When I purchased the GV I noticed it seemed to run warmer than I thought it should even in the winter. One of the issues was the gauge seemed slow to respond and never went back to full cold even after extended down time. We could tell it was hot, but the gauge never went past green. We tried everything we could think of to cure the problem, but the stress on the engine finally caused it to fail. A complete engine replacement seemed to help the problem, but the RV was moved to the lake on a cool spring morning right after the replacement where it only went from storage to the camp ground. Less than 3 miles one way. Well, last week we drove the RV back home on a 100 degree day and the mechanical gauge that is mounted directly in the neck at the thermostat indicated 210 most of the time and 230+ when climbing long hills. The radiator is the only thing left. I know the frame was built and then the RV body was dropped on it, so it will not come out the top. Every RV repair place I talked to refuses to touch it and Freightliner, the Oskosh purchaser, said they probably couldn't get to it since they were too busy. A polite way of saying go away. The place that replaced the motor will do it but it will be a low priority behind their fleet customers. I'm curious if anyone in the forum has tackled this job. I was told the front needs to be at least 4ft in the air and the mounts might need to be cut off and everything in front needs to move forward to allow the fill neck to move down enough to clear. If I start I have to finish it, since there will not be a way to move it. I don't want it to become a fixture out at the farm.
Bill and Doris
93 GV OKC
Bill, Sounds like you are discussing a OREG, pusher with a Ford 460 in the back, I thought the radiator was in the rear behind the engine. Is the radiator in the Front since you say front has to be raised. Reason I question it is that a friend had an OREG and was able to remove the radiator thru the top by raising the bed platform. Hard to get to but not impossible. Check with RRadio on this forum. He has a rear engine rear radiator coach and had quite an ordeal R and Ring the radiator.
Gary B
Is your main radiator in the front or rear?
If in the rear, an option might be what Kent Spears did by mounting a couple of aluminum radiators up front behind the grills and then using the heater hoses to bring the coolant up front. Lots of room forward. 230 degrees on the hills is WAY too hot for engine longevity. Even better if you could bring even 1" tubing from the back to the front.
Other option might be to mount a smaller rear radiator on the side and use electric fans on the aux radiator to help the main radiator.
Might check your radiator ducting and fan to make sure it is getting all the air through the radiator. Using an IR gun could also check to see if you have any cold spots (blocked tubes) on the radiator before you remove it.
Leaking head gaskets will also cause an engine to run hot. Have seen this as a problem more than once. Easy to check for products of combustion in the coolant.
Pierce
Verify which way the forces to air flow through the radiator. Let me know. Up to 60 the sucker fan worked ok. Past that was a problem
This is a front engine GV. The shop said the fan clutch should have engaged, but never did. Also when we arrived the gauge was reading about 210. My son-in-law pulled the cap off using a towel and gloves and the water in the neck under the cap was cold. The shop had me pull the hoses off of the heater to verify the pump was pumping and it was. Pretty much points to a plugged up radiator. Now I just have to decide do they do it(could take them months working on it when they can) or do I attempt it? If I try and can't get it out then I am looking at a significant wreaker bill to tow it in on top of the shop bill.
Bill, Call Tennessee RV in Knoxville, TN and ask to speak with James Holder. He has an older but similar coach and if I remember and maybe he can give you some tips on that radiator. He is also on the forum as JAHOLDER76.
Good luck with it.
Gary B
It has been a long time since I worked on those coaches, but if I remember correctly the radiator should come out through the front of the coach. I know we took the radiators of the ftx out through the front, but this will be more difficult on your coach due to the way the front is constructed. If the neck is a problem, it could be cut with enough left on the radiator to be put back on with a piece of radiator hose.
We just did a very careful inspection of the radiator. The radiator is incased in a u-channel that starts from the bottom left and goes over the top and down the other side. This seems to be the location of all bolts for the a/c coils and other stuff. Because of the lip on the channel the radiator cannot move forward or back and must drop straight down. I guess Oskosh realized it could be a problem so the 2 mounts on the bottom that actually bolt to the radiator and hold it up are bolted to the frame and should be removable. If we can actually get those bolts loose we will give it a try. With the cowl removed there is a possibility it may just fall out if the neck will clear the a/c coils.
