Question about thermodyne transmissions

[Vladislav]

Water manifold on your engine (as I expect by the look of the engine) must be a very common part used on many Mack engines of 70's, 80's, 90's and even 2000's years. It's cast iron, consists of two portions, front and rear. I may be having some extras besides my personal needs but you may be lucky finding it in your home country too. Very similar manifolds (or even the same) were used on E7 and E-tech Mack engines mounted on Renault Magnum trucks. Yes, similarity of some Mack engine parts spreads from late 30's up to 2000's years!

But also depending on the kind of the issue with the manifold it could be fixed. If there's a crack it can be cooper-soldered or welded or just epoxy-glued for some limited service time (a decade or two )

[mowerman]

Well, there’s plenty of parts around for those things. Good luck.

[mowerman]

Meant used engine parts lots of them 

[mrsmackpaul]

On 2/7/2026 at 12:44 AM, Brocky said:

The Mack engineers designed the complete power train to accept the heaviest (and overweight) loads that a customer could put on the truck. As a hobby truck, bobtailing or with a light load of toys, this usage of the entire available power train is not necessary. I would first determine what YOU are going to use the truck for?? If NO heavy work is planned, you can play with the present duplex and enjoy yourself, with out going to the work and expense of swapping transmissions.

My brother bought a ex Australian Army Mack, 285 Maxidyne 5 speed

Anyway, bro bought this truck and reckoned a 5 speed was no good and needed extra gears like a 12 speed

I said 2 him, just let it lug, and when you wanna change a gear don't, let it lug a lot more  

Once you've done this for 6 months, see if you really want a 12 speed 

That was a few years ago now and the 5 speed is still there 

My point is just get it going, drive it for a while and then see what you think

 

Paul 

[Mack guy Ata]

Thank you Vladsilav. Here is a photo of it I hope this type of manifold is what you are talking about. I havent had any luck yet but good to know other macks used this part. Sorry for my late reply I didnt know these chats had a 2nd page just found out. 

- Mowerman if you know anyone that sells used b series parts would be a great help I havent had any luck yet.

- mrsmackpaul Yeah after talking with people on this forum ı came to the same conclusion. Im going to drive the 9 speed and see if it meets my expectations 

[mowerman]

Your best luck is going to be from the guys in the northeast. That’s where most of them are. Good luck.

[Brocky]

1 hour ago, mowerman said:

Your best luck is going to be from the guys in the northeast. That’s where most of them are. Good luck.

Bob means the Northeast of the USA. Since you are in Turkey, I have no idea of tariffs, import regulations, or shipping?? You might be better off going thru Vlad in Moscow or one of his Dutch contacts in the Netherlands????

[mowerman]

Oooooooooohhhh hell I forgot all about that… and yes vlad would be a much better choice Genius Robert lol 

[mechohaulic]

5 hours ago, Mack guy Ata said:

Thank you Vladsilav. Here is a photo of it I hope this type of manifold is what you are talking about. I havent had any luck yet but good to know other macks used this part. Sorry for my late reply I didnt know these chats had a 2nd page just found out. 

- Mowerman if you know anyone that sells used b series parts would be a great help I havent had any luck yet.

- mrsmackpaul Yeah after talking with people on this forum ı came to the same conclusion. Im going to drive the 9 speed and see if it meets my expectations 

question is :: what's wrong with the water manifold ???? pin holes / cracked???  top half missing ??? little corrosion can be cleaned up . being aluminum; extreme care in the clean up. emory on piece of flat stock to clean off top mating surface and keep it flat. small file by hand clean inner surface thermo sits in. wire wheel on drill faster : but can also disform the alum surfaces.

[Vladislav]

11 hours ago, Mack guy Ata said:

Thank you Vladsilav. Here is a photo of it I hope this type of manifold is what you are talking about. I havent had any luck yet but good to know other macks used this part. Sorry for my late reply I didnt know these chats had a 2nd page just found out. 

- Mowerman if you know anyone that sells used b series parts would be a great help I havent had any luck yet.

