and the system seems to have purged itself OK. Both Tstats do have pressure valves in them. Total Cost $146.17 in materials and about 5 hours, but keep in mine I like putzing around and looking at things under the "Hood" too...

I did find a control wire on the alternator that had Green Wire syndrome and was about to fall out of a connector. Fixed that. That is the single most reason I like to do my own maintenance, I highly doubt any tech would have noticed it, and if they did they would have just left it for me to have a problem with later down the road...

All and all went well.


John