Cooling System Heads up

[Boeing Guy]

We have an 11 year old DP. We were in the middle of no where Arkansas and my dashboard warning lights lit up. It looked like a radiator hose blew. Not true. Long (expensive) story short, a hose clamp on the bottom hose return hose (I think) was missing. It cost $650 to have a hose clamp installed (mostly travel time). The repair guy says he sees it fairly often. The hose clamp just rusts away and falls off.

When I returned home, I brought it to my truck mechanic to have it checked out. I was a bit dismayed that hose clamps are not part of their yearly inspection. They replaced 8 hose clamps. Some of them were almost completely rusted away.

If you have a MH that is 8-10 years old, I'd suggest that you either do an inspection or have your mechanic do an inspection of the coolant system hose clamps. They replaced 8 hose clamps for about 1/4 of what I paid to have one replaced on the road. I feel more confident now. I never thought of hose clamps rusting away but apparently on DPs, after a few years, they do. Never heard of this before. Oh well, just one more expensive lesson.

[Pexring]

Good advice although hose clamps is something I do carry in my toolbox (along with pieces of electrical wire and a bunch more doodads). Did you subscribe to Coachnet or a similar service?