/// / No thermostst for a year....How bad is that on engine ? ////

[Andyinchville1]

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 thermostat in ;-)

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Andrew

 

[Kip life]

Ate you kidding you want to buy a 400,000 mile which the owner removed thermostat for for year and drove it ?

Thermostat is not a flower



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[Turtle]

I agree. You can get away with no thermostat for a while, a few days, even a week or two. But a year? I'll leave the experienced comments to Greasyshirt, but I'd think even with an engine that was overhauled a year prior, that's a really lot of engine wear. I'd want an insanely good deal on that.

What bothers me most is, if someone was willing to go a year with no thermostat, what other uber-simple maintenance did he not bother to do?

 

[greasytshirt]

With the oil never getting up to temperature, all the moisture from normal combustion never boils off, contaminating the oil and accelerating wear.

I very much agree with Turtle. What else was ignored? Likely everything. If it started and ran, it was driven. Only reactive repairs done, nothing proactive. You can put money on that.

Hopefully this thing is in the $5000 or less range.


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[Andyinchville1]

HI,

Thanks for the input thus far...

I agree with what you are saying about other possible deferred / poor maintenance in light of letting the thermostat go for over a year.

The owner even admitted shivering for over 30 minutes in the winter until the engine "warmed up" .....I almost think rather than the engine warming up without a thermostat, that the driver merely got numb from the cold!

I can't say how an engine would react temp wise without a thermostat but I have heard that an engine would never warm up without one in place.

Other than checking for blow by, are there any other "tests" one can do to see how much the engine has "worn" in light of the lack of a thermostat?

The truck is for sale on the side of the road for $4000 and includes a pallet hack and appliance dolly (my friend drove by it and jotted the number down for me).

 

[brokcanadian]

It's $4000. Make your best deal from that price. If it satisfies everything else, equipment, condition, accessories; and you are comfortable with the engine replacement / rebuild IF it becomes necessary, it will probably last far longer than it should.

I only buy "special" vehicles with something wrong. So far that's carried me thru the last decade. Lets be honest, $4000 is just a bad day at the mechanic for any truck.

Look over as much as you possibly can, and if you can handle the risk, do it.

You asked if there was anything else you could do; a compression test might give you an idea how worn it is, altho it doesn't guarantee a rod won't shoot thru the block driving home...

Wanna know what's risky? Spending $70k on a new truck

Edit: you have your work lined up right? 1999 is kinda old to be figuring things out for the first time, but the 1 payment plan never gets old for me...you want to make sure you can profit the purchase cost back in a month or two just in case (my rule is money back in 2 weeks )

Edit #2: I wouldn't buy a 400k mile local driven short trip truck even with no thermostat problems (personally, for otr use). Local driving kills trucks. You can do better

 

[BillChaffey]

I believe there's more then #1 company out there that will do an oil analysis. Call or E mail they send you a small container, send it back with $10.00 or so and they send you the results.

 

[Kip life]

I bought my truck for 8500, (I asked for help here) it had 400k miles and it was well maintained. In last 1 year it bought 3 other trucks since then and my first truck is still running it's pays it's self every time I go out for 2.5 weeks over and over

2nd truck paid it self in exactly 2 weeks
3rd truck not on road yet

Old trucks are better than truck payments or new electronic stuff added to new trucks and all that DEF stuff

Secret -run like crazy when Truck is in good condition, don't get into those expensive fedex like or panther like trucks they look good but have no money or have money but higher overheads than you the simple box trucker

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[Andyinchville1]

HI,

Thanks for the input so far....

I am going to go at least look at the truck since I have the potential for an upcoming contract and will need a primary truck or back up truck anyways.

I think if the truck doesn't smoke, leak, knock or have any funny sounds or smells not normal to a diesel I am probably going to make a cash offer on it....I figure I cant go too far wrong for the money being asked provided it runs and drives (I spoke with the owner and asked him if it's OK to run the truck 35 miles or so to see how it runs (35 miles is the distance to the next town over and back from where he lives)...He was OK with that so I suppose that is a vote of confidence lest he be stuck with a Tow bill.

Worse come to worse I use it as a storage unit and save the $200 per month I currently pay at a U store it type place for essentially the same size (20 long x 10 wide x 14 feet tall storage unit).

Thanks

Andrew

 

[Andyinchville1]

Side thought....

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 thermostat does the same thing?