Removal of Engine Radiator

[encantotom]

hi all,

i was talking to wally about getting the radiator redone and he has a 87 classic. he said it only had 4 bolts, the hoses and then he jacked the back of the coach up and pulled it down and out and took less than an hour.

he is different in the back than my 90, so i was wondering if any of you have taken the radiator out in a series 2000? if so, could you share how and how much work it was?

thanks

tom

[tuga]

Tom,

I had the radiator changed in my '93 Newell. It took the mechanics (2) about 6 hours to remove it. They had to drill out the rivets that held the fiberglass cover in place. Then remove the hoses (not sure if they had to remove the fan belts, I don't think so). Then next they unbolted the radiator itself. It has been about 8 years (2001) since it was done so maybe I am a little of on the time, but it was a pretty good job. It cost me $2300 for the new radiator and $1700 labor. It was done at a Detroit Diesel dealer which I am sure accounted for some of the high cost. The local radiator shops didn't want to touch it because it was a "motorhome".

If I remember right, that puppy was heavy!

[chockwald]

The prior owner of my coach had the radiator removed and replaced 2 years ago at a total cost of around $4,000 (including labor). Had to use a forklift to lift it out....

[encantotom]

tuga,

why did you change the radiator?

my radiator is 2 inches narrower than michaels. newell said the bigger one was 4k dollars.

i just dont know if getting it redone would help the cooling any. alot of money to find out.

tom

[tuga]

Clarke,

They had to use a forklift to remove mine also. That baby was big and heavy!

Tom,

It was running hot; about 200 to 210 on flat Louisiana roads in the summer. I figured a trip to the mountains, and I would be in trouble. When we removed it, the radiator shop "rodded it" and found that it was clogged. They recommended that I change it so I did.

After I changed it, the 8V92 ran at a cool 180 degrees. I also had the thermostats changed just in case they were full of gook!

What temps are you running?

[encantotom]

my coach runs 180-185 on flat surface, a little warmer when it is 110 degrees plus outside.

that said, once i start pulling a long grade, the temp pushes up significantly and i have to gear down to 2nd gear at 38mph to keep the fan going enough to keep the temp below 205.

from what i hear from talking to a number of you, that is that same thing that you have to do.

i called my radiator shop and they only want 150-200 bucks to remove the tanks and rod it and put it back together. so, if i could get it out easy enough, i would do that.

of course a new core is 700 dollars plus and it is possible to put one in with more cooling capacity.

i have also talked to a few that have put the desert misting system in to use on grades and they say it helps significantly. i have done stainless commerical misting system in my home myself and have all the stainless bending and cutting tools and a wholesale account for the parts so am thinking about doing that for fun. i have a 12v controlled water valve and i would tap off the main potable water tank to do it. probably put 6-8 heads around the inside of the radiator. i ran a couple of extra wires from the dash to the rear of the coach when i was redoing the inside so i can control it easy enough.

i might take my coach to the shop i use for major stuff and see what he would charge me to take ther radiator out and put it back in.

but, it is pretty low on my list since my coach seems to be operating like most everyone elses of my vintage and engine.

i use vmspc to monitor temps as my dash gauge is close to 20 degrees off at the higher temps.

thanks

tom

[tuga]

Tom,

If you are running those temps, IMO, you are fine. I wouldn't touch that radiator.

180-185 is normal and 205 on a grade is normal, IMO.

[chockwald]

Tom, your current temps sound normal to me. I run 180-185 on flats (a little higher when outside air temp is over 110!). Gets up to 205 on long climbs, but cools right down as soon I level off, or hit a decline. The misters sound like a good idea, though.

Have you had your coolant tested?

[encantotom]

i had the coolant changed recently and i have the test strips to test myself. i have a diesel pickup so i check it once in a while. i checked the coach not long ago and it was fine. i bought a bunch of the DD sca additive and gave michael a bottle when he was here.

tom

[fulltiming]

My SCA's tested OK but I was concerned since I had been adding coolant due to a leak. Found the leak while visiting Tom and fixed it (loose hose clamp near the engine on one of the supplemental water heating systems). Haven't lost any coolant on the last trip or during the past 6 weeks. Thanks for the SCA Tom.