- mrsmackpaul Yeah after talking with people on this forum ı came to the same conclusion. Im going to drive the 9 speed and see if it meets my expectations 

As the guys said above, what's wrong with the existing manifold?

I don't have the similar part. Those I have have different thermostat housing arrangement. That housing bolts at the front end of the manifold housing. You have horizontal flange for the thermostat cover and those had it vertical. I guess that later part could be adapted to your engine but it would be labour consuming and look unoriginal. So I'd first check out possibilities to fix what you have. 

 

[Mack guy Ata]

Here is a little update. Manifold was cracked and welders I asked said they don’t want to touch it but found someone who told me they can take care of it make it like new. I didnt try to weld it my self im not a good welder I would trust a piece of gum before i trust my welds hahahah. Now all I need is the thermostat previous owner removed it and never put in a new one. Do you guys know if there are compatible thermostats from different trucks. 

Also right now its almost impossible to import something from Russia to Turkey. In general Turkish customs is hell there is just insane tax and nonsense rules. But most parts I can import its expensive but not impossible.

[Mack guy Ata]

Also my truck has radiator shutters is it possible that it never had a thermostat and relied on the shutters for warming up 

[mowerman]

Excellent on the manafold  yes you need a thermostat it looks like a flying saucer I would try watts B model store first they Raleys truck parts both over here in United States sorry about your duties and taxes good luck … i have 3 welders and I’m not very good at it either but aluminum is a different story… takes special talents 

[Geoff Weeks]

1 hour ago, Mack guy Ata said:

Also my truck has radiator shutters is it possible that it never had a thermostat and relied on the shutters for warming up 

You really need both. It will not get to temp with just shutters, especially if you are not loading the engine hard. 

[Mack guy Ata]

Thank you Geoff Weeks good to know i will get back in to my search for a thermostat 

[mechohaulic]

3 hours ago, Mack guy Ata said:

Here is a little update. Manifold was cracked and welders I asked said they don’t want to touch it but found someone who told me they can take care of it make it like new. I didnt try to weld it my self im not a good welder I would trust a piece of gum before i trust my welds hahahah. Now all I need is the thermostat previous owner removed it and never put in a new one. Do you guys know if there are compatible thermostats from different trucks. 

Also right now its almost impossible to import something from Russia to Turkey. In general Turkish customs is hell there is just insane tax and nonsense rules. But most parts I can import its expensive but not impossible.

welding alum is a talent in itself ; dirty alum can be a total challenge. stick rod alum a real Pain. wire feed is fun when mastered.

[mechohaulic]

1 hour ago, Geoff Weeks said:

You really need both. It will not get to temp with just shutters, especially if you are not loading the engine hard. 

did you check the picture showing the thermo housing ; the shutterstat is disconnected???? seems there is more to this coolant system then I think we are aware of. by the corrosion in housing (which had a crack) shutters disconnected = meaning full time open ???? if top of thermo housing is there . for me it would be clean up assemble, fill with diluted water =some conditioner not straight water . run system see what you have. leaks ??? signs of coolant in oil??? not sure of weather conditions in turkey where truck is located ++hot-cold=humid ??

[terry]

3 hours ago, Mack guy Ata said:

Also my truck has radiator shutters is it possible that it never had a thermostat and relied on the shutters for warming up 

Engine thermostat should be about ten or fifteen degrees cooler than the shutterstat so it opens first, then the shutters open when really working it.  terry

Edited 2 hours ago by terry

[Geoff Weeks]

18 minutes ago, mechohaulic said:

did you check the picture showing the thermo housing ; the shutterstat is disconnected????

Yeah, and the bolts to the head are out. What I was responding to was his question as to whether he needed both a T stat and shutters or would shutters alone be enough. That is what my answer pertained to. 

10 deg difference between shutterstat and thermostat is what is callled for if the shutterstat is in the upper waterrail or top tank. For shutters that are controlled by the lower tank temp, the shutter stat should be the same as the engine thermostat setting. 

The idea is: the thermostat should be full open before the shutters start to open.