Community Forums

Beaver Mike · 07-13-2015, 09:38 PM

On a recent trip in our 1999 Beaver Contessa we had problems climbing over the Bozeman and Billings passes. We are full timing and were pretty loaded up and towing our 3650# Jeep Wrangler. In the early foothills I noticed that the temps we rising on some of the smaller climbs on the computer. On a larger grade the temps went up to 225 degrees and the Hot temp Idiot Light came on, we continued to climb but at a much slower pace than normal (degraded performance, not just because of the grade). It seemed the engine was not producing the normal power. Temp maxed out at about 230. On down hills or flats the temps went back down to the 190 range. For the two passes we had to disconnect the Jeep and she climbed much better. Temps still climbed to about 220 -225 or so, but power seemed good with out the extra weight. I normally thought since we have not done much climbing in this rig and it is our first diesel, that the poor performance in climbing was simply that we were over loaded a bit and towing. Yesterday a 1997 rig with a 300 hp 3126a came into the park towing a large trailer with a full sized pick-up. I asked him if he had problems with the passes. His response was no problems. This got me to thinking that I indeed have a problem. He also mentioned that awhile back that his performance was degraded and he changed an elbow on the back of the cylinder head (fuel return line) and it had a filter in it that gets plugged. He said you could barley blow any air through it at all. The engine would overheat when under performance conditions because the engine was burning all the fuel that was building up due to the blockage ??While we were looking at my rig he noticed a good sized hole / Slit along the band on my muffler and thought that could be a problem too ?? Oil levels and Coolant levels were normal. My rig was well maintained by the previous owner and currently just turned 90,000 miles. Any help or insight would be appreciated...........

2 Stroker · 07-14-2015, 08:56 AM

If your coolant is normal then I would be looking at cleaning the radiator. If you have a rear radiator it may be covered with oil and grim from the slobber tube on the motor. See where the vent hose is and you may need to move it to the bottom of radiator or make a catch can for the oil. You may have to pull the floor in the bedroom to check and clean. With the miles you have on it and if it has never been cleaned, this is where I would start.
Here is just one post, use the search at the top of the page for others.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f124/3126...ot-251346.html
2 stroker

Twomed · 07-14-2015, 09:13 AM

Welcome to the forum....

Did you manually shift down and keep the rpms around 2,000 ??? Very important with that engine too keep coolant moving in the system fro sufficient cooling.

Another thing with that engine, CAT says ease up a bit on the throttle. Flat to the floor will over fuel and contribute to higher temps. All heating issues assume a clean radiator/CAC.

I had that same platform in a 99 Safari Continental pulling a Wrangler and went through the same thing until I learned a few tips. There used to be great rallys from the builders with reps from CAT...no more.

Google Brett Wolfe CAT motorhome guru for lots of info on the forums. CAT Club, and Beaver Ambassadors Club. Lots of help out here for new folks.

Fearlessfrit · 07-14-2015, 09:41 AM

I had a similar problem with my 2007 Fleetwood Excursion. It ran fine until I would come to a uphill climb and then would start overheating and would lose power. Once I leveled out the temp would go down. The power loss was a safety issue to not hurt the cat c7. I also got a check engine signal. This happened a couple times but only going up hill. I checked the coolant level and it seemed fine. I brought it in to have it checked out and it just needed a little more coolant. I added a little more and everything is just fine Hope this is the only thing wrong on yours. Happy motoring. Fearlessfritz

jdoc · 07-14-2015, 05:24 PM

Agree with 2 Stroker. I wash mine once year whether it needs it or not.

Jerry

twinboat · 07-14-2015, 05:57 PM

You call it an Idiot light. Is that why you ignored it? They are there to alert you of a problem.

I'll bet that if you read your owners manual, it will tell you to stop and let the engine cool down, to avoid possible damage. The reason the engine cut power, was to protect itself from overheating, and expensive damage. The low power mode, is to get you safely off the road.

As far as the Guy at the campground, he may have had some work done, but he got the facts wrong. Nothing he told you, makes any sense.

A split muffler will only make more noise, not much else.

If a thorough washing of the radiator doesn't cure the overheating, take the MH to a shop, to get the overheating issue properly diagnosed and repaired. You don't want to damage the expensive engine.