Bill and Doris
93GV gas
OKC
Can you remove the bolts that hold the u channel and remove the u channel and then may be able to lift the radiator and get it to clear the channel, like I said, it has been quite a few years. Is your chassis the same as the John Deere chassis?
It took 6 hours and more work than I care to do at 70+ but we did determined it will not come out toward the engine. We got so focused on removing stuff to get the radiator lose, we failed to realize there was no way it would clear the frame rails. Tomorrow we will do what I was trying to avoid and pull all the coils in front of the radiator and hope there is enough space in front of the pump for the jacks to drop it out the bottom. Otherwise the pump has to come out also. We are still not sure how they mounted the channel on top of the radiator. Seems they bolted a lot of stuff up there. We have removed most of the stuff, but haven't found the bolts. We will have to figure it out since the 3 inch studs on the bottom of the radiator will not clear anything unless we can raise it up. I did find out there are a lot of places that fix these, even to the point of building a new one.
Bill and Doris
93 GV gas
OKC
Been told on most side radiator coaches that dropping out from the bottom is the "way". Getting ready to do the same on my 95 280 . Diesel not Gas but probably not much different aside from scale. Good Luck!
Got it out. Have about 3 hours of work ahead to put everything back that was behind the radiator. Pulled the a/c condenser and oil/trans cooler. Removed all the stuff mounted on top of the plate on top of the radiator and pulled it out. The radiator just tilted forward and we were able to lift it out through one of the doors on the front. The radiator folks didn't seem to excited to see it, especially when I told them it was Oskosh. Plan to replace the water pump even though it only has about a 1000 miles on it along with the thermostat. If this doesn't fix it I'll just drive it to the lake this winter and park it close enough to the camp grounds so it won't run long enough to heat up.
Bill and Doris
93 GV gas
OKC
Might also consider the fan clutch. I learned many years ago that when you replace the engine also have the radiator replaced
Also need to check that the lower hose has a spring in it to keep it from getting sucked shut. I also at one time had changed the water pump on my Dodge car and it overheated very quickly. I took off the new water pump and found that the opening for the lower hose was completely blocked with metal that should have been removed at time of assembly. Funny things happen sometimes, and sometimes they are not so funny at the time, but after a few years seem to be funny. Sure hope that all goes well for you on your problem as I know how much of a pain it is to remove and reinstall that radiator is.
Lower hose is 2 short pieces of hose and a metal tube. Jury is still out on the fan clutch. Mechanic said it should have kicked in around 200, but if the radiator wasn't that hot he suspects it wouldn't. It is one of the easiest parts to get off. Radiator shop just called and they are not sure how they are going to rebuild it. It either has round cores or oval, not sure which he said, but they are not available. I guess they don't vat radiators anymore and rod them out. Oskosh drilled so many holes in the radiator frame I don't know what they are going to do. Did email Foretravel just to see if they might have one, but they have never answered emails in the past and this seems to be no exception. I called but couldn't get through.
Bill, why not call the outfit in Corpus Christi that makes the CACs for FT maybe they make the rads too and it would be a lot cheaper too. Forgot their name but someone will have it. I emailed them 2 yrs ago when I was considering a new one (CAC) and their price was almost a 1/3rd of FTs price. In the end I fixed my old one.
I will see if I can google it.
JohnH
Industrial Radiators from Atlas Radiator/Corpus Christi (http://atlasradiator.cc/)
I got hold of a place in MO that handles Oskosh radiators and he said there probably was not one available. He said the issue would be how unique the chassis was to Foretravel and were they using the same radiator on other chassis. He said the ability to get that data was remote. He said nothing he had referenced Foretravel. The shop just called again and the father of the guy who I talked to had it apart and thankfully it was plugged up. At least it makes all the work getting it out worth it. It is a 5 core inline radiator and they will rebuild it to a 5 core staggered system. They swear it will not overheat again. He explained the problem with the cores is they are round where they enter the tank and then flatten out. He said there is no way to rod the core out. My wife said I can count this as my anniversary present. I'm still going to replace the water pump and thermostat.
Bill and Doris
93 GV gas OKC
Good news and now you can relax knowing it is fixed. Nice present!! We do not give presents to each other as we say "we ARE a present to each other" ^.^d
JohnH