Here at a CG in Ranchester , Wyoming ran into a guy here with a Monaco Knight . He said while climbing a steep grade over the Rockies his engine got hot .I ask how hot ,he said about 230 degrees , but he pulled over, put it into "reverse" and it cooled down real fast . He said he didn't see why more people didn't figure this out . I said gee , you might be on to something . :-X :-X :-X lots of wizards out and about . Brad Metzger
My old buddy is a top tech at the largest volume dealership in my area. He showed me a new knight and many other coaches with rear radiators and mentioned the heating issues that were sure to result. The floor plans with bed slides work better without that pesky side radiator in the way.
Bob
The question is why does it cool down faster. Don't think it will help on my FT.
The actual rear radiator is fairly large on the knight especially vertically.
Passing the cooling air over the working hot engine and trans preheats the air.
Not optimal
Bob
I went back over to that guy and ask how he thought putting his coach in reverse helped cool his engine so quickly . His reply was , by doing that it made the fan go into reverse also and pull cool air in over the motor. I had a hard time being polite , but I was .He wanted to tell me more but by this time I had heard enough , so I said my wife said lunch is ready and I left . Being on the road turns up some interesting people with interesting thoughts . Brad Metzger
Sounds like a lesson for Darwin.
Brett
I am also a motorcycle nut, and often on motorcycle tachometers the red line is indicated by a narrow red band on the dial. I had a guy tell me - once you got above the red area, you were good to go again.
We travel a lot of mountain roads and passes each summer and I use the "load" on my Silverleaf as a guide as to how far to push the engine. This function may also be available on the Cummins data screen. If the speed and grade are such that the load is near 100%, the engine temp will go steadily up. But if I back off the load to say 80%, by shifting down and reducing the speed, I can keep it very close to its normal operating temp of 183 degrees. I'll bet my mileage is also better when I don't push it, but I have no data to show that is true.
george I do the same thing and it stops the temps from going up. It will nto reduce them though on my coach.
Temperature management on grades is a function of driver awareness, old song, increase RPM, decrease speed, use a LITTLE common sense. One of the Souths famous grades is Mount Eagle in TN. I recently drove it both ways, downshift to 4th, back off throttle, stay in right lane, ( except when passing overheated trucks and campers uphill). Relax, enjoy the view.
Gary B
He sounds like the kind of guy who will set the Cruise Control so he can get up and go to the bathroom while continuing down the road!!
Don't give him any ideas, Carol!
One of my motorcycle buddies used to be in a band that traveled in their old bus. With the cruise set, in the middle of the night when it was time to change drivers, the driver would just get up and holler "new driver!" He's still alive...
Carol you just kill me :-) funny.
That actually happened. Bob
I never underestimate the capacity of human beings for being stupid... and some folks have less common sense than an onion.
What's wrong with setting the cruise for a bathroom break???
Nothing as long as you are real quick
Nothing - I knew a guy who would do it while driving his Mack, with two trailers behind it. He would set the hand throttle, open the door and climb out on the running board and just whip it out right there, one hand on the steering wheel and one hand hanging on to the tool... :o . I never would try anything like that. Afraid of ending up on the wrong side of the guard rails.
I'm thinking if we all ever get together around a campfire one day, we could go all night with tall tales of high adventure and misspent youth...