Long day...Radiator removal

[RICHIE1987]

Long over due.
2002 Revolution rear rad

[RICHIE1987]

Freightliner xc chassis

[BigLar368]

I have seen my fair share of bad radiators but that one takes the cake. No way it's not going to run cooler now.

[marjoa]

Great pic's.

WOW.

We own a gas rig so my knowledge of DP rad's is very limited. So just for my own knowledge, in a rear rad DP, how many rad elements are there? In other words what am I actually looking at in your pictures?

Did you do this by yourself or did you have a helper?

BTW...are you going back to OEM type new rad's or something else?

[leadman]

Used to see the fins eaten away like that when I worked as a mechanic in Michigan, never in Arizona. The Florida salt air looks like it does the same thing as the road salt in Mi.
Lots of area plugged up also. Bet it is pricey for a new one but should solve any overheat issues I think.

[FIRE UP]

Richie,
Well Sir, you've joined the crowd of the infamous diesel rear radiator r & r. Welcome. I and a few others on here have done the same exact operation. Now, about 98% of us, didn't see what you see, a deteriorated set of fins. Mostly, all of ours were just simply plugged. And, no amount of goofing around with garden hoses and simple green or 409 or any other chemical was gonna touch ours. IT had to be removed.

Long story short, when I got mine out and analyzed it thoroughly, I was in need of a new radiator. So, I opted for the Copper/Brass version of the same exact radiator. The original Freightliner version was gonna be right at $1,750 and, it was gonna take over 3 weeks to get. The copper/brass one was delivered the very next day and, it was only $1,200.

I was assured that it would cool every bit as good as the aluminum/plastic one I replaced. And, he (the shop foreman) was absolutely correct. That radiator's been in there now for well over 6.5 years and it works flawlessly.

So, just some info for ya when you go on the hunt for a new radiator. Good luck.
Scott

[Dav L]

A good powerwashing would have helped that radiator immensely.

[leadman]

The only thing a power washing would do is reduce the weight and making it worth less at the scrap yard.
Once the fins start coming loose from the tubes it is junk. No heat transfer.

When I worked on the garbage trucks for Phoenix we had some radiators in the Volvo-White trucks that had offset tubes. These plugged up very easily with grass and weeds from picking up trash in the alleys. We finally developed a method to clean them without removing them.
We would take off the grill, put a rod on the throttle to run the engine about 1,500 rpm and then spray the steam cleaner soap into the radiator with a siphon gun. Then shut the engine off and let it set for a bit, then run the engine up again and spray the garden hose into the radiator until the radiator was unplugged.
On the really plugged radiators we would have to take the a/c condenser off.
As they aged we replaced the radiators with tubes that were aligned front to back. Problem solved.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Noticed you are kinda new on IRV2 and wanted to say hello!

I wouldn't want to tackle that job!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Dutch Star Don]

For those with a Freightliner rear radiator, take a good look at the OP's radiator. Click on the photo and make it larger. It has damage/corroded fins which is kind of unusual, but look closer at the clogged fins, (Second post, photo number 2). This is what I like to call hair growing on the radiator. When you inspect a typical Freightliner rear radiator, you have to lift the bed and look down to see the radiator, and charge air cooler, one stacked in front of the other, about four inches apart. When you look between them, you'll see that exact debris in photo two building up. It looks like hair growing on the radiator. If it's not too bad, a couple hours of spraying with Dawn and flushing can get it clean. If it's really bad, you'll have to pull it.

You often read threads by many with the sandwiched together rear radiators that their coaches run normally on flat ground and heat up when climbing. Now you know why!

My Monaco Diplomat arranged their rear radiators differently. The radiator was on the bottom and the charge cooler was stacked on top. It was much easier to clean and flush that assembly, which I did every year as part of my servicing.

[153stars]

While working at equipment rental,we had a radiator shop I was mentored in, about the time they came out with aluminium rads that were usually swapped for copper.In the salt belt too. This is by far the worst rad I have ever seen. I'm glad it was found before you did damage or were stranded.

[RICHIE1987]

.new rad.

[RICHIE1987]

I purchased a new all aluminum radiator from Amazon...
It was $547.00
Had the inter-cooler cleaned and pressure tested $100.00
sandblasted the radiator cage $70.00
new belt tensioner $ 125.00
new t-stat $45.00
New fan blades $145.00
OAT coolant $100.00
2 Belts $60.00
new rad hoses $55.00
new rad overflow bottle $130.00

Labor was me...free

So for around $1250.00 i did it all alone.

[Mtn. Lion]

That new rad looks as good as all the money you are saving doing the work yourself.