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Driver’s Air – Heat
After spending its entire life in Florida, mainly South Florida, I had the gaul to turn on our 05 shell (06 Country Coach XLII) driver’s air heat…. NADA.
I used the driver’s air conditioning this summer and was very pleased with its performance. I expected great things from its heat, again nothing.
ETLC is finding that it appears the heat loop to the driver’s dashboard heat has never been turned on. Two isolation valves were shut (one hidden above the transmission). When they were opened the system still had no flow.
The solenoid valve at the heat exchanger was inspected, hoses disconnected and major “goop” (technical term) was discovered. As the coolant lines were flushed, long segments of goop came out. The circulation pump had goop. Various non-technical terms were used to describe the situation.
Again, it appears that the system in heat mode had not been used in the last 12 years.
I’ve got the best guys working on it and expect that I’ll have toasty warm heat before I leave.
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11 Replies
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Les, goop is silicone drop out and it results from poor or no coolant system maintenance. Apart from the accumulation of crud (another technical term) it is a sign that your engine may have experienced cavitation. I would urge you to consider giving your cooling system some tender loving care, perhaps even a flush and then a refill with coolant with the proper chemistry.
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Did that a while back. The coolant system looked good but the isolated heater loop was not.
Jon, we’ve done every maintenance item we can think of. I just get my Social Security check sent to Jeff each month.
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I’m guessing the “non-technical terms to describe the situation” used by a former Marine are similar to how many of us would verbalize.
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Jon and Tom: Les’s post and Dan’s response are great examples of where we could use icon buttons for emoji’s like …
WOW!
Thumbs UP!
Seriously … if I understand Jon’s explanation of the “goop” in the line–the lines are silicon on the inside and because the coolant sat in there for a long time (ten years?) something in the silicon leached out into the coolant, possibly combining with the aging coolant into “goop”. Is that what happened?
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Unbelievable, I have never seen so much junk come out….Yes the valves in and out of the system were off. So for we assume the majority of the coach life…Once the line were off and we blew every line out, clearing out all the hardened material…(Les thought it was similar to when he walks the dogs) Part of it for sure is left over from the original soldering flux….End of the day we have heat for them…
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Nice dash heat. 95°F air temperature. Great to be toasty again.
Jeff’s guys never give up.
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Jeff,
When you redo our antifreeze please check our heater also. As I recall, there is a valve next to the engine marked heater that is closed.
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My concern is if previous owners did properly maintain the system because the age of coolant has an impact on its properties and chemistry. I think Les is likely correct in that the loop never being open and part of the coolant maintenance means just that part has been affected and now that it is flushed and open, no harm.
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Jon, I agree completely.
One of the many things that led to our purchase of this bus is a detailed listing from Prevost of the ongoing maintenance that had been performed. The original owner was a Porsche racer and demanded perfection and spared no expense.
The second owner was a Master Mechanic and completely understands what is required to properly maintain a Prevost.
It certainly was not the glitz and glamour as we have spent a significant amount on remodeling in addition to addressing maintenance items that were now due.
The more I explore our bus the greater the appreciation I have.
Heck, I even have a chrome valve cover…
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Porsche racers make good bus drivers with the engine at the correct end.
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Good catch Dan.
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