Rear radiator/CAC DP- Cost to have cleaned

[HavingABlast]

Originally Posted by PantherJeep

An 11-month-old coach will not have a slobber tube. Those are a thing of the past, replaced by a filter that traps engine blow-by and gets replaced periodically.

As a fellow SoCal owner, might I ask where you have found to get the cooling stack washed? My coach has 19k miles, and although its CAC looks clean, I think I still want to make sure there's no gunk hiding between the coolers.

Re:slobber tube...That is excellent news!!! For the life of me I couldn't figure out why this known slobber issue hadn't yielded some better engineering by Cummins. The peanut butter jar catch all, although effective, just seemed a bit "MacGiver'ish".

[TimH5410]

Originally Posted by HavingABlast

What is the approximate cost to have Freightliner or Cummins clean the exterior of the radiator/CAC unit? Is steam cleaning better than Simple Green Extreme.

Where we live (Southern California) you can't discharge water (or wash your car for that matter) in the street. That pretty much leaves it to taking it to a shop to get it done.

Have a 2005 Fleetwood Expedition with a Cat C7. Started having high engine temp issues shortly after making the grievous error of driving 10-12 miles of dirt roads in northern MN (thanks Google Maps- since when is it ok to choose routes with dirt roads?!??)
We are full timers, so finding a place to DIY this task with garden sprayers full of Simple Green and hours of power washing in the middle of a National Park in South Dakota was out of the question. Found a Freightliner shop 60 miles away to steam clean the radiator. They went at it hard for almost 45 minutes until it ran clear. Cost $479. Seemed kinda steep, but what are you gonna do with limited options. Could tell immediately as I drove back to the campground that it did the trick. Temp gauge never got to the halfway mark, even on the harder climbs. So, not cheap, but it’s fixed. Moving on.

[bpu699]

Originally Posted by TimH5410

Have a 2005 Fleetwood Expedition with a Cat C7. Started having high engine temp issues shortly after making the grievous error of driving 10-12 miles of dirt roads in northern MN (thanks Google Maps- since when is it ok to choose routes with dirt roads?!??)
We are full timers, so finding a place to DIY this task with garden sprayers full of Simple Green and hours of power washing in the middle of a National Park in South Dakota was out of the question. Found a Freightliner shop 60 miles away to steam clean the radiator. They went at it hard for almost 45 minutes until it ran clear. Cost $479. Seemed kinda steep, but what are you gonna do with limited options. Could tell immediately as I drove back to the campground that it did the trick. Temp gauge never got to the halfway mark, even on the harder climbs. So, not cheap, but it’s fixed. Moving on.

Did they just access it from below, or from inside?

Very hard to clean either way as the fan is in the way...

[ArtJoyce]

Originally Posted by HavingABlast

So...for those of you with a rear radiator...did you pop the hatch in the bathroom to rinse the simple green out of the CAC, or did you go at it from underneath the coach?

I did it from under and behind. The CAC is alumumin you should use extream simple green which is safe on alumumin.

[150man]

I think Blue Becon or other truck washes will do it

[TimH5410]

Yeah one of the best things about the steam cleaning is it was ALL done from the exterior. They did not go inside the coach and open the engine panel at all. And yet the cleaning was VERY effective. Dramatic improvement in engine cooling performance our first full day on the road after the cleaning- with a full load of fuel and the tow vehicle once again in tow.
Having pulled the engine cover myself, I’m very skeptical as to how anybody can clean much of anything from inside. The shroud and fan blade pretty much cover the entire radiator and intercooler. And I’d be really hesitant to run the engine while trying to spray any cleaning agent or water into the fan as I can only envision the entire oily mess blowing all over the bedroom walls, ceiling, carpet, bedding etc.

Then I’d really have a mess on my hands. And most likely a divorce to boot.

Nope. Sorry hard core DIYers- Even with a hefty price tag, I would only ever consider the exterior steam cleaning route from here on out.

Although I do appreciate the tip about the truck washes- would definitely check with them as I’m sure they could do it WAY cheaper than a Freightliner shop if they offer the service. Don’t need to be paying the fully loaded hourly rate of a trained diesel mechanic for a junior tech to run a steam pressure washer. ;-).

[RoadTrip2084]

Originally Posted by TimH5410

Found a Freightliner shop 60 miles away to steam clean the radiator. They went at it hard for almost 45 minutes until it ran clear. Cost $479. Seemed kinda steep, but what are you gonna do with limited options.

I'm glad this solved your problem but no shop + materials rate on earth can justify that expense for 45 mins work. I would be placing a call to Freightliner corporate and lodging a complaint. That is ridiculous.

[TimH5410]

Originally Posted by RoadTrip2084

I'm glad this solved your problem but no shop + materials rate on earth can justify that expense for 45 mins work. I would be placing a call to Freightliner corporate and lodging a complaint. That is ridiculous.

Lol. Haven’t you heard? We live in the post pandemic world of run away inflation with no rules and no such thing as customer service.

I have yet to pay less than $400 for anybody to touch my rig for just about any reason- coach or chassis, doesn’t matter.

Everybody is “short staffed”, suffering endless “supply chain issues” and having to “pass along higher costs” for goods, services and materials.

All “due to the pandemic”, of course.
The new universal excuse for terrible customer service.

As for calling anybody anywhere to lodge a complaint? Good luck. Chances of ever reaching a human being are about 1 in 100.
Chances of reaching a human being who gives a cr#p about you or your problem are about zero. Freightliner couldn’t care less about me or what I paid for work on my rig.

Sorry, I don’t disagree with you, but I’ve dealt with enough service entities in the past couple of years to know that all the escalation in the world isn’t going to get me back any of my $479, it’s just going to cost me hours of frustration and aggravation beating my head against a totally uncaring and unforgiving wall of customer (non) service.

[OregonTravel]

Ok, as a relative newbie to diesel pusher motor homes, I’ll bite

What is a CAC?
And what is a slobber tube?

Do I have these on my 2006 Ventana, Freightliner, Cat C7?

Thanks
David