Community Forums

raci17 · 12-10-2006, 04:27 AM

Wayne,
The factory said they had quite a few left over copper radiators after updating to the aluminum. The copper one's the factory has are not exact replacements. Max's Radiator in Portland Or. is the company that is making the replacements for the aluminum but he is making them out of copper. The # is 800-835-3456 but hang on to your wallet.

Richard and Cris · 12-10-2006, 01:46 PM

Anyone know when Western started using epoxied aluminum radiators?

Wayne R · 12-10-2006, 02:14 PM

My guess would be sometime in the 05 model year. Mine was competed in August of 04 and obviously had the new style radiator.

Audrey & John · 12-10-2006, 04:21 PM

Wayne - your unit was built in '04, right? Because ours was built in Feb/Mar of '05 and we have an '06 model.

Audrey

Wayne R · 12-10-2006, 06:38 PM

Yes it was! Wouldn't it be nice if they would reset the clock to reflect reality! (I was a little slow catching the typo on my last post)

Audrey & John · 12-11-2006, 07:20 AM

Well, we didn't think the radiator was leaking that bad. But this morning when we went to Cummins Rocky Mountain in Albuquerque NM it looks like it's worse. It didn't leak when we first got here, but after sitting for about an hour it looks like almost a cup dripped out!!

We're now worried about driving the 600 miles back to central TX plus we don't know who we would go to to do the work there.

I think this leak has something to do with cold weather!!! We traveled to New Mexico on 11/30, and that was the first time we noticed any leaks at all, it's also the first time we've been in the teens overnight.

We're currently waiting to hear whether our radiator is still under warranty (we don't know if ours is 1 year or 2 year). Initially Dave at WRV said 4 to 6 weeks to get a replacement radiator. We've also asked about whether they have any of the older copper core radiators around.

Cummins here in Albuquerque is prepared to do the work, and we already know and like these guys. They seem like a really thorough and professional outfit and we like the service supervisor (who personally came out and looked at our problems). We've dealt with him before.

So, we're considering sticking around here for as long as it takes - arrrgh!!! Maybe we can somehow get parts sooner.

The only good thing in all of this is that we really like Albuquerque (even though it's pretty cold here this time of year).

Audrey

raci17 · 12-11-2006, 07:32 AM

Audrey & John,
If you decide to use the factory's copper radiator be sure and have them send the fan shroud with it.

Wayne R · 12-11-2006, 09:15 AM

raci17,
How would I tell if they replaced my radiator with the copper unit or stock aluminum one? I found it curios that the shroud and all the attaching hardware were replaced when they did the work.

PS: I checked the end tank with a magnet and it did not stick so that tells me it is probably aluminum.

Rick Coleman · 12-11-2006, 11:07 AM

I have an '05 built in Oct. of '04. I just noticed a small 6"-8" diameter slick just aft of the left rear wheel that I hadn't seen before. It seems to be some sort of engine etc. fluid. Coach has been parked about 5 weeks, but I start it every couple of weeks and let it fast idle about 10-15 min. Coach has only about 2500 mi. on it. I had been guessing it was some sort of hydraulic fluid, but based on this discussion it could be coolant. I crawled under the area of the slick and couldn't see anything obvious. Where exactly should I be looking for telltale signs?

Thanks

Wayne R · 12-11-2006, 11:35 AM

Mine looked just like the picture of Audrey and John's. It could also show up below the front end cap.

Audrey & John · 12-11-2006, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rick Coleman:
Where exactly should I be looking for telltale signs?

Thanks

If it's green, it's coolant. The green is pretty obvious. If it's clear - harder to tell.

Audrey

Audrey & John · 12-12-2006, 10:13 AM

WRV got back to us today. Our radiator was only warranted for one year, so we are on our own and WRV recommends we work with a radiator shop to have ours replaced.

WRV does not have any radiators in stock, and the older copper core radiators are no longer available.

John called Radiator Specialties (the manufacturer of the Alpine Coach radiator) to verify warranty information and they informed us that the warranty time period is an agreement between them and the coach manufacturer, not a standard time period.

Cummins Rocky Mountain here in Albuquerque is going to work with some of their local radiator places to see if they can find a replacement. We hope to find something more durable.

Audrey

SteveS · 12-12-2006, 12:47 PM

If your radiator is not on warranty you may be interested in trying a radaiator stop leak. I have successfully used Bars stop leak in the past. Once I put enough in to stop the leak, it lasted for many years, at least until after I sold the coach...which was about 5 years after I put it in. My guess is it never leaked again.

Wayne R · 12-13-2006, 07:48 AM

Audrey and John,
Keep us informed on how this saga ends. Did you get any input as to why we are seeing such an alarming failure rate? At least it is alarming to me.