[encantotom]

michael,

hey, if you had taken the rest of the junk out of my garage, that would have been great.....that little bottle didnt make much room.

tom

[Bill & Sonja]

Does anybody recall the coolant capacity of the 8v92? I can't seem to find it listed anywhere.

[encantotom]

i would have to go look at my receipts for service, but i believe it was in the 15-17 gallons range if i recall.

tom

[Richard and Rhonda]

Tom,

Do you have a leak, or just trying to get the most cooling capacity?

If it's just cooling efficiency, I would do this trick before I pulled the radiator. I would drain and SAVE the coolant. Run the standard radiator flush to chemically remove any scale on the inside tubes, refill with the old coolant (after checking SCA's and pH) and run a trial to see if it runs any cooler on a known grade.

I mentioned save the coolant, because if you don't like the results, and end up pulling the radiator any way, you won't have wasted 15 or so gallons of new coolant.

[Bill & Sonja]

Thanks Tom, that's just what I needed to know. I'm sure I'd be safe thinking under 20 gallons. By the way, we didn't get over toward Phoenix during the winter. We ended up going south from Vegas but hope to get over that way next trip.

[JohnC]

Tom,

I'm with Tuga on your temps being OK i.e. " coach runs 180-185 on flat surface, a little warmer when it is 110 degrees plus outside" .

My only question is: Why are you driving in 110 degrees temps? Life's short.... enjoy, not to mention 110 degrees is tough on everything including tires.

John

[encantotom]

hi john, the post was quite old. i am paranoid though since i had a head crack last year, but with the detroit scanner i have found out that the overheating had been from the previous owner and not paranoid me.

unless i am driving out of town, i dont use the coach in the summer. it just sits in my driveway.

i did put in a pyrometer and new senders with a digital cyberdyne temp gauge to get the temps off each bank of the 8v92.

tom

[chockwald]

Decided to "clean" my radiator two days ago. As you can imagine, the lighting inside the engine compartment is not great. In the past I have sprayed the inside and outside of the radiator with a mixture of simple green and water, let it sit for a few minutes and then spray it clean with a water hose. The inside of the radiator is what can get "gunked" up with a rear facing radiator. In the past when I was cleaning it I was not really "seeing" how dirty it was. Two days ago I finally saw how much gunk was there, and probably had remained there from my past attempts to clean it. The build up was mainly around on the outside of the fan circumference, and, therefore, harder to see. I had to take a putty knife and gently scrape off a 1/4 inch layer of gunk (most of which I think resulted from the exhaust leak I discovered after our Creede trip, and was never completely cleaned out). This would explain why I have been seeing temps runs hotter than normal when climbing (on the flat the temps were normal). I would estimate that the surface where air was able to pass through was reduced by about 40%!!! I then mixed in extremely hot water with the Simple Green and reapplied it several times before spraying off. Much better, but still some left, so I am going to buy some degreaser at Auto Zone and see if I can get the rest of the residue off.

[Wally Arntzen]

Clarke, if you can get to a bus or truck repair place most of them have a steamer which is the best way to clean the raidiaters. You may find some one other than the garage that has a steamer but it really does the job. I have mine done every year and your right that they will heat up when they get dirty.
Generally they do not charge to much to do it and it only takes 15-20 minutes to do it.
Good luck and happy travels.

[chockwald]

Thanks Wally!

[chockwald]

OK, so here's the report. Climbed from 800' elevation to 7,000' elevation in less than 40 miles. Temp never got above 188. Just sat in 3rd gear at 2100 RPM's going about 35mph. I am still going to have it steamed cleaned per Wally's recommendation, but couldn't line up anyone prior to leaving last Thursday. Apparently I got a lot of gunk out that was causing the problem just using Simple Green.