Radiator repairs or replacement

[David T. Richelderfer]

Our Marquis is showing a very small coolant leak upon returning from our recent weekend excursion.  I have taken the RV to Eagle Freightliner (EF) here in Hermiston, OR for its bi-annual physical and service.  EF has removed the radiator and taken it to a local radiator repair company - Auto Cool.  Auto Cool today is reporting they are unable to repair the broken weld.  I think when someone says this they mean the problem is such that they would not stand behind their repair given the location and amount of damage.  Be that as it may be, I am heading down to Auto Cool for a look-see and perhaps take a picture.  There are several radiator repair companies in the Tri-Cities of Washington, 30 miles away, who have 4 1/2 to 5 star ratings from customers.  I will spend some time this afternoon contacting those Tri-Cities companies to see if any of them will tackle the job.

EF has located a new radiator in Louisiana, the manufacturer of Monaco's radiators, and probably for other RV companies as well.  The cost for the new radiator is $4,000 including freight, and it's four days shipping.

I have sent a message to Larry Williams who replaced his coach's radiator last year (?), hoping he might have some advice.  If anyone here on the forum has any experience, then I would appreciate comments.

Thank you again...

[Bill Schneider]

David,
Given that you are already in OR, you might want to contact the following radiator company.

Radiator Supply House of Sweet Home OR
855-615-3002
Check their website.
radiatorsupplyhouse.com

Good luck with your repair/replacement,
Bill

[Lee Welbanks]

 David, If you rad is aluminum the shop is correct in stating that they cannot repair it. It is pretty much impossible to weld a alum rad once it is used and there is no way to get the alum clean enough to weld. I've tried a couple of times and you cannot do it.

[Rod Ogle]

David.  This year I purchased a steel/copper replacement radiator from RSH in Sweet Home OR, very good quality.  They did need 3 - 4 days lead time to build the unit.  The replacement was an exact fit, no problem for the installers.   

  To place the order, they needed the radiator model number, which most likely can be found at the top right hand side of your radiator...looking from inside the engine cavity. The radiator number for our 04 PT C12 505 HP, was also listed on an information sheet located inside a bathroom cabinet door.

   We also had to replace the Charge Air Cooler at the same time as it failed the pressure test.  You might consider replacing yours  to avoid another remove and replace charge down the road. 

  Peterson CAT in Eugene OR did our install.  Alll in cost was $9800.  This included new hoses, T-stats, fluids etc.

  As a side note, with the new radiator and T-stats, our coach now runs 10-15 degrees warmer and the cooling fan now comes on at about 197 degrees.  Transmission temps are also up the same 10-15 degrees, still within specs...just FYI.

[William Jordan]

There is a local source ,in Oregon, for a "normal" Steel/Copper, Non aluminium Radiator. ( you don't want aluminium !)  I Questioned several shops ending on Source engineering in Coberg They found one and installed it a couple years ago but all in it was 7 grand.  As was explained to me the original Aluminum can't take the vibration and isnt repairable .. I chose to go more traditional.
 Peterson in Eugene , after the fact assured me they could have met or beat that price.,I assume using the same local built Radiator, perhaps  it was Sweet Home Manufacturer Peterson Eugene says the do a ton of these .. I'm surprised Hermiston  was unaware  .  . Good Luck in whatever you have done. 

[David T. Richelderfer]

I went to American Radiator, Inc. in Pasco, WA with my "broken" radiator.  The owner measured it up, down, and sideways; made a phone call to the USA East Coast; and gave a firm repair price of $3,200.  This repair price was for dismantling the radiator, installing new aluminum cores, and rebuilding it.  The lead time on getting the "fixed" radiator back to Eagle Freightliner (EF) would be over a week and possibly two weeks.

Next, I went to Charlie's Radiator Repair in Kennewick, WA with my "broken" radiator.  The employee measured it up, down, and sideways; made a phone call to Canada; and gave a repair price of $3,600.  This repair price was for a new radiator manufactured to specifications made with brass and copper.  The lead time on getting the "fixed" radiator back to EF would be over a week and possibly two weeks.

