OLYLEN wrote:
I think Fireup is a bit light on the R&&R costs. Most book at 10 hours so I would expect near a $1000. But while its out do all belts, idler and hoses and anything else that is hard to get at. Its much cheaper at this point.
LEN
Len,
You could be right. I was going by two things. One, I pulled my own out of ours and, basically goofing around, taking breaks, and, trying for quite some time to find the drain pet-**** (Freightliner hid it inside the radiator frame, on the opposite side they told me to look) it took me right at 6 hours to pull both the CAC and the radiator.
And two, my son worked at a San Diego RV Repair center and he and or any of his team could pull the average rear radiator in just over two hours. But, as in many cases in the auto repair world, it may be "Booked out" as taking longer. That is quite often the case.
I know now that, based on the fact that I installed a drain pet **** at the lowest point in the system and, know all the angles, hidden nuts and bolts, types of tools needed etc., even I could pull ours in a bit over two hours. Without a doubt, some of them (nuts, bolts, braces, hoses, clamps, fittings, and more) are seriously hard to get to. But, if you know the right tricks and, have some specialty tools, it makes for a much easier extraction.
But, different RV repair and, Radiator shops will charge what they see fit.
Scott
onecolbs wrote:
What should it cost to have a radiator taken out of a 2001 bounder, 300 cumin, and have cleaned and replaced. Or is there a way to really clean the front fins without having it removed? thanks
Well Sir
To R & R a radiator out of the back of one of those coaches, can dig into your wallet by usually a minimum of around $200-$250 each way. Meaning you're most likely looking at, $400 to $500 in labor alone, to remove and replace it. Based on the average hourly rate of around $125 an hour, with a good tech at the end of a wrench, he'd have that radiator out in about 2 hours, plus or minus, depending. Then there's the time to steam clean or, what ever method they would use, to clean the fins. And, you're also talking about R & Ring the CAC too. That unit gets the brunt of the debris and clogging since it's in front of the radiator.
You can do all this yourself but, it's somewhat tedious and, in many cases, above the tech level of most home do-it-yourself types. Not to mention, that stuff is HEAVY. I did it quite a while ago. Our coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, had a heating problem on some grades and, it also had a tiny leak in a lower left corner.
So, long story short, I dove into the project, head first. And, pulled both the radiator and, the CAC. I've got lots of background in DIY stuff for decades so, to me, it was the same as working on a car, ONLY BIGGER.
But, I will tell you now, it's the ONLY WAY TO ACCURATELY CLEAN, BOTH THE CAC AND THE RADIATOR, EFFECIENTLY. But, many have opted to do the best they can, worming around all what's in the way of doing an accurate and efficient job of cleaning both, while in the coach. It's certainly up to each individual.
Either way, it's not easy. But, one way gets a way better job done.
Scott
