[jdkskyking]

Good afternoon Newell owners,

We’ve got the Cat-13 ACERT in our rig. On our last trip we experienced fluctuations in our cooling temps. The cooling temp increased when we were pulling Colorado mountains more than I liked. Thanks to Newell’ Mike E, Richard, and their expertise we were able to manage our situation. 

Now I’m entering the question and answer game with our 15 year old cooling system. So many variables to look at in this scenario. 

I have no idea how many rigs have the C13 engines, my guess is not many. If you have one or had one I’d be interested in hearing how yours behaves. Before we left on our trip I added a PDI Big Boss Tune. I have no idea if it’s a contributing factor good or bad. I’ve been told by a C-15 owner with the tune he notices no difference. IDK...

My immediate questions:

After warm up, in normal operating conditions, what’s your coolant temp run? Does it fluctuate +-20*?

How does your hydraulic cooling fan behave? Slow, med, high speeds? Is it idle at times? If you unplug the fan solenoid does your fan blow your hat off?

How often have you had to change the engine thermostat? Sensors? Modifications in general?

How does the coach climb a grade in high altitudes? Hot temperatures? Heavy? What speed to you climb a grade at... usually? Any special techniques used? Manual shifting? Maintaining a specific RPM band? 80% throttle?

Have you ever had scale buildup in your radiator reservoir, radiator, plumbing, engine? (Loaded question because you have to take stuff apart to find out and that’s not fun. I have some scale buildup in the throat of the reservoir. Soon I’ll drain it and borescope it to investigate more but possibly someone has had work done that could help me understand what could happen to the inside of a radiator). 

I know Caterpillar makes a great engine.  They’ve been around for a long time and moved dirt around the world. I’m still learning all I can about these big Diesel engines and in some cases more than I wanted but that’s part of playing with the big boys... 

I’ll appreciate any info anyone has about how’s these machines behave when traveling around this great country. This topic is cooling...  When I’m done solving this issue I certainly hope it helps others understand a little more about the machine that follows us around all of the time... 

In normal operating conditions I’m seeing the coolant temp fluctuations anywhere from 165* to 185*. Pulling a grade, high, hot and heavy, we’re seeing above 215* at the toughest times. When we pulled over the temps decreased to normal range in less than two minutes. 
JK