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Old 06-30-2020, 10:41 AM   #253
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Well, I too tackled this challenge, thanks to all of the information in this thread. Although I wasn’t experiencing any overheating, the fact that I had 15 year old belts and hoses always nagged at me. My coach is a 2005 National Tropical with about 34,000 miles. I was able to remove the bottom portion of my rear cap, which gave me better access.


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I tore everything apart Memorial Day weekend, it then took me about a week to gather all the parts, and a full weekend to put it all back together. I did it all myself. I did enlist some help to hold a wrench here and there and to help getting the radiator in and out.


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While it was apart, I replaced the water pump, fan bearing, all idler and tensioner bearings, serpentine belt, water pump V-Belt, blue water pump hose, the upper and lower radiator and trans cooler hoses, thermostats, adjusted the valves, and cleaned the radiator and CAC. I also followed the advice of others and had a bung and petcock installed in the crossover tube for easier coolant changes.

Access to all of the bolts, nuts and screws is the most difficult part of this job. I’m glad I did this myself because I am much more knowledgeable about where everything is and what additional tools to carry if a belt may need changed while on the road. So thanks for everyone that shared their experiences and provided the roadmap for how to get this done.

Rob S.
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Old 06-30-2020, 11:07 AM   #254
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That's the best part of it is knowing what is really hiding behind that radiator.
And a few cans of paint to make her look new.
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Old 06-30-2020, 11:28 AM   #255
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Originally Posted by sixysixss View Post
Well, I too tackled this challenge, thanks to all of the information in this thread. Although I wasn’t experiencing any overheating, the fact that I had 15 year old belts and hoses always nagged at me. My coach is a 2005 National Tropical with about 34,000 miles. I was able to remove the bottom portion of my rear cap, which gave me better access.

Attachment 291526

I tore everything apart Memorial Day weekend, it then took me about a week to gather all the parts, and a full weekend to put it all back together. I did it all myself. I did enlist some help to hold a wrench here and there and to help getting the radiator in and out.

Attachment 291527

Attachment 291528

While it was apart, I replaced the water pump, fan bearing, all idler and tensioner bearings, serpentine belt, water pump V-Belt, blue water pump hose, the upper and lower radiator and trans cooler hoses, thermostats, adjusted the valves, and cleaned the radiator and CAC. I also followed the advice of others and had a bung and petcock installed in the crossover tube for easier coolant changes.

Access to all of the bolts, nuts and screws is the most difficult part of this job. I’m glad I did this myself because I am much more knowledgeable about where everything is and what additional tools to carry if a belt may need changed while on the road. So thanks for everyone that shared their experiences and provided the roadmap for how to get this done.

Rob S.

So Rob, what did the radiator and CAC look like when you removed them? Were they clogged?
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Old 06-30-2020, 11:47 AM   #256
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Mine were not too bad. Some grease/oil buildup, but not like others have posted. I had the slobber tube extended in 2007 right after we bought the coach, so I didn’t expect it to be horrible. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the before and after conditions of the radiator and CAC. I photographed everything else, so I don’t know why I missed those. It is interesting the trash that gets trapped between them and I did take a photo of that.


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Rob S.
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Old 06-30-2020, 01:59 PM   #257
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Mine were not too bad. Some grease/oil buildup, but not like others have posted. I had the slobber tube extended in 2007 right after we bought the coach, so I didn’t expect it to be horrible. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the before and after conditions of the radiator and CAC. I photographed everything else, so I don’t know why I missed those. It is interesting the trash that gets trapped between them and I did take a photo of that.

Rob S.
Yes, I haven't remove the radiators as of yet (chicken) , but the first time I cleaned them a bucket full of June Bugs came out plus a Walmart plastic bag! How that got in there I'll never know.

My radiators should be in good shape also. I clean them once a year, and I cut an access hole in the top of the shroud then used a borescope to take pictures of the hidden surfaces. The pictures look good.

Did you have any trouble tightening the water pump belt? I did mine from below and it was a nightmare. The square adjusting hole was blocked by the pulley, and one of the hold down bolts was darn near impossible to tighten. I need to buy a 13mm fine tooth swivel head ratcheting open end wrench the next time, if I live that long so there is a next time!!
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Old 06-30-2020, 02:25 PM   #258
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Did you have any trouble tightening the water pump belt? I did mine from below and it was a nightmare. The square adjusting hole was blocked by the pulley, and one of the hold down bolts was darn near impossible to tighten. I need to buy a 13mm fine tooth swivel head ratcheting open end wrench the next time, if I live that long so there is a next time!!
With everything apart, and the serpentine tensioner removed, I did not have any trouble with the water pump tensioner. Knowing now where everything is, on the road it would likely be a two person job with long handle ratchets or breaker bars - someone would have to access the adjusting hole from above and tension the belt, while someone below would have to tighten the bolt blocked by the serpentine tensioner from below, and then tighten the sliding bolt. I assume you removed the serpentine tensioner when you did yours because I don't see how you access the bolts without removing it.

Rob S.
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Old 07-01-2020, 05:27 AM   #259
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Cat C-7 AC Compressor removal

I have a 2005 Tiffin Phaeton. I need to replace the AC compressor. Do I need to remove the alternator to get it out ? Or will it come out from the bottom?
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Old 07-01-2020, 09:24 AM   #260
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I have a 2005 Tiffin Phaeton. I need to replace the AC compressor. Do I need to remove the alternator to get it out ? Or will it come out from the bottom?
It depends on what type of access you have to get to everything. On my coach, I think it would be difficult to access the necessary bolts from below without removing the muffler and exhaust. For me, access would be better from above by removing the alternator. Your access from below may be better than mine. If so, the A/C compressor can be removed without removing the alternator.

