International DT 466E In-Frame Repair

The International diesel engine project is at the head installation stage. We had the head sent to a machine shop and inspected. The valves were touched up and the head was checked for cracks since the failure was an overheating condition. If you're going through all this work it makes sense to take every step necessary to prevent a come-back.

With the head installed the injectors come next. They are hydraulic electronic unit injectors that run on high pressure oil controlled by the electrical signals from the engine ECU. The valve rocker arms are then torqued down and the valves are set at .025 inches.One thing to note with DT 466E engines is the diesel mechanic needs to make sure the engine oil pressure is up to specs because it is responsible for engine starting. If you have low oil pressure for whatever reason you will experience a hard starting or no start condition. We have since returned this bus into service and it's running nicely. The total cost of the in-frame was much less a complete rebuild on a non wet cylinder diesel engine. The fact that everything can be performed in-frame saves a LOT of time and money. One of the disadvantages of running an engine with removable cylinders is they are not part of the block and can move against the sealing o-rings around the liners. If a Mechanic has to rebuild a DT 466 diesel engine once in it's lifetime after hundreds of thousands of miles, I would say that engine definitely paid for itself.

International Diesel Engine Rebuild Installing Liners

In the past International DT466 Diesel Engines used 2 orings to seal the liner in the block. Here is the upgrade with the one seal. You notice we're using Lubriplate grease to pre-lube the seal. You can also use cooking oil which International recommends, all the Mechanics (myself included) in our shop swear by Lubriplate and it has never failed us.

Installing the liner is the next step.It's recommended to keep the liner seated firmly after installation as pictured here with metric fasteners and washers. The liner protrusion has to be checked as well to maintain a good seal surface for the head gasket. I hope this quick Mechanic information tidbit helped you out.

International DT466 Diesel Engine Rebuild Cylinder Liner Seals

International DT466 Diesel Engine Rebuild Update
The next step after removing the head is pulling out the pistons. Once the rod caps are removed they can be pushed up through the cylinder liner and out. Light tapping with a wood drift works as well. The cylinder numbers will be stamped on the connecting rod caps. If there was a thick build up of carbon at the top of the liner, that needs to be removed for the piston rings to pass by easily.

The liners are going to be replaced anyways so you don't need to be gentle removing them. You need a liner puller for this job because of the o-ring seals that have been press fit against the engine block for many years, they require a good pull to jar them loose. (for those of you who have never used a liner puller) The 2 short feet rest on top of the block while the long arms hook onto the bottom edge of the liner. A socket and wrench is used on the top nut and the liner is easily wound out of the block.

Having removable liners for the DT 466 E Diesel Engines makes the in-frame a very cost effective process. We paid around 1500.00 for the "Works Kit" from the International dealer. That's a cheap rebuild! There is no engine removal and that saves a ton of  labor.

Once the liners are removed it's time to do the cleanup on the block deck and engine liner bores. While you're doing this keep an eye out for anything unusual like wear on the block surface or cracks in the casting etc. DT 466 Diesel Engines are bullet proof so the chances are slim to none there will be a problem.

Here's the bad liner or should I say the bad o-ring. We had a full crankcase of sludge, with a gravity feed from the block coolant supply. So the first thing to check if you are losing a lot of coolant is pull the dipstick and check for a sludge build up in the oil.

The new liners have been upgraded with only one o-ring compared to the original 2 seen here. This is the only disadvantage of  running wet liners but this type of failure is not overly common, especially with this engine having under 100,000 miles.

If you are a Mechanic you want to make sure to check on recent Technical Service Bulletins on these DT Diesel Engines . We found one that brought our attention to the new style liner seal and to use a vegetable oil to lubricate the seals. They also need to have retention hold downs after installation to keep them seated in the block.

DT466 International Diesel Engine In-Frame

After removing the radiator assembly from our International DT466 Diesel Engine and then the oil pan that was required to check for leaking liners, The next step is to remove the cylinder head. The head will be sent out for inspection at a local machine shop, the head will be put into a hot tank so all the fittings and plugs have to be removed . The machine shop will do a full service which includes a magniflux  to check for any cracks and a valve / valve seat grind to true up everything back to new. The turbocharger will be rebuilt and injectors  sent to a  fuel injection shop for flushing and bench testing to check for proper operation. These are necessary steps for a Diesel Mechanic to ensure a healthy start up after assembly.

DT 466 International Diesel Engine In-Frame - Removing Radiator Assembly.

The International DT 466E  Diesel Engine that's running in a school bus is more accessible by first removing the hood as in the previous post. The Mechanic does not need to be standing on his head to dis-assemble everything.

The radiator assembly comes out as a unit. You can see from the photo these models have a split radiator and charge air cooler. You might think half of a normal radiator might cause a problem but we have not experienced anything major besides deterioration over time of the radiator core. Usually they cannot be repaired and a complete unit needs to be installed in case of any failure. This radiator had been replaced not too long ago so all a Mechanic has to do is remove the radiator and send it out to be flushed and checked at a radiator shop.

Thinking ahead is a good practice for any Mechanic performing a major overhaul like this one. The radiator, turbo, oil cooler, water pump, charge air cooler and cylinder head all needs to be inspected carefully right away and either sent out or repaired which ever is the most practical. Stand by for more Mechanic Information on our in-house DT 466 International Diesel Engine Rebuild. 

DT 466 Diesel Engine In Frame Rebuild.

One of our International DT466 diesel engines had an incident a few days ago. It over heated and shut down, after discovering coolant in the crankcase the only conclusion was to remove the oil pan and inspect it further. This is an electronic 2001 model but the mechanical principles still remain the same. They have wet liners which are sealed by o-rings keeping the coolant seperated from the crankcase.

After removing the oil pan and pressurizing the cooling system the problem was obvious. One liner had failed o-rings which caused the coolant leakage problem from the beginning. This will require an in-frame rebuild. I am going to document this procedure step by step so you can see the inner workings of the DT 466 Diesel Engine.

DT466 Engines Die Hard

The DT466 Engine has come a long way from the Mechanical injection systems to today's electronic versions. They started like clockwork in cold weather and reminded me of the Duracell Bunny you see in commercials. The video below is a typical cold start scenario and these engines don't take long to get going even in 20 degree weather.

A good set of 800 CCA batteries will get you going in any kind of weather. The DT466 electronic engines are much harder to start in the cold because of the high pressure oil required to run the injectors which are hydraulically actuated. So thick oil has enough resistance to hold back one of these models from firing up.

Plugging them in is essential (as with any diesel engine) and even throwing in an oil pan heater is a great help. I found a magnetic oil pan heater that gets up to 200 degrees and makes quite a difference with cold starts.

I found from experience that when the engine starts to fire but still struggles to give it a short rest before cranking it over again. The Delco starter (most likely a 37 MT Model)is earning it's keep in this type of weather, you can only imagine the amount of load it's going through. What a machine!



Please leave a Comment!