The top two killers of engines are a lack of oil and a lack of coolant.  Developing a regular pattern of checking the water and oil will save you thousands of dollars in the long run and is the safest way to protect your engine.  Creating a pattern of checking the oil every time you fuel the truck can point to problems where you’re losing oil or perhaps where oil and water is getting mixed before it becomes a major problem.  We don’t think it’s too harsh to say that if you are the driver of the vehicle, you are responsible for checking the oil and water.

The number one killer of engines is a lack of oil resulting in low oil pressure.  Oil is used to lubricate and cool the engine internally.  Without oil pressure, your engine can incur major damage and ruin an engine in less than five minutes.  Rule of Thumb:  Everytime you fill up with fuel, take the time to check your oil & make sure it’s up. 

The number two killer of engines is a lack of coolant.  Coolant usually comes in the form of a 50/50 antifreeze/water solution.  You can buy it premixed or mix it yourself.  The coolant level is very important.  It’s important not to trust the coolant reservoir level to give you an accurate reading of the coolant that is in the engine system.  Here is why:  once a leak develops in your coolant system, the system cannot create a vacuum anymore and suck water out of the reservoir & into the system, thus your reservoir level will show normal, but you will have no water in the coolant system. 

The safest and best way to check your coolant level on imported mid range trucks such as Mitsubishi Fuso, Isuzu, UD and the GM W-Series is to flip the cab up in the morning before you crank up, while the ENGINE IS STILL COOL, crack the radiator cap slowly and make sure that the coolant level is full at the point of the radiator cap.  In some of the new trucks, the radiator cap is placed on top of the thermostat housing which is right on top of the engine, but it still looks like a regular radiator cap.  Once it develops a pinhole leak anywhere in the coolant system, it won’t suck antifreeze out of the reservoir jug; the jug will show full, but the system will be lacking causing serious damage to your engine.

Click on the links below for helpful how-to videos.

Busbees How-To Video for Checking Oil and Water on a Mitsubishi Fuso.

Busbee’s How-To Video for Checking Oil and Water on an Isuzu NPR, GM W-Series.