Community Forums

Lindenberg · 05-28-2009, 12:54 PM

The foam/foil insulation is starting to degrade above the turbocharger. The foam looks OK but the foil is missing. Tonight I'm leaving for a weekend trip to Big Bear, Ca. and have mounted a thermal couple in the area where the foam is missing directly above the turbocharger. I'm going to record the temperature while driving on the freeway, while climbing the hills and after shutting down the engine in the campground. My guess is the temperature will be the highest after stopping because there is not any air flow. I'll post my results this weekend.

The reason I'm doing this is because the different products available to fix the missing foil all have a maximum temperature rating and I want to be certain go get something that will withstand the heat.

EngineerMike · 05-28-2009, 02:16 PM

Tom- how many miles on your rig?
I've found that in the summer, the bed is too hot to sleep for a coupla hours after engine shutdown. In the winter, the bed is wonderfully toasty for a coupla hours after engine shutdown.

Never thought to measure the temp in the engine bay, but did think maybe a fan for circulation to cool down the compartment & bed in the summer. And when we make a long run late in a summer day, I open the engine hatch right after stopping to help defray excess calories via gravity convection. A fan would sure be a lot better.

Lindenberg · 05-28-2009, 03:29 PM

I have about 52,000 miles on my 2000. Once I park I'll monitor the temperature for a little bit then open the rear engine access panel to see if the temperature drops at a quicker rate.

Rich and Cork · 05-28-2009, 06:15 PM

....another engineer anxiously awaiting the data dump. Neat idea.

Lindenberg · 05-28-2009, 11:27 PM

The results are in. The temperature probe was located above the turbocharger, one inch below the lid that the bed sits on.

15 minutes of freeway driving the temperature was 110 degrees Fahrenheit and the ambient temperature was 80 degrees.

Half way up to Big Bear the temperature was 145 degrees.

Shutdown at campground the temp stayed at 145 degrees.

After an hour the temperature came down to 133 degrees.

Opened the rear engine access door and the temp dropped much quicker to 98 degrees.

I saw some adhesive backed foil tape at Home Depot for wrapping heater ducts. It is rated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit so is should work well to patch the areas above the turbocharger where the foil is missing.

Rich and Cork · 05-29-2009, 08:01 AM

Thanks for running the test. Good data.

NorCal Hal · 06-04-2009, 05:17 PM

I posted on this subject once before. On our 2006 the engine compartment got so hot the carpet material under the mattress and along the rear wall is blackened, the adhesive melted on the carpet along the driver's side of the bed pedestal with the carpet falling off. Before I closed off the hole between the engine and battery compartments I use to get battery overtemp messages. I have never had an engine overheat condition.

After WRV sent me more insulation material to replace what was damaged by the turbo hose failure I secured some of old insulation along the extreme aft edge of the pedestal from below.

But in hot weather I open the rear engine access door and DRIVE with it open. I have considered posting a sign back there for the nice concerned people that honk and point to let me know that my engine is about the fall out.

Several members have looked into either replacing the engine access door with a louvered door or having a louvered vent installed in a cutout in the access door. As with most things a stainless vent, which would look nice, is quite expensive.

I also drive with the probe of an indoor/outdoor thermometer under the bed.

Harold

OldForester · 06-04-2009, 10:07 PM

NorCal:

This is interesting. We have the same coach; same year, and looks like the same color. Our engine compartment gets hot and I raise the engine cover and open the side access when we're stopped on a warm day and the engine's hot. But I have not had the issues you have had with adhesive loosing and carpeting turning black. I didn't see your old post. Did you lose insulation in the area of the turbocharger previously? Or what else would you attribute to that getting hot enough to do this damage, because we sure have not had that issue in our 37,000 miles?

takepride · 06-04-2009, 11:50 PM

Harold:

You could upgrade the insulating material in the engine compartment to Dynamat. It's a bit pricey, but it really works. It almost sounds like your repair was not complete and something is still uninsulated.

A few people have complained about the heat and made some extra insulation solutions, but I don't recall their problem being quite as bad as yours.

Did your turbo hose repair cause more problems? Do you have an exhaust leak?

NorCal Hal · 06-05-2009, 03:13 PM

The bed has ALWAYS gotten hot. As EM-Mike said "Feels great in the winter but a little too much in the summer".

I don't have any turbo leaks now but when the turbo hose got a finger size hole it added a whole new dimension to the problem. First it abraided a hole in the side insulation and most likely caused the adhesive holding the side carpet to soften and ultimately fail.

During one of our visits to Cummins Yakima I had them adjust the turbo innercooler crossover pipe (I think that's what it's called) so it didn't touch on the insulation.

We have 40,000 miles on the 06 now and, other than the driver's side of the bed getting to warm to comfortably sleep, we haven't had any other issues in the last year or so.

I intend to keep an eye on the temps with the indoor/outdoor thermometer which records the max / min setting.

Harold