Jim Godward
Well-known member
The radiator on our 2001 DSDP failed on our way home from Thanksgiving due to corrosion of the aluminum. It has survived 10 years minus a few days and was working up till the time the low water indication showed up on the dash panel.
We were towed about 40 miles by Coachnet, excellent service from the tow company out of Ellensburg WA. The shop was the Cat Dealer in Yakima WA, NC Machinery. They did a great job of getting us out in just 3 days with a new core, copper and brass like in the old days. I will be posting a review later in the service group.
I said the failure was caused by corrosion as most of the wavy fins were gone in the area of failure and also several other areas. I believe it was caused by the road treatments used in removing ice and snow from the roads. If I am right then the radiator should be cleaned as soon as possible after driving on such roads in addition to the annual cleaning. To do it right will require removing or at least placing the CAC and any other condenser out of the way, no small job in and of itself.
This also means that if you have driven in rain on roads that are treated in the winter, a rinse should be done then as the salts are there all year long. I?m not sure that this would require the same level of disassembly though.
The alternative is to be prepared for a radiator replacement in the time range of 8 to 12 or so years, non-scientific wild guess.
In this case it was about $3500 for the replacement, labor, fluids, etc. plus about $700 for the tow. The warranty, service contract, paid almost $3,000 and I paid about $500. The service contract will also pick up about $375 in hotel and meals. Coachnet picked up the tow.
Just my experience and thoughts on this.
We were towed about 40 miles by Coachnet, excellent service from the tow company out of Ellensburg WA. The shop was the Cat Dealer in Yakima WA, NC Machinery. They did a great job of getting us out in just 3 days with a new core, copper and brass like in the old days. I will be posting a review later in the service group.
I said the failure was caused by corrosion as most of the wavy fins were gone in the area of failure and also several other areas. I believe it was caused by the road treatments used in removing ice and snow from the roads. If I am right then the radiator should be cleaned as soon as possible after driving on such roads in addition to the annual cleaning. To do it right will require removing or at least placing the CAC and any other condenser out of the way, no small job in and of itself.
This also means that if you have driven in rain on roads that are treated in the winter, a rinse should be done then as the salts are there all year long. I?m not sure that this would require the same level of disassembly though.
The alternative is to be prepared for a radiator replacement in the time range of 8 to 12 or so years, non-scientific wild guess.
In this case it was about $3500 for the replacement, labor, fluids, etc. plus about $700 for the tow. The warranty, service contract, paid almost $3,000 and I paid about $500. The service contract will also pick up about $375 in hotel and meals. Coachnet picked up the tow.
Just my experience and thoughts on this.
