Help, broke down-.over heating Cat 350 near Needles CA

Teacher's Pet wrote:
If it's rear radiator like our Tiffin it's about a $1000 repair due to taking several men (3) and removing the air-filter and sometimes the muffler to get to the belt through from the side, bedroom and from the bottom to thread the belt. Have had two changed, $970 1st time at a Freightliner shop $1005 the second time at an independent repair center. If I ever upgrade it will be to a side radiator coach.

Wow glad I have a side radiator

Trouble with some of the parts lists anymore is, the shops replace everything so they don't get blamed for the next break down on a part that is reinstalled. About 6 hours labor is most likely not bad, as getting to from top or bottom is a pain. Good luck, sitting with the Monaco group in Quartzsite La Posa south, about 16-18 rigs here now.

LEN

FIRE UP wrote:

Diplomat_St_Poodles wrote:
Scott.
I have the parts list so I will check it out. You are likely correct. FYI the pulls was around $250, if I get a chance I will post a pic of the invoice with the parts list.

Tempest.

Hey Tempest,
Thanks for getting back to me on this. If you haven't been to Quartzsite before, for the big event, it's pretty cool. We've been oh, about 8-9 times or so, maybe more. After a while, it get's to be monotonous but, you'll enjoy it. The big tent for the most part, gets too darn crowded for us. Lots of stuff to do and see and, of course, BUY!

We'd be down there with you (somewhat nearby) but, as stated earlier in this thread, I've got the back end of the coach apart so I can replace MY fan hub bearing and, water pump and a few other goodies. Maybe next year. By the way, I'm assuming you meant PULLEY, not "Pulls".
Scott

My late husband and I used to spent some time in Q till we bought a house in Phoenix. This is the first time I’ve been back for a couple of years. My Dad used to come with my Mom 30 years ago.

Yes I meant pulley :-)

Tempest

Good to see you on the road

Diplomat_St_Poodles wrote:
Scott.
I have the parts list so I will check it out. You are likely correct. FYI the pulls was around $250, if I get a chance I will post a pic of the invoice with the parts list.

Tempest.

Hey Tempest,
Thanks for getting back to me on this. If you haven't been to Quartzsite before, for the big event, it's pretty cool. We've been oh, about 8-9 times or so, maybe more. After a while, it get's to be monotonous but, you'll enjoy it. The big tent for the most part, gets too darn crowded for us. Lots of stuff to do and see and, of course, BUY!

We'd be down there with you (somewhat nearby) but, as stated earlier in this thread, I've got the back end of the coach apart so I can replace MY fan hub bearing and, water pump and a few other goodies. Maybe next year. By the way, I'm assuming you meant PULLEY, not "Pulls".
Scott

Scott.
I have the parts list so I will check it out. You are likely correct. FYI the pulls was around $250, if I get a chance I will post a pic of the invoice with the parts list.

Tempest.

Gottahaveit wrote:
Glad to hear your back up and running! We r in Q now and the weather is awesome. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Gottahaveit.

Dad and I are camped at the LTV near the big tent. We enjoyed a great sunny day yesterday.
Only glitch in the coach is the one of our 3 Big Foot Leveling jacks did not deploy. Sigh.... Always something :). LOL. first world problem.

Glad to hear your back up and running! We r in Q now and the weather is awesome. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Diplomat_St_Poodles wrote:
Thanks Scott, Brett and everyone for your feedback.

I will have to confess I am totally un-mechanical. My late husband was in charge of that end of the MH. So I am not sure if the bearing is sealed or greasable. I will check the invoice and see if it says anything.

The access to the motor is terrible. Just getting the cover off under the bed is ridiculous. The access panel is not very big.

Now the good part is that the parts came in overnight. Arrived by 9:30 this AM. Was reassembled in a couple of hours. Took it out for a test drive. All seems great. Headed out to Quartzsite around noon. Everything seems good now.

Parts and shipping $899. I also had them replace the air filter while they were in there. That was included in the parts cost. Total with labour and taxes $1,660.

I have to say the service at Great West Truck in Needles was very good. They let us stay in the MH as we had our dogs with us and gave us power. They were efficient and the total cost was $80 less then the quote. So I have no complaints.

On edit FYI there are 108,000 miles on the motorhome.

Diplomat_St_Poodles,
Well, that's nice they got you all buttoned up and, you're moving along. Even those of us that ARE mechanically inclined, and have been wrenching since we were pups, breaking down is no fun. We really don't buy these rolling Kleenex boxes to work on, just have fun in them. But, it happens, (break-downs that is). So for those that are not quite as "schooled" in the grease monkey stuff, I can surely see the sense of feeling helpless.

As for your particular parts that were installed, I'm listing below, two different bearing retainers. Those are the main housing that holds your fan bearing in place. One, normally found on pre-2004 CAT engines, namely the 3126 model CATS, will have the fan bearing housing that has a zerk fitting in it, making it a lubable fan bearing.

CAT introduced the "C-7" version in or around Oct of '03 and those were destined for '04 and later coaches. They came in 330HP and like yours, a 350HP. CAT felt that since there was a high possibility of folks NOT LUBING the versions with the zerk, they decided it was time for a change. So, they came up with a "sealed" bearing that is installed in all C-7s, 330 or 350.

However, just because it's a sealed bearing, doesn't mean it's a PERMANENT. Many are documented as failed. The mileage at when they fail, is all over the board. Some as early as in the 30-35K range while others, say, in my case, I'm presently at 81K miles and mine is still spinning freely. I'm replacing it anyways.

So, to the point. If you'd like to know which they installed, and, you have an invoice telling you the part numbers of the components installed, here's the two part numbers for the lubable and, non-lubable. In my opinion, I'd bet my house that, since your running a 350HP C-7 CAT, they ordered and installed, the non-lube type, just like what was in there.
Scott

Lube type: 134-5690
Non lube type: 226-7914

Diplomat_St_Poodles wrote:
Thanks Scott, Brett and everyone for your feedback.
I am not sure if the bearing is sealed or greasable. I will check the invoice and see if it says anything.

Glad you are back on the road.

It IS important that you find out which they installed-- if it is greasable, that will have to be greased when you have the rest of the chassis greased.

Pull out your invoice and either go to any Caterpillar dealer OR call the Caterpillar Corporate RV Hotline at 877 777-3126. They can tell you whether the housing is sealed or has a grease zirk.