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Old 04-20-2023, 09:40 AM   #1
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Tiffin coolant system service

My Tiffin Phaeton is five years old and needs coolant system service and flushing. Freightliner quotes at 1200-1400 for service and 450 for flush. Does that sound right?
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Old 04-20-2023, 11:59 AM   #2
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No, but I have no idea what sort of "service" that might be. $450 for a complete coolant flush is the right ball park for that (if actually needed), but I can't imagine what else would be done to the cooling system for another $1200+. $1200-$1400 sounds more like a complete chassis maintenance, e.g. oil & filter change, fuel filters, chassis lube, tranny filter, air dryer, etc.


Personally I would not buy a coolant flush unless there were indications of contamination. I'd just do a coolant change, i.e. drain as much of the old coolant as is practical and refill with fresh coolant.
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Old 04-20-2023, 04:46 PM   #3
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No, but I have no idea what sort of "service" that might be. $450 for a complete coolant flush is the right ball park for that (if actually needed), but I can't imagine what else would be done to the cooling system for another $1200+. $1200-$1400 sounds more like a complete chassis maintenance, e.g. oil & filter change, fuel filters, chassis lube, tranny filter, air dryer, etc.


Personally I would not buy a coolant flush unless there were indications of contamination. I'd just do a coolant change, i.e. drain as much of the old coolant as is practical and refill with fresh coolant.
What Gary said.

In addition, I got a quote for about that much including coolant from a local shop. I'd actually trust them to do the work, but a coolant change isn't hard given a place to put the drained coolant. A friend with a shop let me do it there, which saved me a few hundred bucks.
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Old 04-20-2023, 07:03 PM   #4
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What year is coach, to determine if OAT coolant is in it OEM.
Older coolant has additives that can be tested with strips to make sure safe mix per temp and anti cavitation additives for wet sleeve motors. If getting low in additives but in safe zone, a new slow release coolant filter is changed out. You can send a sample to be tested for issues and other additives like corrosion additives. Even a full flush and change to OAT coolant shouldn't be that much.
You can find threads of of swap to OAT coolant. It seems many have gone to and extreme to remove any trace of old coolant. Cummins came out to say there are completely compatible. That's not saying you want half old and new as it would be hard to know residual additives left.
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Old 04-22-2023, 09:35 AM   #5
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I missed you said coach was 5yrs old. Is Cummins that suggest 5 year flush or Tiffin. Remember Cummins info for OTR semi could be rolling 100k per year.
I can't tell you if it was filled with modern OAT coolant. like Fleetguard EScomplete often a brochure might be included in build binder. This is info below. How many miles are on coach? $450 for the flush doesn't seem to out of line. I don't know extent of the rest of service. Fluid analysis can determine quality of the fluid protection and any breakdown of the radiator aluminium, engine components such as the iron ,steel. $450 also not large cost compared to travel and ownership of for such a new coach.
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Old 04-22-2023, 05:05 PM   #6
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Welcome to the forum.

I would also agree that a coolant flush may not necessarily be needed. You can change the coolant yourself as FCCC does recommend a coolant change a 5 years (100,000 miles or 60 months, whichever comes first).

Here's the page from FCCC's general maintenance manual that will give you step-by-step instructions:

20--03 Coolant Replacement

But yes, that's outrageous for only a coolant change. Tell us where your general location is and I can look through my journal and see if there's a good private garage that can do it for less than a Freightliner facility if you don't want to do it yourself.
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Old 04-23-2023, 06:09 AM   #7
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I may have missed this suggestion above, but I would send a sample off to JG Lubricants to see if it is even needed. I recently did on my 2019 coach just to find out and it came back total hardness was way too high. They suspected someone, possibly the dealer, topped it off with tap water. Not even sure why it would have needed to be topped off. Still a mystery to me. I drained and replaced 7 of the total system of 11 gallons and replaced with Final Charge (the type Tiffin filled with). Sent in another sample and it came back well within spec. Anyway, I thought JG Lubricants sample and send process was pretty easy.
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Old 04-23-2023, 03:25 PM   #8
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That stinks maybe somebody just grabbed the wrong jug or untrained personnel . I suppose a half to gallon of well or city water depending on hardness could cost you $150 for new AF plus retesting.
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I may have missed this suggestion above, but I would send a sample off to JG Lubricants to see if it is even needed. I recently did on my 2019 coach just to find out and it came back total hardness was way too high. They suspected someone, possibly the dealer, topped it off with tap water. Not even sure why it would have needed to be topped off. Still a mystery to me. I drained and replaced 7 of the total system of 11 gallons and replaced with Final Charge (the type Tiffin filled with). Sent in another sample and it came back well within spec. Anyway, I thought JG Lubricants sample and send process was pretty easy.
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