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dash air condenser problem

April 30, 2014, 11:09:22 pm

Recently I became suspicious that the fan on my dash air condenser might be a problem and decided to replace the fan.  I ordered a replacement fan from FOT and took it to a local garage that has done maintenance for me in the past.  Unfortunately they don't make the original fan anymore and the mounting bracket for the new fan did not work with the old brackets on my 1998 U320.  The old brackets were just a couple of thin angle irons that were fastened directly into the narrow frame holding the coils of the radiator.  The local garage made a new bracket to attach the fan, but in the process of screwing it back in used a slightly longer screw that penetrated one of the coils.  So now there is a hole and of course all the refrigerant is gone.
The garage is taking complete responsibility but the question now is whether to try to patch it or replace it with a new radiator.  I'm a little aghast at how the fan was originally attached to the radiator and wonder if that is actually the way the factory did it or if mine was modified at some point.  I looked at a coach from 2000 and it has a plastic shroud around the radiator that the fan mounts to.
I'm going to call Mike Grimes in the morning and see what replacement parts are available and how compatible they will be with what I have.  I imagine that the radiator might be a stock item if you knew what would fit in there and where to get it.  Does anyone have any experience replacing the condenser radiator and/or fan on a 1998 vintage coach?  I'm leaving for Alaska in a few weeks and don't have a lot of time to experiment.

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Re: dash air condenser problem

Reply #1 – May 01, 2014, 02:13:50 am

If yours is the same as on our our 99 U270 (square, about 2" thick), I have experience to relate (OK, I'll relate it even if yours is different... ) 

We had someone punch a hole in our condenser (from the outside, through the grill) in a campground in PA, and found out that the original  condenser is no longer available from Foretravel Parts or from any other suppliers I called.  Foretravel Parts did a lot of searching for a replacement, to no avail.  If I had gone to the right radiator shop, they could have repaired the hole, but I didn't...  I ended up getting two 1" thick condensers of about the right  height and width and sandwiching them together with custom mounting for condensers, hose connections, and fan.  Unfortunately I don't remember the original fan mounting details.

I do remember that the original condenser was copper, so it could easily be repaired by a good radiator shop.  Be sure they flush with alcohol after the soldering.  If you just have the AC shop replace your dryer after replacing the condenser, your should be fine with a standard evacuate and recharge.

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Re: dash air condenser problem

Reply #2 – May 01, 2014, 09:28:04 am

You might do well to check with a couple of online forums. I've had good success (on other automotive air projects) at getting useful information from them. Try going to Automotive Air Conditioning Bulletin Board ? Index page and Automotive AC Information Forum - ACKITS.COM . They are friendly and might be able to provide good sources for the items you need.

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