C-12 Cat PM questions?

[4GIVEN]

I was just wondering what all the basics were when doing the PM's? Things like how often to change the oil and filters. Are there any additives that are good to put in? I have an International 9200 daycab with the Cat C-12 and just had a full rebuild done and its time for a PM I think. Are there books on these engines? I'd like to know how much oil goes in them and how to fix and repair things. Are there certain tools I will need? How about changing the fuel filter- I have this knob above the fuel filter, what the heck does that do? Do you ever change the trans fluid, if so, what do you fill them back up with? Also I would like to change out my rear gears from 4:10's to maybe to 3:73, How hard is that to do for a newbie. I know how to work on cars but not trucks. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Guys and Gals!!

[Kranky]

The C12 Cat's in the fleet where I work get an oil & filter change every 300 engine hours. They are in dump trucks, so mileage would not be an effective measurement for service intervals.

In road tractor use I believe the interval is 8500 miles, but it would be best to check with a Cat dealer to make sure.

We sample the oil at every change, and also change fuel filters at that time.

That knob above the fuel filter is a priming pump. After you change the fuel filter you unscrew that knob and pump it in & out to re prime the fuel system before starting the engine. Pump it until resistance is felt, then push the knob in and screw it down to lock it again.

We sample our trans & diff lube yearly, if a report shows it is out of spec it gets drained & refilled at that point, otherwise if reports come back normal, the trans & diff lube gets changed every 200,000 miles.

Our trucks have Eaton Fuller transmissions which use 50W synthetic gear lube, and Meritor diffs which use 75W90 synthetic gear lube.

Changing your diffs isn't hard, just be sure you've got all the necessary tools.

[4GIVEN]

Awesome, thanks for the great info.