1996 F53 Motorhome Radiator?

If its the original factory radiator, you might want to take it to a radiator shop (if they still exist in your area) and see if they can repair it. The technician will probably have to be at least 50 years old. Ford used some pretty good radiators in their truck chassis. But, time and poor maintenance usually take their toll on everything. Nothing lasts forever. Just a thought. A new radiator that matches the specs of the old factory unit can be in the thousands. (US dollars)

Chum lee

Chum lee wrote:
If its the original factory radiator, you might want to take it to a radiator shop (if they still exist in your area) and see if they can repair it. The technician will probably have to be at least 50 years old. Ford used some pretty good radiators in their truck chassis. But, time and poor maintenance usually take their toll on everything. Nothing lasts forever. Just a thought. A new radiator that matches the specs of the old factory unit can be in the thousands. (US dollars)

Chum lee

I'm looking into local radiator shops now. I was looking at all metal replacement radiators online. Prices vary between $700 to $1100 shipped. My concern was if I spend that kind of money will it cool as good as the factory one did when it was new. I read on a Forum somewhere that the aftermarket ones have less fins per inch and they don't cool as well. We pull a enclosed trailer with a racecar in it so my 460 works on the highway. Right now at 65mph on flat ground my temp creeps up to 215 or so.

if you tow a race car you should have a Summit parts book.....some of the aluminum ones are pretty cheap

You said in your OP "I have a tank leaking on radiator" is your over flow tank leaking or the radiator itself? The overflow tanks are easy and cheap to replace. How did you flush the radiator? If you remove the lower hose and thermostat and use a garden hose in the the lower hose you will get a good complete flush. You radiator can be checked with a cheap IR gun from HF by taking readings every several ins from the top to bottom in a grid pattern. In a functioning radiator you will see hi temps at the inlet on top and lower temps at the out let and a reduction in water temperature of about 50 degrees. Any blockage will show up as a colder reading. This usually shows up in the center of the radiator behind the fan clutch. You probably have a 195 Thermostat in the MH and on a hot day 215 is not overly hot especially when reading a 24 year old dash gauge which may not be accurate. A HD thermostat with a by pass hole in the flange can help lower temps also. Of course if the radiator itself is leaking then just replace it if it is just your over flow tank try these simple thing first.

Gjac wrote:
You said in your OP "I have a tank leaking on radiator" is your over flow tank leaking or the radiator itself? The overflow tanks are easy and cheap to replace. How did you flush the radiator? If you remove the lower hose and thermostat and use a garden hose in the the lower hose you will get a good complete flush. You radiator can be checked with a cheap IR gun from HF by taking readings every several ins from the top to bottom in a grid pattern. In a functioning radiator you will see hi temps at the inlet on top and lower temps at the out let and a reduction in water temperature of about 50 degrees. Any blockage will show up as a colder reading. This usually shows up in the center of the radiator behind the fan clutch. You probably have a 195 Thermostat in the MH and on a hot day 215 is not overly hot especially when reading a 24 year old dash gauge which may not be accurate. A HD thermostat with a by pass hole in the flange can help lower temps also. Of course if the radiator itself is leaking then just replace it if it is just your over flow tank try these simple thing first.

It's the Radiator tank that's leaking. I wish it was only the overflow tank. lol. The problem started about a year ago when the temp started moving towards hot. It got to the point it would run just to the right of the L on normal. I put a mechanical gauge in it so I can see actual temperature. At 60-65 runs 215 gets up to 225 or so on hills. The Radiator was flushed with Radiator flush real goo. When I pulled the cap it had some brown crud by the cap. I'm thinking the previous owner put stop leak in it. Changed thermostat with a Premium 192 one. I have a Radiator shop set up to take a look at the radiator and make any repair that it needs.

Another decision to replace or repair is the core size(tube size) and rows. The bigger Dia. the cooling tubes and more fins the better it will cool. If you can find a new replacement that will fit with larger dia tubes and more fins and rows, I would get that If not the radiator shop can rod out the tubes and solder the leak and pressure test it for you and you know it will fit. Do you ever hear your clutch fan come on when the temperature goes high?

There is a very limited number of replacement radiators out there that will Fit and cool a 460 F53 MH chassis. If the radiator has 1451 as part of the part # it will NOT fit your MH. All the copper brass radiators that I find, only have 15 fins per inch, ver your OEM radiator at 20 fins per inch. 15 fins per inch will not radiate enough concentrated heat to make the fan clutch operate properly.
I've been there and made the mistakes.
What I ended up doing was to remove the composite end tanks from my OEM copper radiator and replacement them with the brass end tanks from the new replacement radiator. It was kind of a custom deal but I now have no leaks and the cooling is back to normal.
There are aluminum radiator out there for your MH but I don't have any feedback as to their cooling capacity.
If you can find an old radiator guy, have him install some custom brass end tanks on you OEM radiator. The tubes in your radiator can be rodded out and cleaned.

Richard