After visiting the two radiator repair firms I called EF to discuss the situation and decided to have EF order the new $4,000 aluminum radiator from Louisiana... this BEFORE getting home and reading the replies to my original post this morning here on the Forum.  Now I think I have made a mistake in my haste to get things going before the weekend shutdown.  First thing in the morning I will contact EF and try to get the new aluminum radiator stopped in favor of trying to get a steel/copper/brass radiator manufactured at Sweethome, OR.  It may cost a bit more but, what the heck, it's just money... and they say we can't take it with us, eh?

I am not sure I got back to EF early enough for the EF Service Desk to order the new aluminum radiator from Louisiana... because I didn't call EF with that decision until about 3 pm Pacific Time.  We'll see.

[Rod Ogle]

David.

  David.

  If you decide to buy a radiator from Radiator Supply House (RSH) in Sweet Home OR, there is a one item you need to be aware of.

  RHS ships their new units with the necessary adaptor to allow the thermal valve (AKA Wax Valve) to be threaded into the radiator body.  A picture of their adaptor with my thermal valve installed is attached. The thermal valve regulates the operation of your engines cooling fan.

  Monaco’s original aluminum radiator used an adapter that allowed the copper probe of the thermal valve (shown in the picture) to extend DIRECTLY into the hot coolant stream.  The RHS adapter is long enough to keep the probe from extending directly into the coolant stream, as you can see the probe is recessed into the body of the adapter.  An IR gun shows the probe, located in RSH adapter, is 10-15 degrees cooler than the coolant stream, I guess because it is recessed into the adaptor.   This means, your cooling fan will most likely not come on at the same point as it did in your old Monaco aluminum radiator.   This has not been a problem for me as engine and transmission temperatures are within normal ranges, it is just different (warmer) than I was used to.

  At some point, I may replace the RSH adapter with a shorter version to allow the probe to seat deeper into the coolant stream.  You may want your installer to check around for a shorter one before putting things back together. 

  Overall, I am pleased with the quality and performance with the RSH radiator and charge air cooler.

  Good luck with your replacement!!

[David T. Richelderfer]

Update:   for a 2004 Beaver Marquis Sapphire with C-12 505 hp engine

I was able to get the $4,000 aluminum radiator order from Louisiana rescinded.  I called Radiator Supply House, Inc. (RSH) in Sweethome, OR (855-615-3002) to get "smartened" about what I needed to do.  Interestingly, RSH just last week manufactured a radiator just like the one I need.  Vance gave me a couple model numbers to look for - RS-4837, RS-4847, or RS-4669.  All three model numbers are good for the same radiator.  It should be on a placard on the radiator.  I looked behind the mirror above the bedroom sink and there it was - RS-4847.  The cost is $3,750 plus $125 for Oak Harbor Freight delivery to Eagle Freightliner.  I again called RSH, talked to Cole, and ordered the radiator.  It may be delivered as early as late this week!  The old aluminum radiator weighed... what?... 150 to 200 pounds.  The new copper-core radiator weighs 347 pounds.  It's a much stronger unit made with much heavier materials.

Next we discussed the possibility of needing a new Charge Air Cooler.  For those who have no idea what this is, it's yet another radiator that cools the filtered combustion air after being heated and compressed by the turbocharger.  Turbochargers make alot of heat, so the Charge Air Cooler cools that hot-compressed air after the turbocharger and before it enters the cylinders.  The hot-compressed air goes through the Charge Air Cooler just like engine coolant goes through normal radiators.  Eagle Freightliner will pressure test my engine's Charge Air Cooler tomorrow morning (takes 30 minutes).  If it also has leaks, then I will also order a new Charge Air Cooler - another $2,185 plus shipping, but 12 days to make.

I have not had the wax valve discussion yet with Eagle Freightliner.  I thought I would wait for the new radiator to arrive first.

Another note:  There was another Beaver in Eagle Freightliner for a service.  Its proud owner is one, Mark Keith, a local fellow.  I do not see his name on our Forum Roster.  I will be trying to contact him about joining the Forum.  Which reminds me... I saw another Beaver in Hermiston and talked to its owner about joining the Forum.  I need to follow up on that.

