71 Series Coolant

[sledhead]

I have my oil and my anti freeze tested at a lab every 2 years and so far the anti freeze comes back fine and the oil as well .
( started in 2016 when I got the coach )

all this for $ 32 each test then I know how things are plus the first year it gave me a starting test point for years to come

[Van]

You could always use some good ol'"Ditch Water" it said some where in some DD book a lil' birdie told me.

"Objection your honor... Hearsay! ;

[luvrbus]

You coul
d always use some good ol'"Ditch Water" it said some where in some DD book a lil' birdie told me.

"Objection your honor... Hearsay! ;

It says DD does not recommend ditch water lol,I have never used distilled water R/O is all I ever used only beacuse the well water here is nasty,I have no idea where use  only distilled water came from but it did not come from Detroit for the 2 strokes

[Nova Eona]

Sometimes I have to step back, look up, get out of the weeds, and put comments, great comments, into perspective. There is a lot of highly professional experience here that drove and serviced buses that ran millions of miles. Now, in a year my bus puts on the miles a revenue bus does in a week, so I need to put myself back in the seat of MY bus, consider the advice, and decide if doing something different probably is alright with such a tiny fraction of use compared to OTR buses.
Forget biting the bullet and draining all the fluid. It's green, so what. Is it even light green, fine for me. I don't go anywhere it freezes. I just go the other way. Just a note to other noobie busnuts to help sort out the line between works for recreational use vs commercial service.

Think I needed to hear this, thanks!  I like to take good care of the old girl, but at the same time there's a lot to take care of and only so much time; skipping a full coolant flush cycle to switch over to a more 'ideal' coolant means less time to fix other things that matter more for what I'm doing with it, then I can revisit the idea in a couple years and probably pay a shop to do it right if I want to swap out.

On a separate note, anyone know how a block heater is meant to install in a 6-71?  I've got a Kat's DD1 which looks like it should go into one of the water jacket ports, but the one in the front has the water pump assembly on it and the back one has a coolant line going to the air compressor, no visible matching ports on the far side of the engine either.

[windtrader]

Obviously, if the problem using the stuff on sale O'reilly is that bad, I will add to the list of crap to do the bus. A flush/refill of the right stuff is cheap insurance. It's sometimes y'all get down, way down, where some topics are more preference or more relevant to buses running every day. What is the code phrase "heavy duty truck"?

[dtcerrato]

We have the 2000 watt Jimmy - Heet block heater on our 671. It's in the water jacket opening behind & right of the fuel pump. Replaced the element once in 43 years. Makes the engine toasty in short order...

[Nova Eona]

Are you referring to this opening here?

[dtcerrato]

Yes

[luvrbus]

They made a air heater for Detroit's and Cummins still uses it, just a giant spark plug with a relay and the glow plug was mounted on the intake above the blowers you still see those on generators with the 6-71

[Nova Eona]

Yes

Curious - where does the aft-facing water port on your air compressor connect to if that port is occupied with the heater?

That air heater sounds interesting too, any idea on a make or model?

[chessie4905]

We had a brand new surplus 8-71. In our school. Light seafoam green color. It had an intake heater on it.

[Nova Eona]

Aha, answered my own question.  6-71s came both with and without a water-cooled air compressor as an option, mine is the former and the block heater I have is meant for the latter.  Explains why the P.O. never installed it!  They sell block heater kits which have a port on the plate for the compressor line, got one of those on order.

Now just gotta figure out a source or replacement for the defroster-core bleeder valve that barely came out in one piece, then I can get this thing back together.  Still curious to know more about intake heaters as well, I live in New England and can never have enough cold-weather options.

[TomC]

Well it is still green

[Busted Knuckle]

Obviously, if the problem using the stuff on sale O'reilly is that bad, I will add to the list of crap to do the bus. A flush/refill of the right stuff is cheap insurance. It's sometimes y'all get down, way down, where some topics are more preference or more relevant to buses running every day. What is the code phrase "heavy duty truck"?

Don first thing I would do is go get the test strips as advised earlier. You may not need to flush and fill at all. You might only need to add a little of this or that to what ya got and be good to go!
IF your bus has a coolant filter (and it probably doesn't unless someone added it after it was built), you can put the pre-charged filters on it and have no worries!
  BK 

[Nova Eona]

Coolant system refilled!  Fun little FYI, if anyone else is ever doing this and finds that their defrost heater core vent valve screw is mangled behind re-usability, you can purchase the following or similar:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GLWJTGW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
and turn it down then re-thread it to 5/16-24 so it will fit (high temp thread seal suggested).  The work to change it over was a PITA, but now installed it works great!  Pokes out further than OEM, so if you have a factory front that might be an issue, mine will be concealed behind some drawers and the radio.  I don't have a lathe so I wound up using a bolt in the drill press and some files to make the magic happen, amazing how creative you can get sometimes with these things.