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Old 07-01-2020, 12:54 PM   #261
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That's the best part of it is knowing what is really hiding behind that radiator.
And a few cans of paint to make her look new.


What paint did you use? Looks real good.
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Old 07-26-2020, 07:00 AM   #262
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AC Compressor removal

I removed the air filter and tailpipe to gain access from underneath to change out alternator, AC Compressor, new tensioner, new idler pulleys. Washed CAC while I had a little room to get to it. Used dawn and simple green extreme with hot water to cut the grime on CAC and radiator and between the two.Click image for larger version

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Old 07-26-2020, 04:49 PM   #263
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Alright boys,

First....thank you for posting the info you have here, it’s been very helpful. This is gonna get a bit windy[emoji12] sorry!!
I was planning to make a full post later being this was on a Spartan chassis instead of Freightliner.
However I’ve run into a possible snag and would like your opinion.

Background: Earlier this year we purchased a 2005 Fleetwood Providence (25000mi) with a C7 on a Spartan Chassis with a rear radiator. (I had no cooling issue prior to this endeavor; main purpose was to refresh as many parts as a reasonably could and set a baseline for a maintenance schedule.)

After reviewing this thread several times and reaching out to a few of you directly for specific info I took the plunge.
I replaced the following: water pump, idler and tensioner bearings (used viton sealed bearing), rad hoses, upgraded fan bearing to greaseable unit with extension, thermostats, upgraded rad fan with the Source Eng fan, valve lash adjustment, and cleaned the radiator and CAC, which are stacked on top of each other, instead of sandwiched one in front of the other. This I like for future cleaning and not gathering debris.

So here is the first snag(with a fix)....I had a hell of a time purging air from the cooling system once I got all back together. I knew I had an air pocket, as the dash heater would not rise above ambient temp, ever. This chassis has 4 bleeder hoses from various locations and I was sure it would purge itself...it never did. Engine temp would never stabilize, exceeded 200*, which was nothing I’d ever seen so far. I had to resort to using my cooling system vacuum tool to fill the system. This worked and I now have hot air on dash and stable cooling temp, around 193ish. Not a fan of having to use the vacuum tool, specially, if we have a issue on the road.

Ok, so here is the real concern; as I was dealing with the cooling issue above, I noticed the serpentine belt at the fan hub, kinda sticks out just a hair causing the belt to not be inline with the other pulleys, look at the idler for the indication of not being on the same plane. For any of you that have done this fan bearing upgrade, do yours show this deflection?

Take a look at this pic (from the closet, facing down) and let me know what you think?

Thanks for your observations on this!

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Old 07-27-2020, 07:24 PM   #264
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C7 radiator

8 hours one day and 4 the next cleaning radiator.
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Old 07-28-2020, 06:08 PM   #265
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Originally Posted by deblas View Post
Alright boys,

First....thank you for posting the info you have here, it’s been very helpful. This is gonna get a bit windy[emoji12] sorry!!
I was planning to make a full post later being this was on a Spartan chassis instead of Freightliner.
However I’ve run into a possible snag and would like your opinion.

Background: Earlier this year we purchased a 2005 Fleetwood Providence (25000mi) with a C7 on a Spartan Chassis with a rear radiator. (I had no cooling issue prior to this endeavor; main purpose was to refresh as many parts as a reasonably could and set a baseline for a maintenance schedule.)

After reviewing this thread several times and reaching out to a few of you directly for specific info I took the plunge.
I replaced the following: water pump, idler and tensioner bearings (used viton sealed bearing), rad hoses, upgraded fan bearing to greaseable unit with extension, thermostats, upgraded rad fan with the Source Eng fan, valve lash adjustment, and cleaned the radiator and CAC, which are stacked on top of each other, instead of sandwiched one in front of the other. This I like for future cleaning and not gathering debris.

So here is the first snag(with a fix)....I had a hell of a time purging air from the cooling system once I got all back together. I knew I had an air pocket, as the dash heater would not rise above ambient temp, ever. This chassis has 4 bleeder hoses from various locations and I was sure it would purge itself...it never did. Engine temp would never stabilize, exceeded 200*, which was nothing I’d ever seen so far. I had to resort to using my cooling system vacuum tool to fill the system. This worked and I now have hot air on dash and stable cooling temp, around 193ish. Not a fan of having to use the vacuum tool, specially, if we have a issue on the road.

Ok, so here is the real concern; as I was dealing with the cooling issue above, I noticed the serpentine belt at the fan hub, kinda sticks out just a hair causing the belt to not be inline with the other pulleys, look at the idler for the indication of not being on the same plane. For any of you that have done this fan bearing upgrade, do yours show this deflection?

Take a look at this pic (from the closet, facing down) and let me know what you think?

Thanks for your observations on this!

Attachment 294664

Update:
I wasn’t happy with that belt alignment and here is the problem, at least for my Spartan Chassis.
The replacement bracket that houses the fan hub bearing is about 0.2” taller than the Spartan supplied bracket and this is the cause of the misalignment.
(All the upgrade parts used were from the “upgrade doc” that is passed around on the web....they may work for Freightliner but not so much on this chassis[emoji30])

Picked up a new sealed bearing from Cat and going back to OEM configuration. Booooo

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Old 07-29-2020, 03:09 PM   #266
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Radiator access from top in C7 Cat

After speaking to two members that cut access hatches on their fan shrouds. I cut a 14" X 9" hatch to clean the coils and change fan hub bearing without pulling the radiator and CAC to do so.
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