[Larry Fisk]

I had a bad experience with Radiator Supply House. It was not a bad radiator but rather a broken cooling fan motor bracket. My bracket broke which allowed the radiator cooling fan to move out of position and destroy my radiator and charge air cooler. We were in Canada at the time. The repair shop had a local rad shop recore my radiator and provide a new charge air cooler. RSH supplied the new bracket to hold the cooling fan motor in place. BCS supplied a new cooling fan since the old one was destroyed, with blades being completely torn off. After installation of everything was complete my wife drove the coach to our home in Alaska while I was at work. When I got home I inspected the work and to my shock the new bracket from RSH was already failing!! I could see the fan was already at a slight angle. I decided to chance it and drove the coach to the Anchorage CAT dealer where they have their own fabrication shop. They built me a bullet proof bracket out of boxed steel. When removing everything to get the proper clearance for the fan the person working on it called me and said he needed another new fan!! He sent me pics showing the hub of the just installed fan was already damaged by contacting the mounting bolts on the radiator due to the fan being at an angle because of the junk bracket RSH provided. All of this was documented along with pics and sent to RSH. I also talked with them on the phone about all of this. Their response? Nothing!! I paid 3,000 dollars for the new bracket replacement by CAT and 450 dollars to purchase a second cooling fan from BCS. RSH did not refund a penny or offer to pay for my extra expenses due to their crappy work. So beware, all of this is also documented in the BAC forum from 2012, I think.

[David T. Richelderfer]

Conclusion to my service and radiator replacement -

New radiator $3,750 from Radiator Supply House plus $125 Oak Harbor freight = $3,875

Labor to remove leaking radiator and install new radiator was about $1,130
The new radiator had the wrong style of attachment fittings.  It came with O-ring fittings and had
     to be changed over to pipe thread fittings.  Also found the radiator bushing mounts not correct,
     so those required modification.

Pressure tested Charge Air Cooler (CAC) - found to be okay

Complete service - changed all filters, all new Red Rotella ELC, all new Mobile Delvac Transynd,
                          - new engine oil M-Del 15W-40, chassis lube
                          - cleaned air filter

Brakes                - lube, checked slack adjusters, inspected, all shoes at approx 75%

Generator           - checked oil and coolant

The final bill from Eagle Freightliner was $3,222.46 (not including the new radiator and its freight)
       with the labor portion being over $2,000, parts being over $1,000 (near half being filters and oils),
       plus miscellaneous supplies.

The total bill for everything was $7,097.46

[David T. Richelderfer]

This past weekend was the first "long" trip in the Marquis since the radiator was replaced.  We went from Hermiston, OR through La Grande, OR to Enterprise, OR to participate in the Alpine Meadows Golf Course annual Rate Race, a couples' tournament.  As many of you know, this trip route entails going up and over Cabbage Hill on I-84 a few miles East of Pendleton, OR.  It's near ten miles of a steep uphill climb.  The highest engine temperature I saw on the 288 miles round trip was about 106F.  For most of the round trip the engine temperature was showing from 188F to 194F.

[Bob Triplett]

I know I am late to this thread but perhaps my experience can help someone. I just had a radiator custom made by Borgen Radiator in Minneapolis Minnesota. $2767.64, 5 business days lead time.  He used my old tanks and installed an improved extruded core in the radiator. He felt that if the radiator is kept clean that we should not need a new radiator during the time we will own the coach.  A local shop removed the radiator and reinstalled it with the stipulation that I would work with the mechanic. The parts are too heavy for one man to lift without risk of damage to the new parts.  Two men 2.5 hrs to remove the intercooler and radiator. Two men 6 hrs to install with new belts on engine air and alternator, all new hose couplings, radiator and inter cooler, new coolant and a check of the transmission fluid. The install could have been done a little faster but we had the mounting brackets reinforced and we had to make new shoulder bolts to hold the radiator because the old ones were now too short.

[Stan Simpson]

Bob,
This is great information. Thank you for sharing. It would be even more helpful if you posted what year and model of Beaver you have, along with the engine.
Thanks,
Stan