New MF13 owner here

[montrose818]

New poster here. Spent a good month researching which truck to buy to get my feet wet in the business, and despite hearing a lot of bad, I went with an International with an MF13. 2011 truck, 250k miles, lot of parts replaced - turbo, cat, EGR cooler / valve, doser, etc.

I am (have been) part time mechanic and comfortable working on european cars, so this couldn't be worse. Having spoken to a few knowledgeable people, they confirm that the only real problem(s) on the vehicle is the emissions (as it is most of the newer generation diesels, light duty included). I had figured that with most (all?) of the problem prone parts replaced, it should get me through 100k miles without any terrible expenses.

Considering how cheap these trucks go, it just made sense. I would have to spend at least twice as much for any other engine, and it would have at least 500k miles, so I could easily end up with major repair bills going that route too.

Looking to hear from people who have MF11/13 engines, preferably ones who are a little more intimate with the truck than dropping it off at the shop and calling it a POS. I see there is m1m EGR coolers, roadwarrior cat / DPFs, as well as annual cat/dpf cleanings, and of course tunes. If the truck grenades that is OK, I am certain I can part it out and get my money back from it. But I like it overall and would like to run it for a few years.

So, if you've got an 11/13 and have found a way to live with it, I would love to hear about it, via PM or here. Will an m1m cooler fix the leak issues? Take apart EGR annually for cleaning? I do plan to take it for a cat/dpf clean within a week or two as preventive maintenance, at 600 bucks that seems like a reasonable thing to do.

Thank you