Overheating in Ensenada, Mexico.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hello Gerald,
  Many thanks for your invaluable advise.  We  were under pressure to move out of the traffic in downtown Ensenada. We decided to add water till the header tank was full and keep driving hoping to reach Estero Beach RV Park and Hotel. I watched the temp. gauge and stopped when it reach 220 deg F .We topped up the header tank again and in 3 mile hops made it to the RV park. It took us an hour to find the leak the next day. Heater hose was purchased at Autozone in Ensenada and by noon we were back on the road.
The cooling hose that had split was under the bed . I accessed it  through the removable  panel in the bedroom floor . This 3/8 in hose ran from a fitting on the upper water manifold   top forward drivers side  of C12   down 3 ft to  a 3 way T. I think it feeds the dash   and  coach heaters. It was as soft as putty. The rest of the hoses in the system seem to be fine.I replaced the hose and added a chafe guard where it passes the transmission bracing rod. I will in time be fitting a ball valve on the manifold so I can quickly isolate this system if necessary.
Does the Alison transmission have a cooling water system?  The whole area over the transmission is a maze of 3/8 in hoses !!!
  Thanks again,  Jeremy and Jane Parrett  (now in Los Barriles,Baja Sur, 75 miles north east from Cabo San Lucas)

[Robert Mathis]

I wish I had known you guys were there. We were in San Jose del Cabos all last week and just came home Tuesday. The road from Los Barriles to Cabo is terrible. They are 4 laning it and it is dirt, rock and washboard from "Art and Beer' all the way to the Power station North of Cabo. Be very careful on it.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hi Robert,
any more info would be good.  
Many roads from Tecate south have been rebuilt since January and generally speaking it was a much better drive this time.
We knew the road from Los Cabos to Todos Santos is torn up but not the road from los Barriles to Cabo.
  Maybe we should wait here in Los Barriles until the road is completed.  ?/
            jeremy and jane

[Gerald Farris]

Jeremy,
There are no coolant hoses that run to your transmission. The transmission fluid is cooled with a heat exchanger that is incorporated into the metal coolant passageway (radiator hose) that runs by the left side (driver's side) of your transmission. There are two large high pressure transmission fluid lines that carry the transmission fluid to and from the heat exchanger.

Gerald

[Jeremy Parrett]

Thanks Gerald. Those two lines I saw.  
There are some other lines running to a cylinder about a foot long on the passenger side of the engine . It has 3/8 hoses going into its cone shaped ends?
 Beside the Midland Grau unit I found a blue Cat filter mounted on a housing with two shut off valves,one above and one underneath.  Tubing going to this unit is small.  Could this be the  air dryer filter??  
 We never did find the engine coolant filter that can cause all the hose problems.
Interestingly my C12 has a 3/8th  coolant line running from the manifold above the alternator towards the rear of the engine but it turns into a steel tube where it passes the engine and then back to 3/8 hose over the transmission. There are several discarded hoses along side the engine that resemble severely bubbled plastic.....they are orange in color.  Next time I am under thee I will take pics.

[Robert Mathis]

Sorry Jeremy, I was referring to the road from Todas Santos to Cabo. It was pretty bad in the jeep. (although if my wife and her friend had not been in the jeep, I think it might have been fun to just run the rental  ;)beside the road.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hi Robert,
 apology accepted. We knew about the  super highway they are building from Todos Santos to Cabo. This was started last Christmas. It is scheduled for completion before the G20 Summit in the new convention centre near the airport....also under construction. It will be part of a new route from La Paz to Cabo to facilitate container/truck access.  A new super highway is also planned to run north from Cuidad Constitution to Guerro Negro bypassing all those wonderful mountain switchbacks from Santa Rosalia ,Mulege ,Loreto to CD Insurgentes.
A new deep water shipping harbour is under constructiion at Colonet .It will be serviced by road and rail links to Mexicali........right through the mountains !!! This will allow all the imports to Mexico from the Far East to by pass LA and San Francisco.
  South of Los Barriles a new 200 slip marina is under construction.
     We are looking at Los Barriles as a possible place to have a winter "Palapa" for the RV. A large lot here on the beach at Playa Norte RV Park can be had for $4500 per year on a 10 year lease.  A "palace" of a home in the hills can be had for less than $100 per sq ft.   J&J

[Robert Mathis]

Sounds pretty neat. We were in San Jose las Cabos for a week of Marlin fishing and relaxing and made the drive to Todas Santos. The new Marina at San Jose is very nice. I wouldn't mind having a place down there to winter.

[Jeremy Parrett]

I agree. Mexico has no debt and is staged to pass the US economically very soon . Jane and I are looking for a home down here. I wonder what effect this new harbour at Colonet and rail /road link to Mexicali will have on the economy of the southern US?? Mexico imports billions $$$ of product from the Far East.......all through the US ports of LA and San Francisco.  The truck traffic across the border at Tijuana right now is huge.....the freight trains that run across Arizona to border terminals  from SF and LA are constant. Once the Colonet harbour is up and running with rail links to Mexicali and the Mexican interior the  Mexicans will not have to use US ports and transportation links any more.