2015 Intl Pro Star

[JimT]

(03-21-2020 )amermextrucker Wrote:  Ok guys i took the truck on a final test drive. No CEL truck ran very well. As i stated in my previous posts truck had green coolant. I requested it be changed to RED , which they did. After running the truck for 40 miles or so i opened hood and noticed coolant in surge tank was moving not so much bubbling but it wasn't still in the surge tank. I didn't smell coolant anywhere and didn't see any leaks. Any thoughts ? thx.

First off, you're probably gonna feel under powered with a 10 speed / 3.36 gears trying to pull heavy containers in stop and go locations. Can it work? Sure, but don't go blaming the engine. Plan on going slow, taking you time to accelerate and really wind it up to 1800rpm before shifting. Operating below about 1400rpm is lugging this engine.

The green coolant, if it was the wrong (old) type could be an issue. Was it tested prior ro being replaced? Did they flush the system and vacuum fill it? Or did they just drain and fill without regard to mixing different types of coolant? If I remember correctly, the old (green) coolant in and of itself won't cause a problem (it's lacking the needed additives, but not destructive), but mixing the different types can cause issues.

Probably a good idea to pressure test the air intake systems and look for leaks. The silicone boots, if original, are probably leaking. The CAC could have a crack somewhere.

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say plan on about $10k worth of maintenance after the purchase. Some of it will be odds and ends you don't notice until you get it home, some could be major parts that require closer inspection than can be done prior to purchase. Other things are just routine maintenance that you have no way to know if it was done so it's a good idea to do it yourself (like changing tranny and diff lube, new belts, fresh oil and filter change, new sensors etc...). Also, be aware of the 500,000 mi service items, such as crankshaft damper.

From personal experience, crawl under that truck and take a good look at it from underneath. My tractor had a broken motor mount when I bought it and multiple eyes missed it. It wasn't until I screwed up and broke another motor mount that I discovered the first one was not only broken but half the mount was missing.

Like Rawze said, regardless of what the history shows, rebuild the fuel pump head. It's not a large cost but it could prevent complete engine failure if that pump destroys itself. (Testimonials suggest they last about 400,000-450,000 miles before failure, even the newer parts)

The rest of Rawze's advice also still applies:

(03-16-2020 )Rawze Wrote:  * inspect the overhead cam really well before purchase, even if you have to pay them a couple hundred bucks to pull the engine cover.

* expect to do a full egr-tune-up on it and a few days to go thru that egr, scr doser, DPF doser, and enigne.

* REPLACE THE GUTS of that fuel pump.. ASAP!. -- does not matter what campaign it has had done to it. -- Most of those campaigns were a joke!

* Almost all used truck stealers will take off the DOC and DPF during the sale (or before they put it on the lot),.. it will get them at least a month or 2 before to mask all the issues with them before the dpf issues set back in and by then, they could care less about you.

* expect to have issues with it. Expect to have to do all the neglected 250k mile maint. to it like re-torquing all the wheel bearings and all the other things that never get done properly.

* Do a proper overhead valve adjustment on it they day you get it.

* 36 on the iron is a big red flag. That is way too high! . it is a sign that the oil changes have been severely neglected.

* Like others have said... put zero faith in the overhaul. Does not necessarily mean its bad,. your chances are overall about 60/40 in your favor (unless it was done by a shop known for poor quality work) ... but If they jacked the price way up based on the fact it had an overhaul,.. i would walk away.

* 3.36's are a bit too tall for what you describe. You will be hard pressed to navigate local traffic and frequent stops with it geared like that . it will always feel a bit weak and the next thing you will be crying about is how to turn up the power instead of fre-gearing it. IT IS ALWAYS ALWAYS cheaper to re-gear it than to turn up the HP. keep that in mind... Also, even for that 7-0mph on those occasions. you would fair much better with a 13 and a set of 7.79's and it will easily still do 70 when needed. the ISX does not like low rpm, engine lasts much longer when driving it at 1600 than it does by pushing it hard below 1500. 1800+ is not a problem for it at all either.

- Personally, i would have to heavily consider what other moneys that will be needed to get it road worthy, re-gearing it properly for the application, and and all the other things before settling on an acceptable price vs. finding something more suited.

in the mean time, if you are set on owning a red engine,.. get yourself insite and an adapter + older laptop and get other tools you need to be on top of it instead of sitting on the side of the roads somewhere in a couple months wishing you had.

Finally, go check out "My Book" in the navigation above. It's aimed at first time owner ops, but there's a lot of good checklist items for buying a truck and maintaining that truck which would be useful to anyone.