Beaver Mike · 07-14-2015, 08:50 PM

Slobber Tube already extended, Coolant Level was fine, Ran the gears down to keep her between 2,000 and 2200 RPM's. Radiator looks clean and previous owner was meticulous about maintenance and had an entry in service logs 6,600 miles ago that stated "cleaned Radiator with simple Green degreaser". I lowered a light down from the bedroom and can see through both of them well. Radiator cap had some dry rot type cracks in it and I replaced it since with a new 13 lb. Cap. Idiot light came on at very top of climbs and temps dropped on down hills. I tried to solve the problem by lessening the load and removing the Jeep's weight from the equation........

Could the thermostat be the problem ?

Any other ideas ??

Thanks again for your replies.

1ciderdog · 07-15-2015, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaver Mike

Slobber Tube already extended, Coolant Level was fine, Ran the gears down to keep her between 2,000 and 2200 RPM's. Radiator looks clean and previous owner was meticulous about maintenance and had an entry in service logs 6,600 miles ago that stated "cleaned Radiator with simple Green degreaser". I lowered a light down from the bedroom and can see through both of them well. Radiator cap had some dry rot type cracks in it and I replaced it since with a new 13 lb. Cap. Idiot light came on at very top of climbs and temps dropped on down hills. I tried to solve the problem by lessening the load and removing the Jeep's weight from the equation........

Could the thermostat be the problem ?

Any other ideas ??

Thanks again for your replies.

You might replace the thermostats. Not a hard job - there are two under the same housing - perhaps not opening sufficiently to let enough coolant to pass through the radiator when climbing those grades?

2 Stroker · 07-15-2015, 11:10 AM

If everything is clean and full as 1cederdog said look at the 2 t/stats. As already said when it gets hot it is defueling for "cold coolant" to save itself.
2 stroker

wb7auk · 07-19-2015, 08:24 AM

First the fitting at the rear of the head is a fuel pressure regulator and has no filter in it or will the engine burn more fuel if the fuel pressure is a little high.
The most over looked item when cleaning the radiator is the fan blades, inspect the
blades for damage and clean both sides of the blades.
A fast way to check air flow through the radiator is increase the rpm up to 1100 and check the air flow out the radiator with a piece of string making sure you check the
whole surface area.

waternut · 07-19-2015, 03:43 PM

When the temp go up the rear radiator coaches will down shift to make the fan and water pump turn faster. Max torque is at the lower RPMs so you loose horse power and torque to speed them up. Result is you slow down. That said why is it getting hot? Rear radiators are a huge catch all for oil, grease, lint, leafs, bugs and about anything else you can find on the road. There is a shroud with the fan running in it, nasty job to clean but as someone else said you can only see part of the radiator. if the part behind the shroud is blocking air flow then will not cool as well. Last rear radiator I had worked for hours under the coach with water hose, degreaser, paint brush, rain suit to get mine to not run quite so hot. You will not get it clean it from the rear! Would still down shift and I would slow down climbing long hills.

dnystrom · 07-19-2015, 03:58 PM

I was on those 2 passes in June and there was no problems with my temps. 194 tops.
I have My Cat Dealer here STEAM CLEAN the radiator every oil change. You would not believe the black oily stuff comes out with the steam.

truck91 · 07-19-2015, 04:13 PM

the rubber on my thermostats were gone letting the water go to fast to cool new ones fixed

bigdog · 08-08-2015, 12:08 AM

I am having the same problem with my '01 Tradewinds LTC with a side radiator and it'll do it on steep hills and on long gradual pulls. I am pulling an '11 Jeep Liberty at 4600# and am under the max weight for my coach. I have noticed in checking the radiator that I have a blade with about a inch by 2 inch chip on it and that the blade doesn't wiggle when you move it back and forth towards the radiator ,but does move a bit when you rotate it. I also have noticed that it hasn't used any coolant in months. In fact it never seems to change level and I can't seem to figger where the cap is on the radiator. I do keep the radiator clean and use Zep 505 on it with a medium spray of water. I cleaned it in the last of april and since we haven't had any rain up here in the PNW for over 90 days, I know it's not mud caked. Is it possible that it may be low on coolant even tho the reservoir is where it should be?