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Larry,

I had to replace one of the coolant pumps for the Webasto system and I didn’t end up with a lock. I simply replaced the 5 gallons I lost, fired up the engine and recirculating pumps, brought the level back up and it was fine. Given the recirculating pumps are both below the engine level I’m not sure how my system could get an air lock in the Webasto lines. Maybe I was just lucky.

[Davy]

Actually I think the Webasto aids coolant change because the circulating pump can help purge any bubbles.

[Bob]

unhook the hot wire from the burner first, that will prevent the burner from starting while there is air in the system

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I’ve flushed coolant on 2 coaches and had no problems. I elevated the front in an effort to remove as much old coolant from the webasto system and refilled the coach level. Although the webasto systems are provided with multiple bleed ports, they are generally hard to access and I have not used them. I do make certain that the engine is running to help circulate coolant the first time I use the webasto and I would recommend you check your coolant level frequently after the flush until it stabilizes.

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Thanks for the input guys.

Larry

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Hey all, I have some of the old green coolant in my reservoir tank, but one of the techs told me and reciepts indicate that they swapped in Detroit PowerCool in my series 60.

My DMI revealed a bad pressure cap, I have a new one and will replace it along with a new reservoir cap.

If I just want to drain about 3 gallons and fill with fresh 50/50 Power cool what is the best way to go about it. I will consult my manual, but wondering if any tips…I will also put on a fresh NON sca coolant filter at the same time.

Thanks !

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I’m not sure why you would drain just three gallons, but if that is what you want to do there are a pair of petcocks beneath the coolant pipes on the drivers side low down between the engine and the radiator.

Coolant is a lot cheaper than cylinder liners. Drain it all and replace with new.

[glen]

Jon, records say it was done late 2012, so its pretty new, and speaking with Luis at Prevost who did the work said it was fine, but on my DMI another tech did not use a test strip as he noticed green coolant still in the reservoir…was later determined that was some residual leftover, so I mainly want to get that cleaned out and change the filter and get a bit of fresh in it.

Another question…when using SCA charged Powercool, is a Detroit *non* sca filter fine? My local Detroit parts guy kinda implied that today….

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If power cool was used during a coolant change there is no way any residual green coolant is going to remain in the header tank.

Whatever was left in the system when it was changed the last time is completely mixed with whatever coolant was used to fill the system.

The coolant system on the coaches is so large (around 24 gallons) that it expands and contracts as the engine heats and cools so the contents of the header tank is constantly going up or down.

You can change the coolant conditioning filter without having to add any coolant just by shutting off the two valves on the top of it. Any brand is OK to use as long as it is a cross with the Detroit filter number but it has to be an SCA if your coach had Power Cool installed. However, if the coach had extended life coolant installed (expensive stuff) its life is 6 years but the addition of SCAs ruins it and converts it to a 2 year coolant.

There is a lot of information on the internet about the different heavy diesel coolants that will help you understand the types and how they are to be maintained.

How could a mechanic have said the green in the tank was “some residual left over”. That blows my mind.

[Peter]

yes Jon that is right up there with my experience with a service writer. He told me that my turbo on the Excursion went out because I pull it behind my bus and it get all the dirt from the road. LOL That was a real eye openner for me.

[Raymond]

As someone else said in another thread…Prevost ain’t perfect, the tech who did my DMI I thought was pretty good, but when I asked about service life of some things I was thinking Jon would not agree!

Anyways, I found the Prevost reciept, they changed PowerCool in April 2012, less than 5000 miles on coach since then.

When I siphoned out some coolant just now out of the reservoir it looks like this:

So looks like old green mixed with Powercool, but somewhat greenish and maybe the Prevost tech did not look close enough…will leave it at that. (tech also wrote powercool on intake tube when it was changed)

This is what I drained from the lower coolant tube just now, looks little more like powercool, but still mixed.

Finally my local Detroit dealer sold me a couple gallons of this ( they did not have the NON dilluted in stock, I did not want the 50/50)

He advised using the non sca filter since coolant is pre charged…not sure if this correct…I am sceptical.

SO!

I am assuming they did swap in Powercool, but obviously with Webasto etc did not get all of the old stuff out. It has an SCA filter on it now that was changed less than a year ago along with a chassis service at Prevost.

At this point should I go ahead and get more Power cool and try and do a more thorough swap? I plan to change every two years so I am not worried about long life coolant, but am still a bit confused on which filter with which PowerCool to use.

I will do a bunch more reading and tackle it monday.

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It seems PowerCool is backward compatible but mixing negates the longevity advantage.

“Product is compatible with both conventional and OAT coolants. To maximise performance [regarding

issues such as extended life] it is best to flush the old coolant and replace with Power Cool HB500-NF

Premix Coolant at your next service interval “

Since you already have the coolant mix in there for 2 years, I’d drain, completely flush with water and refill with distilled water and your coolant of choice making sure you completely drain the entire house side of the coolant system. If you have OTR, there is a drain on the driver side heat exchanger. There are two bleeding cocks that should be open during refill to expell air, one on the OTR heat exchanger, the other on the driver’s heat exchanger.

Also make sure you clean the stainless steel coolant filter in the OTR heat exchanger bay.

I just did this last year. Very straightforward. I had no problem with the Webasto.

If you use a coolant that is precharged (Powercool, Fleetcharge) you need to use a blank cartridge (no SCAs) on the fill. Test SCA levels a year later and see if you are still good or need to swap in an SCA cartridge.

[Philip]

3greens, no OTR, so do not need to deal with that luckily! Looks like Prevost manual covers it but slightly different tank from what I have read on some searchs. I will try and flush best I can and get as much fresh 50/50 mix in there as I can with time constraints I have right now, will go back and do a more thourough job this fall.

Saw some of the Peak HD at Walmart but it is $6 more than the stuff at my Detroit dealer so will get more PowerCool Monday.

Only concern is actually purging things through the house side/Webasto right now…want to make sure I get it right!

[Dale]

Gonna hold off on this until tomorrow when Detroit is open and I can get more coolant! I noticed after my first trip home a very tiny drip from the water pump area, maybe 10 drops of coolant after the bus had sat over night and cooled off, never when warm.

There is a short section of hose between a hard tube and water pump, one clamp was a little on loose side, snugged it up but leaking worse now so I investigated some more.

Looking from underneath I see coolant flowing down from top of pump, but weep hole area is dry (good thing I think).

This is looking from the ground up towards water pump….

I was somewhat able to get my hand around the backside of the short section of hose you can see to the right of this photo…the larger blue hose you can not make out well:

backside of that is pretty wet, so I suspect an issue with that bit of hose. So before I hit the road next week gonna try and flush as much coolant as I can, sort out the tiny leak and hopefully find no other issues.

[Paul]

Got the leak sorted, clamp was on the nipple a bit allowing a small leak, but I replaced that little section of hose anyways and so far so good.

I ended up draining and refilling just about 14 gallons. Not a complete flush but will do until I can get some time do a complete drain, flush and refill this fall.

How do you guys circulate the Webasto? Is there a way without firing it up and just running the circulation pumps?

Does any coolant get circulated when the engine is running through any bits of the Webasto/heat system or just through the plumbing that heats the hot water tanks?