HI All, Looking at buying a 1999 International 4700 Truck with a DT 466 and 400K miles (truck was a delivery truck with 20 to 30 miles between stops). Per the owner, the engine was rebuilt 2 years ago but at about 1 year after the engine was rebuilt, the thermostat stuck so before it overheated (hopefully) , the owner took the the thermostat out and ran it that way for over a year....He even told me how cold it was in the winter without good heat but for whatever reason, it went on that way for over a year. He lost his only contract and decided to sell the truck.... I know generally speaking the engine runs best and with the least wear when running at the proper temps BUT how much additional wear or damage could have been done by running the engine without a thermostat for over a year? The owner claims the truck runs fine, doesn't leak, smoke, or knock in bad ways.... Am I worrying about too much? Should the engine be OK ? I will check the protection level of the antifreeze (temp wise) as well as for the additives to keep the antifreeze from cavitating by the cylinder liners....Of course If I get the truck I'll put a thermostst in ;-) Thanks in advance for any and all help. Andrew
If he was to cheap to buy a thermostat, what else did he not service? Look it over good.
If you really decide to buy it you may want to put a thermostat in it first and see how it does. I bought a WD45 one time at a good price. It was skipping, misfiring, and got the song and dance. Family, farm, inherited, bla bla bla. Drove it 10 miles home. Checked some stuff including the firing order, 1-3-4-2, the order of all four cylinders. Bought a manual and found out I was wrong. WD45 firing order is 1-4-3-2. Thought I had legally stolen this tractor. Swapped the two plug wires around and fired it up. It started blowing oil and popping out the exhaust like you would not believe. Dud I was screwed!
Interesting responses.... What mechanical issues could INTENTIONALLY removing the thermostat be hiding ? I have heard of people removing a radiator cap (or leaving it on "loosely") so the cooling system does not build up pressure (to hide a leaky radiator or bypassed heater core))... Hmmmm.....maybe a missing thermstat does the same thing?
I do not know of anything but do like OIH said. I would be looking for a really good deal on that. Maybe when it heats op it starts putting coolant in oil?