Can You Help My Luddite Brother?

[Reidgreh]

My brother, who is computer illiterate, would like to add a side air scoop to help push more air into the side radiator on his Dutch Star. I am requesting your input on 2 things and will happily relay the info to him: 1) Is this advisable to do? Are there any downsides to this approach? 2) Do you know of any sources to obtain a side air scoop of this type? Appreciating y'all in advance.

[T18skyguy]

If it's overheating, spray both sides of the radiator with a mixture of water and Dawn dishwashing detergent. Let it set a few minutes then use a strong hose spray on it to clean it. I was amazed at all the dirt I got off mine. It actually dropped the temperature gauge about a 1/8 inch. The other issue with the scoop is it will totally kill the resale value of the rig. Even if you take it off you got screw holes. I know a mod like that would scare me off.

[Acampingwewillg]

I can understand wanting to increase cooling on a side radiator MH. I have one and at times when climbing in HOT weather, I'm very aware of my RPM's to keep fluids moving thru the system. To be sure, I'm anal about watching my gauges although in 16 plus years of ownership, this has never reached critical mass.

Just for kicks, the worst incident I ever had on over heating had more to do with Transmission Temps than it did with water. While coming down a fairly steep incline and using my true "Jake" brake all the way down, immediately after the incline we ended up in dead stop traffic, the outside temps were in the 100+ range. I had to keep shifting into neutral to try to lower the Trans temp. Soon after this I considered an electric fan to turn on only in circumstances described above although I never did follow through with this thought and 10+ years later, all is still going strong.


PS...On another note, I see the comment about "notifying" the Mod's about this topic has been removed. I can only guess that someone may have thought "Luddite" was something terrible....its NOT and yes, I had to look it up. 🙂

[fyrflie]

For some reason I cannot find in the OP’s post that says his brother is having overheating problems, yet everyone is assuming that is the issue.

Does anyone think a scoop is going to stick out so far as to require a “Wide Load Permit”. Really?

Don’t be so naive to think that just because it didn’t come from the factory with a scoop that it’s not needed.

And we forgot to mention the loss of fuel mileage do to the scoop catching all that air and slowing you down. ??

To the OP.
Have never seen one commercially available but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Keep searching and let us know what you find.

[Cloud_Dancer]

People do nutty things. Perhaps he just wants to add a scoop because.....
Heck, I built a custom radiator GRILLE for my brand new 2003 Dutch Star (side radiator). WHY? Because the original grille was ugly. I really liked the grille on the Mountain Aire. Newmar was nice enough to sell me the extra louvre material which I needed in order to double the number of louvres in the original grille. I think I'm the only one who knows that I own a "personalized" Dutch Star.
BTW if he has a heating problem, an exterior air scoop will not solve the problem.

[Bill_Satellite]

I have seen several older bus conversions where the owner has added a scoop to the side radiator. Not sure why, but they all appeared to be stainless steel so didn't need any painting or additional attention. That likely means that some kind of a production air scoop is out there and might warrant a bit of Google searching. I would also visit the Bus Nut forum and see if you can get any guidance from that group. I could be that the owners do a lot of mountain driving and are looking for some additional air flow.

[dougrainer]

Scoops are never needed. The OP's brother must have an overheat problem and thinks it is a air flow problem that IS a design problem. NOT SO. Diesel side radiators have a hydraulic drive shaft fan system the gets the air thru the radiator. There can be numerous faults that prevent that fan from turning to the correct speed or even if that fan is turning at all. He just needs to get the Motorhome to a Freightliner service center to find and fix the problem. Doug

[ArchHoagland]

I can't remember ever seeing a scoop on the side of a diesel pusher.

[WILDEBILL308]

Reidgreh wrote:
My brother, who is computer illiterate, would like to add a side air scoop to help push more air into the side radiator on his Dutch Star. I am requesting your input on 2 things and will happily relay the info to him: 1) Is this advisable to do? Are there any downsides to this approach? 2) Do you know of any sources to obtain a side air scoop of this type? Appreciating y'all in advance.

You have gotten some good answers. Let me pile on.:D
First, under what conditions is he getting the overheat? Is it overheating or is this a fix for "just incase"? I would not add a scoop.
I would do all the cheacks related above, is the fan operating properly? Has he cleaned the radiator and CAC at least annually? Is it overheating on hills?
Let me know and we can go from there.
Bill

[gbopp]

MrWizard wrote:
maybe he just needs to have the radiator cleaned

i guess any engine can get too warm

but i have never seen a comment on this forum, about needing extra cooling on a side radiator DP

I agree. I've never owned a Diesel Pusher but, I think if a scoop was needed it the manufacturer would install them at the factory.
There are a lot of buses on the road every day that don't need a scoop.
And wouldn't rear radiators overheat all the time?

I would clean the radiator before trying to install an air scoop

[STBRetired]

Think scoop will serve as a restriction at low speeds, which may cause overheating. Also, his Dutch Star is probably already at the 102" maximum width and adding the scoop could result in him needing "wide load" permits in most states.

[bjbear]

As a general comment I would say that there is really no reason to do this. If he is having overheat problems, it means that there is sonething wrong. Adding a scoop might help briefly, but it will probably not last.

He should try to find the problem and address that issue first. Something to look at...

Has radiator and CAC been cleaned?
Is fan working?
Is fan controller running fan at full speed when required?
Is coolant level full and is coolant clean with no oil contamination?

[MrWizard]

maybe he just needs to have the radiator cleaned

i guess any engine can get too warm

but i have never seen a comment on this forum, about needing extra cooling on a side radiator DP

[rgatijnet1]

It will probably have to be custom fabricated and then painted to match the rest of the coach. Personally I would try to make a mock up scoop out of wood or sheet metal and give it a test drive to see if it works. Naturally you will want a before and after comparison.