Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE CHASSIS CLUB FORUMS > Roadmaster Motorhome Chassis Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-03-2009, 06:49 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
dashdriver's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 199
Radiator / Coolant Questions...

Hi Everyone,

So I'm trying to service the engine cooling system by doing a system flush and filter replacement on my 99 HR Navigator. I am not finding any help with either the Cummins or Holiday Rambler manuals since my coach does not seem to be setup like either one says.

I have found the radiator. It appears to be mounted so that there is no radiator cap on top, am I correct? I located the drain valve on the bottom.

I have also found the plastic surge tank. It has a filler cap, probe for the level sensor, a hose coming out the bottom and hose at the top and what looks like a plastic radiator cap on top. My initial thought was this is where you put the replacement fluid after you drain it, since there does not appear to be any other way to get coolant into the radiator.

I drained the system using the drain and got about 7.5 gallons of fluid out. I then went to flush the system and was going to use Fleetguard Restore per Cummins' recommendation. I thought before I put the Restore in, I would put some water in, then the Restore and then top it off with water and then do the 1-1 1/2 hour engine run that Cummins details in its procedure. So I put water in the surge tank and it is not draining into the radiator like I thought it would. I started the engine and let it run for a few minutes with the heater on. The water level in the surge tank went down slightly but not much, so I shut the engine off again after about 5 minutes of running.

The hose coming from the bottom of the "surge tank" appears to go straight to the "coolant inlet" which I'm guessing is attached to the water pump.

So my big question is....do I need to run the engine for longer in order to fill the radiator? Is it not taking water from the tank because it's waiting to get warmer first?

I also found the filter and the valve. I cannot get it off though, anyone have any suggestions? I have 2 different types of filter wrench and it will not budge. I used WD40 on it too and let it sit for a while but it will still not budge.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray
dashdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 11-06-2009, 09:54 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
walt2137's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Quitman MS
Posts: 2,967
Ray I assume your engine is a ISC and if so you should get between 10 & 12 gal out, if your coolant was in pertty good shape I dont see a reason for a flush. On our 2000 dyn there is a plastic surge tank with a cap(made by Volvo) that is the correct place to fill and to drain you will need to remove the cap from the tank and open the blead cock at the bottom rear of the radiator refill with the original factory Ethylene Glycol HD antifreeze, low silicate etc. (if the antifreeze was green that was drained NOT Pink or Red) according to Cummins specifications and add one pint of DC4 for every 2 gal mixture antifreeze and distilled water (A lot cheaper than the pre mix), on the filter the shut off valve is bad about twisting off so remove the filter after draining, if you cant get it with a filter wrench try a strap wrench or a pipe wrench replace the filter with a 4 unit filter.
When I did my engine coolant change I think it held about 8 or 9 gal and after I ran it to warm up and it cooled down it took another 2 gal.
__________________
Walt & Will
2000 Dynasty
2017 Ram Big Horn Crew C 4X4 w/ M&G
walt2137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2009, 09:21 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
dashdriver's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 199
Thanks for the reply...I have an ISM but it appears the coolant system capacity is similar. I think I have figured it out. I put about 9.5 gallons back in.

Ray
dashdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2009, 12:39 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Steve Ownby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cosby, Tn
Posts: 6,587
Hi Ray,

If you wouldn't mind, please post a description of how you proceeded. Did you have to take off a hose or other wise open the system to add to total amount of coolant. Also did you do the flush that you originally intended?

At some point I will do what you did & I want to flush so I can replace with an OAT type coolant.

Thanks,
Steve O
Steve Ownby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2009, 01:35 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
walt2137's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Quitman MS
Posts: 2,967
What coach and engine Steve?
__________________
Walt & Will
2000 Dynasty
2017 Ram Big Horn Crew C 4X4 w/ M&G
walt2137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2009, 07:23 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Steve Ownby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cosby, Tn
Posts: 6,587
Hi Walt & Will,

2003 Monaco Signature w/ ISM

Steve O
Steve Ownby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2009, 12:14 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
dashdriver's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 199
Hey Steve,

I just used the radiator drain cock (fully open) to drain mine. I drained it cold and then ran the engine up to temp (about 86-87C on mine) and drained it again.

I then flushed it with distilled water by pouring it into the overflow tank but did not use my Fleetguard Restore as I wasn't seeing anything suspicious in the old coolant. I even put a test strip in the old coolant draining out and it was still showing to be in pretty good shape. After flushing twice with distilled, I put in Fleetguard ES Compleat, ran it up to temp again and then topped it off. I cracked the drain cock open a hair after I was done, just to make sure the new stuff had made it into the radiator and it came out blue just like it went in, so I was happy my thermostat seemed to be working.

When running the engine up I had the dash heater on full hot with a low fan setting to ensure the dash heat loop got taken care of.

As for getting the engine up to temp, I ran it at low idle for several minutes until I saw the needle start to move, then used the cruise control to set it at high idle at about 1200 RPM per Cummins recommendation. Took a while to come up to temp, but it made it.

I still need to wash the outside of the radiator as the bottom 1/4 of the grill is showing some dirt on it.

Ray

P.S. If you want a more complete draining of the old fluid, you could disconnect a hose or two and let fluid come out of there, but I didn't do that this time. I just flushed it twice with water and it did the same thing, hardly any old coolant coming out towards the end of the second flush.
dashdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2009, 07:29 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Steve Ownby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cosby, Tn
Posts: 6,587
Thanks Ray,

That is good info. Glad it worked out well for you. I will follow your lead when it comes time to do mine.

Steve O
__________________
Steve Ownby
Full time since 2007
2003 Monaco Signature
Steve Ownby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2009, 08:46 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
walt2137's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Quitman MS
Posts: 2,967
You might want to read this.
Cummins® Coolant Requirements and Maintenance
__________________
Walt & Will
2000 Dynasty
2017 Ram Big Horn Crew C 4X4 w/ M&G
walt2137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Questions, questions! Hope you can help? Born2RV Fleetwood Owner's Forum 5 08-31-2009 05:53 PM
Newbie Questions round 2 prpickett Newmar Owner's Forum 3 08-10-2009 12:22 PM
New member w/Very Difficult Questions The Incorrigible Dirigible National RV Owner's Forum 11 01-05-2009 02:24 AM
Questions & Concerns Greyhound Gulf Stream Owner's Forum 4 11-14-2008 08:12 AM
New to the forum and Alpine, have questions. Justforfun Alpine Coach Owner's Forum 11 03-01-2007 11:25 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.