05 Phaeton Engine Coolant Leak

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jkowarsch

jkowarsch

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
5
Location
Sulphur, LA
Hello everyone, I recently bought a 2005 Phaeton with a Caterpillar C7 engine. Soon afterwards, I found there was a mysterious water leak in the engine coolant. I kept up on the level until such a time as I was able to check out the problem. When I did, here's what I found:

Water was leaking from the gasket where the turbo mounted to the exhaust manifold. The engine eventually wouldn't start at all (starter and batteries all checked out fine). This lead me to believe the water was leaking maybe through the head gasket. I had the motorhome towed to a Freightliner dealership whose "diagnosis" was to rebuild or replace, either of which options costs an arm and a leg. With this, I'm tempted to tackle the problem myself and try to reign in the costs of a dealer repair and only fix the broken components.

Does anyone have any experience with tearing down a C7 and replacing gaskets on their own?
 
Rebuild or replace what?  The entire  engine?  The turbo?

Sounds like a simple head gasket.  I'd get a second opinion.
 
Yes, the dealership is giving me only two options: 1) replace the entire engine (for both arms and both legs), 2) rebuild engine (for one arm and one leg).

I kind of feel like it's the head gasket too. If it's easy to replace, can it be done with the engine still in or does the engine have to be pulled?

I'd love a second opinion, but towing that thing isn't cheap. And the dealership still wants me to pay for their "diagnosis".
 
Is there coolant in the oil? It sounds like the bearings are shot if they think you have to go to that  extent.
 
Yes, I found water in the oil pan. But it wasn't there long as I had recently changed the oil finding nothing out of the ordinary.
 
Other than the size of these blocks they are little different than any other Diesel engine. 

If I were in your shoes, and I'm glad I'm not, I'd be asking Cat what led them to the diagnosis of rebuild/replace.  Cylinder scoring? Piston parts in the pan?  Bearing shavings in the oil?  Etc.

If it really needs to be rebuilt/replaced you might want to google 'rebuilt Cat C7' and see if you can find one that only costs 2 arms and 1 leg.  Before you actually buy one call Cat with your serial number and ask if there are any specific serial series you should look for.  Or get the number of the rebuilt engine and call them with that just to be sure it will fit.  Might be a good idea to ask the same question of Tiffen and Freightliner as well because the chassis builder adds lots of equipment.

I would imaging they're quoting you somewhere between 10 & 20 thousand.  20K is for an In frame rebuild in my area (west coast).  This is a one of the reasons I have an extended warranty on my motorhome.  The first 4 years paid for itself and the second 4 is already 30% paid back in the first 8 months.

  Feelin' your pain.
 
Thanks for the info. If I had bought it new, I would get an extended warranty, but I bought second hand with no option for that.

I will ask for the reason(s) for their diagnosis, but thus far they've been reticent about them. They've not told me anything about what they saw when the opened the valve cover/oil pan and pressured the coolant system. Nor do they seem willing to open it up for a closer look to give me a more concise diagnosis.

I'm not sure either, that they'd be willing to drop in one I find myself.
 
Oh, also, they're quoting $19k to rebuild and $30k to replace. No indication as to whether the rebuild is in frame or not.
 
jkowarsch said:
Thanks for the info. If I had bought it new, I would get an extended warranty, but I bought second hand with no option for that.

I will ask for the reason(s) for their diagnosis, but thus far they've been reticent about them. They've not told me anything about what they saw when the opened the valve cover/oil pan and pressured the coolant system. Nor do they seem willing to open it up for a closer look to give me a more concise diagnosis.

I'm not sure either, that they'd be willing to drop in one I find myself.
Click to expand...

Interesting as the dealer I originally bought from renewed my coverage as if I had bought it used.  It has worked once since I got it.  Many of the Route 66 dealers have a policy that covers used RVs or at least they used to have one.
 
For future reference:  You can buy an extended warranty from several companies.  My current one is with EasyCare.  They've been OK.  I had to do some convincing to get them to replace a part that was failing intermittently.

30K.  Wow.  I'd be looking for a rebuilt for sure.
 
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