Hi Eng Temperature on Silverleaf 230 Deg at Idle

[Larry Dedrick]

Steve
          Turns out that our problem is two fold, one is a a faulty fan, it apparently is operating very sporadically. At the slower speeds it is very iffy if it will run and thus not provide the cooling air. The second problem was a loss of cooling fluid due to a leak at the front heater core for the front of the coach. We have lost more fluid than we realized and the repairman bypassed the core, thus eliminating the core from further leakage. We thought we had topped off the fluid, but the loss of fluid was much more than we realized, so after limping into the campground, I checked the reservoir again for coolant and it was needing more fluid. Come tomorrow, I will be making sure the coolant is all replenished. Had Laure pick up an extra four gallons to have on hand. It's hind sight now, but five days ago I could smell coolant fluid at the front of the coach. My teenage and adult experience taught me that if you smell coolant, Find the Leak, which I did not pursue aggressively enough.
          So once we get the fluid topped Off this time, we will make a run for the cat facility to have our hydraulics checked to the fan. We will also have the thermostat replaced as advised by Roy Mueller, due to our engine temp reaching 250 degrees, even though it was momentary.

          Thanks for your advice and help Steve.

                     Larry D

[Larry Dedrick]

Tom
           I will be checking out the Hydraulics over the next few days.

                Thanks.                Larry D

[Steve Huber]

Larry,
Sounds like you are on the way to getting it fixed. I had the same issue with the heater core on mine last summer. Took me a long time to track it down. Then clamped off the hoses to the heater core and bought a few gallons of antifreeze to add at each stop. BTW, it will take a very skinny tech to get at the core as it is way up in the front cap on the driver's side.
Steve

[Edward Buker]

Larry,

You are likely to find that the hydraulics are fine once you get the thermostats changed and the block full of antifreeze and purged of air. If you have not had a lot of codes of overheating stored over time then that would say that the hydraulic system was doing its job before the leak occurred. The fan and hydraulics do run a bit sporadically responding to when the system calls for cooling. Obviously this is hard to monitor from the driver seat at speed. At idle that fan may not be overly active at times.

On the subject of overheat and the block reaching 250 degrees. Your engine oil which normally runs in the 210F range should be changed given the oil would have seen temps well above the 250 degrees during this overheat. This is just a good precaution given the cost of an oil change vs ruining an expensive engine on degraded oil.

Later Ed

[Larry Dedrick]

Ed
              Good point on the oil change.We have 5000 miles on the oil, so it is a good time to change.

               Thanks for the advice and info.

             Larry D

[Larry Dedrick]

Steve, Tom, and Ed

             Thanks so much for the advice and info.

                    Larry D.

[neil omalley]

Larry: curious - any particular reason you leave your engine running while fueling?

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Laura/Larry,

When I had my heater core replaced at Bend RV Repair, Jeff Spear, the tall skinny tech, was able to fit in the space behind the front cap.  To facilitate removal and replacement of the core, he also removed the dash, and cut an access hole in the particle board below the dash.  Two techs, top and bottom, could work together much faster than one from the bottom.  The cut out was replaced to reseal the hole.  Knowing this trick may save you some shop time when you have it done.

The other Larry

[Larry Dedrick]

larryNCarolyn

                   We have 4 days of maintenance scheduled in Bend by BAC, I will see if they can accommodate the heater core. I have been up between the dash and front of the coach several times. The driver side I can not stand up but on the passenger side there is room for me to stand up and move around, but unfortunately not enough for doing the Twist (Chubby Checker Thing). I saw where the unit is that houses the heater core and the A/C coil and was considering talking this myself, but if BAC is experienced at this, I would prefer them to do the job.
                    I do believe the heater core has been leaking for quit some time, but the fluid was dripping in amongst the A/Cs and made it difficult to determine that I had a leak. there was a coolant odor I had detected a week ago, if only I had been more aggressive at looking for a leak. If you smell coolant, you most likely have a leak. Bad Me.

                 Thanks for the Info:             Larry D

[Larry Williams]

larryNCarolyn

                   We have 4 days of maintenance scheduled in Bend by BAC, I will see if they can accommodate the heater core. I have been up between the dash and front of the coach several times. The driver side I can not stand up but on the passenger side there is room for me to stand up and move around, but unfortunately not enough for doing the Twist (Chubby Checker Thing). I saw where the unit is that houses the heater core and the A/C coil and was considering talking this myself, but if BAC is experienced at this, I would prefer them to do the job.
                    I do believe the heater core has been leaking for quit some time, but the fluid was dripping in amongst the A/Cs and made it difficult to determine that I had a leak. there was a coolant odor I had detected a week ago, if only I had been more aggressive at looking for a leak. If you smell coolant, you most likely have a leak. Bad Me.

                 Thanks for the Info:             Larry D

Not sure that you meant BCS rather than BAC, but that is a different shop than Bend RV Repair that the other Larry was talking about. BCS (Beaver Coach Service) is the original factory service center that is now independently owned but is still the go to shop for Beavers. Bend RV Repair is across the street and has many years of Beaver experience also. I'm sure either has a lot of experience fixing heater cores on Beavers.

The other Larry 2

EDIT: As a side note on the name Larry, I'm sure we are all of the same generation so I have an interesting story. I was checking in the RV at a dog show in Canby Oregon last summer and the parking attendant at the show was also named Larry. He told me that he was a retired middle school teacher and in 30 years of teaching he only had two Larrys in his classes. I guess it is not a popular name any more. In my generation there were Larrys everywhere and lots of confusion. I had three close friends named Larry and we were always swiveling our heads answering the same request.

[Larry Dedrick]

Larry
              Yes, I meant Beaver Coach Sales.

[Larry Dedrick]

To All Who Responded to our issue:
                  Cat looked over Coolant system, replaced thermostat (as a precaution), Checked fan operation, and oil and filter change. ECM was checked by cat and good news was that it only indicated a max temp of 230 degrees. So, this whole episode was due to our coolant leaking out over a period of time. Had I been more pro-active on tracking down the coolant I smelt a week ago, this could have been averted.
                   Our 40 mile trip to our campsite for the night, showed normal operating temps and All Is Good.
                  Laura and I have changed our mind on trading this Beaver in, For Now!

                       Larry D