MC9 Radiator leak(s)?

plyonsMC9 · October 01, 2017, 07:55:44 AM

Oh for Pete's sake. More testing - under a little pressure and with more lights (it's dark back there above the radiator) - showing coolant is actually dripping down from above down onto the radiator lip w/all the bolts. So maybe it is originating from the coolant hose / connection that goes to the surge tank. That connector on the radiator side of that hose looks very wet.

Best Regards and happy Sunday, Phil

gumpy · October 01, 2017, 11:43:53 AM

Quote from: plyonsMC9 on October 01, 2017, 07:55:44 AM
Oh for Pete's sake. More testing - under a little pressure and with more lights (it's dark back there above the radiator) - showing coolant is actually dripping down from above down onto the radiator lip w/all the bolts. So maybe it is originating from the coolant hose / connection that goes to the surge tank. That connector on the radiator side of that hose looks very wet.

Best Regards and happy Sunday, Phil

Crank all those hose clamps down. They are notorious for leaking during cold weather. You should have constant tension clamps on all hoses, but even those need to be tightened from time to time.

plyonsMC9 · October 01, 2017, 06:23:54 PM

Thanks Craig, No hose clamps on that particular connection. I think i have to tighten these almost by feel. And some acrobatics. Is the bottom nut part of the radiator, and I'm just tightening the upper connection nut? Or both -not quite sure what I'm doing w/ it. Remedial questions I'm sure, but I just spent a lot of $ on this radiator and don't want to make a mistake - it's pretty difficult to reach.

Kind Regards, Phil

eagle19952 · October 01, 2017, 10:16:03 PM

Quote from: plyonsMC9 on October 01, 2017, 06:23:54 PM
Thanks Craig, No hose clamps on that particular connection. I think i have to tighten these almost by feel. And some acrobatics. Is the bottom nut part of the radiator, and I'm just tightening the upper connection nut? Or both -not quite sure what I'm doing w/ it. Remedial questions I'm sure, but I just spent a lot of $ on this radiator and don't want to make a mistake - it's pretty difficult to reach.

Kind Regards, Phil

that hose appears to have no swivel...and so, the other end needs to be taken off and the whole hose tightened...if i understand what you say is leaking.
further, that is a "less than acceptable" way to configure a hose....even if it isn't leaking.
hopefully that is not OEM, imo.

chessie4905 · October 02, 2017, 05:57:30 AM

You need to blow it dry first. If you then spray it with talcum powder, you can see where it is leaking; at the 45° elbow or at the inverted flare connection above it.If it is the elbow, since it has to be pointed a certain way ( most likely ) or the connection to it from the fitting on end of hose, you will need to remove elbow and rewrap it with Teflon tape or pipe sealant. Because the elbow has to be indexed properly, if it is the connection leaking, you should consider getting a new elbow. Many times you cannot tighten it enough to go an additional turn, so it has to be looser than desired. If you use one of these, you can easily access the connection with a ratchet, extension, and maybe a universal joint. I've used these a lot over the years for hard to access connections. They also make crows foot type to turn elbow.

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-piece-sae-crowfoot-flarenut-wrench-set-93137.html

gumpy · October 02, 2017, 07:05:03 AM

I just took a look at mine. It appears you can get in there through the radiator doors. It looks like there is a swivel on the hose (middle nut in your photo). I'm unclear, though, where you are seeing fluid. Is it on the fitting, or on the hose. These types of hoses are known to crack internally when under stress such as a bend in the hose. Drain the coolant level down below the surge tank level and pressurize the system with shop air, if you can, and use a soap mixture to spray the hose to see if you have leaks.

eagle19952 · October 02, 2017, 04:56:45 PM

Many times you cannot tighten it enough to go an additional turn, so it has to be looser than desired.

which is one of the benefits of more teflon tape...

Scott & Heather · October 02, 2017, 07:19:33 PM

I ended up replacing my hoses up there (the ones with the brass ends that went from the overflow to the tops of the rads) with custom made new ones from Pirtek hose. No leaky.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

plyons · October 02, 2017, 08:35:42 PM

Thanks very much to all for the expert direction. Deeply appreciated. I ended up having to leave town for a work trip to D.C. today, so we had a mechanic come out to finish up so we could travel in the bus as soon as I returned.

What the mechanic found was that 'upon installation, someone had cross-threaded the hose into the tank'. That was the hose in the last pictures. 4 hours of labor later (well-spent IMHO), he had fixed the threads, replaced parts, etc., according to my wife who is back at home. Expensive but glad it is fixed.

As you may know, I just had recored radiators put in a couple of weeks ago, so I'm fairly certain that the shop doing that work caused the error as it was leaking during the next use of the bus. Going to ask that shop to help me out with a few $$ for a large job they are working on now for us, as this cost was $500 to stop the leaks. I had let them know w/in a couple days of the replacement that there was an issue w/ leaking coolant. Stuff happens, and the rest of their work was well done.

Kind Regards all, Phil

Oonrahnjay · October 03, 2017, 05:40:45 AM

Quote from: plyons on October 02, 2017, 08:35:42 PM... we had a mechanic come out to finish up so we could travel in the bus ...

Sometimes that's the smart thing.

Quote from: plyons on October 02, 2017, 08:35:42 PMWhat the mechanic found was that 'upon installation, someone had cross-threaded the hose into the tank'. ... 4 hours of labor later (well-spent IMHO), he had fixed the threads, replaced parts, etc., ... Expensive but glad it is fixed.

Quality work at the right time is worth it. It's good you got it fixed and know it's fixed - right.

Quote from: plyons on October 02, 2017, 08:35:42 PM... this cost was $500 to stop the leaks. ...

You got a good, experienced person to come to do excellent work that you needed and spent four hours doing it. Yeah, it's not cheap but that's sure a fair price.

plyonsMC9 · October 03, 2017, 03:32:30 PM

Thanks for that response Bruce,

I tend to second guess myself. So good to hear the encouragement. I'm very thankful for the mechanic's knowledge and ability to solve the issue. And I'm positive that is a fair charge - that's a tough place to operate.

And even more positive is that the company that did the radiator install is going to work with the mechanic who fixed the issue, with the goal being to offer some credit against upcoming mechanical work.

No bad feelings at all on my part as I know from too much experience that not every install or fix goes perfectly.

Case closed on this one!

Kind Regards, Phil