I have had the same problem, with my Tradewinds 2001.I took out the radiator and cleaned very well in and out I extended the blow by hose to the bumper. I also sealed, few smoke exhaust leaks.
Why did manufacturers go to this rear radiator design ? Even a simple repair could be a nightmare requiring the removal of the radiator, inter cooler and fan. Wow !?! Thanks for the vid.
The rear radiator setup is cheaper to build. It is overall a worse design, but the positive of it is getting more side bay storage. I’m planning on doing a video in the future about the pros and cons.
Thanks for this video, I have a ‘98 Endeavor with Cummins but rad and cac looks exactly same as yours. I was able to clean mine in place with multiple applications with bug sprayer of dawn and water and hose rinse. I do this after each major trip we take. I’ve wondered if i had to pull the rad what would be the best way and it looks like you’ve shared it. Also I extended the slobber tube lower than the rad and added a catch can to the end, keeps the oil from the rad.
I'd imagine that the radiator and CAC are the same between ours, or very close. The parts are Freightliner spec, so really no reason to change them between engine manufacturers if the horsepower is the same. If you're doing the bug sprayer cleaning and hose rinse regularly, and your units weren't all that bad to begin with, then you probably are fine. Mine were so bad that, even doing multiple applications of that and the gunk that came out, there was no way they were going to get much better. I extended my slobber tube out behind the radiator and CAC as well and that should help prevent this from being needed again.
Interesting video, Ted. Where is the intake temperature probe located in the intake path? I can also see the intake temps on my BlueFire app, but to be honest haven't paid a lot of attention to it. I like teh double door arrangement on your HR, my Journey just has a half sized hood that opens and gives access to the upper portion of the rear access area, so quite a bit less than with yours.I will text a picture of mine, it is open in preparation for a weekend camping trip with one of the grand kids this weekend. I occasionally use a gentle spray of water from the back and I while the water disappears through the radiator, I never see a ton of crud coming out from underneath. I really need to open the bed and engine access hatch so I can get a better look at things.
Tim, my intake air temp sensor is after the intercooler, so I get to see what my real intake air temps are. The highest I've seen is 175F during the summer on a long, hot climb - I forget where exactly. With the amount of airflow that fan puts out and how big that radiator is, I'd expect it to be lower. Your bus has fewer miles on it than mine and to be fair, we do drive on dirt and gravel roads with it quite a bit - which will clog things faster. Plus the leaking oil pan hasn't helped matters. I wasn't surprised at just how bad it was, but it was pretty bad. Yours looks like it has a removeable rear bumper, which would've made this job 100x easier for me and would also make the electric fan conversion easier. But this will work out just fine.
I have had the same problem, with my Tradewinds 2001.I took out the radiator and cleaned very well in and out I extended the blow by hose to the bumper. I also sealed, few smoke exhaust leaks.
Why did manufacturers go to this rear radiator design ? Even a simple repair could be a nightmare requiring the removal of the radiator, inter cooler and fan. Wow !?! Thanks for the vid.
The rear radiator setup is cheaper to build. It is overall a worse design, but the positive of it is getting more side bay storage. I’m planning on doing a video in the future about the pros and cons.
how did you get the 3/4 bolt out of the right hand side?? Where the fill tubes and dip stick are.
Thanks for this video, I have a ‘98 Endeavor with Cummins but rad and cac looks exactly same as yours. I was able to clean mine in place with multiple applications with bug sprayer of dawn and water and hose rinse. I do this after each major trip we take. I’ve wondered if i had to pull the rad what would be the best way and it looks like you’ve shared it. Also I extended the slobber tube lower than the rad and added a catch can to the end, keeps the oil from the rad.
I'd imagine that the radiator and CAC are the same between ours, or very close. The parts are Freightliner spec, so really no reason to change them between engine manufacturers if the horsepower is the same.
If you're doing the bug sprayer cleaning and hose rinse regularly, and your units weren't all that bad to begin with, then you probably are fine. Mine were so bad that, even doing multiple applications of that and the gunk that came out, there was no way they were going to get much better. I extended my slobber tube out behind the radiator and CAC as well and that should help prevent this from being needed again.
Interesting video, Ted. Where is the intake temperature probe located in the intake path? I can also see the intake temps on my BlueFire app, but to be honest haven't paid a lot of attention to it. I like teh double door arrangement on your HR, my Journey just has a half sized hood that opens and gives access to the upper portion of the rear access area, so quite a bit less than with yours.I will text a picture of mine, it is open in preparation for a weekend camping trip with one of the grand kids this weekend. I occasionally use a gentle spray of water from the back and I while the water disappears through the radiator, I never see a ton of crud coming out from underneath. I really need to open the bed and engine access hatch so I can get a better look at things.
Tim, my intake air temp sensor is after the intercooler, so I get to see what my real intake air temps are. The highest I've seen is 175F during the summer on a long, hot climb - I forget where exactly. With the amount of airflow that fan puts out and how big that radiator is, I'd expect it to be lower. Your bus has fewer miles on it than mine and to be fair, we do drive on dirt and gravel roads with it quite a bit - which will clog things faster. Plus the leaking oil pan hasn't helped matters. I wasn't surprised at just how bad it was, but it was pretty bad.
Yours looks like it has a removeable rear bumper, which would've made this job 100x easier for me and would also make the electric fan conversion easier. But this will work out just fine.
Did you go back to the green coolant or did you swap over to red?
I use Caterpillar ELC, bought at the Cat dealer, so I stuck with red.