Community Forums

caninecop · 06-24-2017, 08:38 AM

Had the RV in at Freightliner for overheating, I provided the dates that I had on 2 occasions with problems of overheating. I recived received a call they said that only one incident of overheating was found when checking the codes. They can’t explain why only 1 overheating showed up. I know that I had to pull over to let the engine cool down for all the warnings to go away.

They also said that they pulled the radiator and CAC and found evidence of pack rat nest and radiator very dirty. I found this hard to believe for they replaced the motor about a couple of months ago and they pulled the radiator and CAC at that time. They didn’t say anything about the radiator and CAC being dirty and needing cleaning. I am sure they would have wanted to clean them to add to the total bill and keep the rebuilt engine from having problems.

Skip426 · 06-24-2017, 10:25 AM

In your other post on the overheating you mentioned " a light coating of oil" on the engine , any oil mist in the engine compartment , will collect on the radiator and collect ALL the dust that's blown through the rad, getting the rad dirty in a hurry.
Did you mention the oil that you'd cleaned off , and did they comment on that?
Some codes will migrate out of the ECM after a certain number of key cycles , other times in the case of a duplicate code only the most recent will be saved.
A lot depends on the ECM program.
Were you talking to the mechanic that worked on the coach , or a " counter jockey " the counter person might not fully understand what the mechanic wrote on your repair order or if they talked at all , he may not be able to relate what he was told, by the mechanic.

Cat · 06-24-2017, 05:42 PM

Well, what happens and it not right-- is they get tunnel vision you took it in for engine misfire not an overheat. So they troubleshoot the engine problems but didnt look for any other issues. Thats not good --they should have caught it ( the plugging radiator) and I wouldnt pay the whole bill. Maybe pay for the dissassemble and cleaning of the radiator and aftercooler you would had to pay for that if had they found it when they had it out for the engine repair. I would not pay for the remove and install this time.
The engine ECM will only record an overheat if it hits a certain temperature like 235f or above. If only gets to 234f it will not record it. So it may show hot on your dash gauge but not quite hot enogh to set a event code of overheat.

Cat · 06-24-2017, 05:48 PM

Well, what happens and it not right-- is they get tunnel vision you took it in for engine misfire not an overheat. So they troubleshoot the engine problems but didnt look for any other issues. Thats not good --they should have caught it ( the plugging radiator) and I wouldnt pay the whole bill. Maybe pay for the dissassemble and cleaning of the radiator and aftercooler you would had to pay for that if had they found it when they had it out for the engine repair. I would not pay for the remove and install this time.
The engine ECM will only record an overheat if it hits a certain temperature like 235f or above. If only gets to 234f it will not record it. So it may show hot on your dash gauge but not quite hot enogh to set a event code of overheat.

caninecop · 06-25-2017, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat

Well, what happens and it not right-- is they get tunnel vision you took it in for engine misfire not an overheat. So they troubleshoot the engine problems but didnt look for any other issues. Thats not good --they should have caught it ( the plugging radiator) and I wouldnt pay the whole bill. Maybe pay for the dissassemble and cleaning of the radiator and aftercooler you would had to pay for that if had they found it when they had it out for the engine repair. I would not pay for the remove and install this time.
The engine ECM will only record an overheat if it hits a certain temperature like 235f or above. If only gets to 234f it will not record it. So it may show hot on your dash gauge but not quite hot enogh to set a event code of overheat.

Skip and Cat thanks for your post, all the information that I have came from the service desk writer. He did mention that the oil they found, that a part was stopped up and causing blow back, after fixing that they ran the motor after that an didn’t find any oil on the motor that I described.

I agree that the only item that I should have to pay for is the cleaning, I will be talking to the service manager if they try to make me pay for anything else. When we met with him last time he was very upset at the service we had received. We were told that for up to 1 year or 100,000 miles any problem with the engine Freightliner will pay for the repairs.

Also, Freightliner is trying to find one of kits for slobber tube fix, so far, they haven’t found one, it will be interesting to see what they do it they can’t find a kit.

jdoc · 06-25-2017, 10:36 AM

caninecop, the slobber tube problem started many years ago. People were putting to many quarts of oil in their engines when the oil was changed. The engine would blow out the excess and would accumulate on the RAD/CAC causing the engine to overheat. The best fix was to have the dipstick calibrated. The other fix was to buy a kit from Freightliner which was a piece of 1" metal conduit and a couple of hose clamps, which they charged $100. 00 for. You can do it for a whole lot less by buying the material and doing it yourself.

Jerry

caninecop · 06-25-2017, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdoc

caninecop, the slobber tube problem started many years ago. People were putting to many quarts of oil in their engines when the oil was changed. The engine would blow out the excess and would accumulate on the RAD/CAC causing the engine to overheat. The best fix was to have the dipstick calibrated. The other fix was to buy a kit from Freightliner which was a piece of 1" metal conduit and a couple of hose clamps, which they charged $100. 00 for. You can do it for a whole lot less by buying the material and doing it yourself.

