Likely a question for the Dutch Star forum but I would guess the setup is similar. Also, I assume your talking about a side radiator coach.
1) I like the hydraulic fans personally. I know some of the coaches have mechanical shafts, clutches and belts that cycle on and off which I am sure works fine.
2) You should look at it at a minimum annually. Have a shop do it if you can't or if your not confident in what you are seeing.
Other than leaks that are easily identified, dirt, oil or mechanical blockage (road debris like a potato chip bag or whatever stuck in there) you want to know about the condition of the cooling fins and water jackets. The fins tend to rot over time and eventually will eat into the water jackets.
A lot of DP radiators are steel or copper, some aluminum. The steel ones tend to corrode a bit more from what I have seen.
The cooling fan mounts are very important as well. Have the fan and mount system inspected carefully for cracks or major defects. It is a good system but, you do need to insure the integrity of the fan structure.
There are hydraulic hoses in there that at some point should be replaced. In my case, I replaced all of them in my 99 when I had it and it was a bit costly. I think it was roughly $1000 for the hoses which I installed myself during my radiator rebuild. The really costly hoses were the great big ones, you might have a different setup. The smaller hoses (less than an inch or so diameter) were cheap, maybe $300-$400 or so for the bulk of them.
3) Great idea to replace the cooling hoses. You do not need anything specific for DS to do this. The hoses are likely just various diameter, various length, various angle hoses available at NAPA or where ever. A truck shop would know exactly what to do there. That should not be costly other than labor.
As long as there are no major defects found I would suspect a flush to take a couple hours given setup, flush, inspect and refill.
Hose replacements would likely take another 2 hours or so, just guessing. Hydraulic hoses much more time because they will have to be removed, duplicated then reinstalled, hydraulics purged, refilled... I would guess 4-5 hours for that part.
Great idea on the heater hoses as well. Keep in mind, they are 40 feet long! I would suspect if they are bad it would be from the heat right back in the engine bay. You could likely have them splice in new hoses from the engine bay going forward till you get to good hose, maybe 10 feet or so. A bit tough to get in there but doable. Hoses should be standard heater hoses sold by the foot in bulk, $1.00 per foot or whatever.
4)Most Diesels need additives in the coolant and we are supposed to check it each 10,000 miles or annually at a minimum.
I assume your referring to SCA in the coolant?
Again, a diesel shop should know exactly what you need but you can check online with your Cummins engine model and see what they recommend. You can purchase coolant with our without it. There is a cooling system filter in the system that looks much like an oil filter, that can be purchased with the additives in it or without the additives. You don't want too much or too little. There is a range. The shop should know what to do there but it may be good to have the information for them to be safe.
5) Yes, you can blow and flush them out in place. To remove them is a big job!
Hope that helps.
Windecker
Quote:
Originally Posted by tommar
Been lurking here. I have a DS (signature below) and have a few questions:
1. Is a hydraulic fan the best type of fan to have and do I have one? (Think yes...)
2. My coach so far cools OK... but it's vintage and 22 years old. Should I be worried about radiatior?
3. I am planning to have radiator flushed in place and replace all cooling hoses and any others connected to cooling system (i.e. heater hoses). Wondering about the cost especially as I cannot do this work myself. So how much am I looking at for this job?
4. Is an ECL antifreeze the best to use for my engine?
5. Is it OK to blow out the rads, CAC, etc. while they are still in place?
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