Jerry

Jerry thanks for your post, I had the Freightliner kit on the RV and had added an extension to it, I wanted to make sure it was well past the radiator and CAC.

When it went in for the rebuilt engine to be installed, they removed it and didn't replace it after the motor was installed. They probably threw the old one away. They now have to find a new one for them to install, if they can’t find one due to the age of the RV, it will be interesting to see what they propose to replace the kit.

RayChez1 · 06-25-2017, 08:26 PM

Over heating on a Cat engine is usually a plugged up CAC. Need to clean the radiator and CAC every so often.

I open the bed box and spray the engine, CAC and radiator from the front and back, with Simple Green. Let it set for about five minutes and I use an electric power sprayer called Black Cat. Use a soft spray and thoroughly spray wash everything, engine, CAC and radiator from both ends, underneath. At the same time I will start the engine so that the fan can pressure the liquids out also. It has worked for me for fourteen years. Never have a problem of over heating. At the same time the engine will look like new.

caninecop · 06-26-2017, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayChez1

Over heating on a Cat engine is usually a plugged up CAC. Need to clean the radiator and CAC every so often.

I open the bed box and spray the engine, CAC and radiator from the front and back, with Simple Green. Let it set for about five minutes and I use an electric power sprayer called Black Cat. Use a soft spray and thoroughly spray wash everything, engine, CAC and radiator from both ends, underneath. At the same time I will start the engine so that the fan can pressure the liquids out also. It has worked for me for fourteen years. Never have a problem of over heating. At the same time the engine will look like new.

Ray I clean my radiator and CAC like you do the only difference is I run the motor when cleaning form inside so the fan will help spread the simple green. I use a gas power washer with the white tip but make sure I keep the nozzle away from too close to the fins. I could go to the rear of the radiator and hold a paper towel around the radiator and the air would blow the paper towel straight out. Freightliner is still telling me that the radiator needs cleaning.

RayChez1 · 06-27-2017, 12:49 PM

Caninecop: If the radiator and the CAC are clean, then the next thing suspect that would cause over heating would be bad thermostat. Also have you checked to see if you are not low on coolant in your radiator? Check your fan belt for slippage, maybe the tensioner needs to be replaced or adjusted.

Cat · 06-27-2017, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caninecop

Skip and Cat thanks for your post, all the information that I have came from the service desk writer. He did mention that the oil they found, that a part was stopped up and causing blow back, after fixing that they ran the motor after that an didn’t find any oil on the motor that I described.

I agree that the only item that I should have to pay for is the cleaning, I will be talking to the service manager if they try to make me pay for anything else. When we met with him last time he was very upset at the service we had received. We were told that for up to 1 year or 100,000 miles any problem with the engine Freightliner will pay for the repairs.

Also, Freightliner is trying to find one of kits for slobber tube fix, so far, they haven’t found one, it will be interesting to see what they do it they can’t find a kit.

Not trying to add to the heartburn over this whole engine problem. But there is only one part that I think of that would be plugged and cause "blow back". And that is the breather tube I mentioned earlier. If this was plugged up it would cause excessive crankcase pressure this could cause oil being blown out the dipstick and would put prssure on the front and rear crankshaft seals its also possible that if oil came out the dip stick the fan would blow it all over the place including the engine. Just keep an eye on the front crankshaft seal and the rear bell housing for leaks. Good luck! Hope you have no more problems.

JLWoodward · 06-27-2017, 01:12 PM

Water pump has separate belt than serpentine so check that. Coolant tanks crack from sun if so won't hold pressure and rad water boils causing overheat check that. The thermostats are bad for sticking and the cat has 2 so it can fool you. One sticking will cause restricted flow and overheat, check that.
Injector pump setting could be off but would think that would cause lots of smoke but could be lean.
Rad could be blocked internally. Check for hot and cold spots top to bottom and side to side with an inferred temp gun. That's all I got.

Dtwallace · 06-27-2017, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLWoodward

Water pump has separate belt than serpentine so check that. Coolant tanks crack from sun if so won't hold pressure and rad water boils causing overheat check that. The thermostats are bad for sticking and the cat has 2 so it can fool you. One sticking will cause restricted flow and overheat, check that.
Injector pump setting could be off but would think that would cause lots of smoke but could be lean.
Rad could be blocked internally. Check for hot and cold spots top to bottom and side to side with an inferred temp gun. That's all I got.

The mention of water pump belt reminds me, there was a lot of bad water pumps on some C7 engines in our MRAPS. I had to change out ten in one day a few years ago to get the entire fleet of unit's equipment back online.
Your engine may have the same issue.

DTW

caninecop · 06-28-2017, 08:08 AM

I really appreciate all the post,

still waiting on Freightliner to call to pick up the RV. I will keep an eye out for any leaks. Freightliner told me that when they get it back together they will take in for a road test on Sonoita hwy 83 that should be a good test for overheating it is very hilly and curvy, if it doesn’t heat up on that drive I should be good to go. I will check it out for myself to be sure.