[ron skeen]

Okay, today Newell 1234 is finally out of the shop!

It turns out both the rad and CAC had leaks at the header (I think that is the right word), and since the labor cost along to remove and replace going to be > $4k, I decided to recore both units.  It got a little more complicated when the local radiator shop decided to punt on welding up the new CAC -- something about aluminum, mismatches, and not wanting to "be responsible" -- so I had to ship the CAC headers out to Joplin and have them order and install the new CAC.

The radiator was welded up here, and then when the CAC+headers came back, everything was reassembled and reinstalled.

Having had a bunch of conversations with different radiator companies now, my conclusion is:  no one understands why they are so poorly engineered, but these radiators fail a lot on a 7 to 10 year interval.  I guess I will just have to hope that I don't have to worry about this for another decade.

New CAC core, installation, shipping:  2.86 AMU
New rad core, shipping, installation:  1.8 AMU
Chassis removal, diagnosis, reinstallation:  ~5 AMU

They said they could do it again in about half the time, or 2.5 AMU.

So if you have a failed cooling stack on a C-15 Newell and want to replace everything at an expensive shop that hasn't done it before, I suppose you should expect to spend about 9 or 10k.

I will follow up separately on my plans for a much quieter remote radiator fan design for the generator.  For now, though, we have to scurry off to Miami for a whole slew of remodeling and other work.

i replaced my RAD & CAC on my 04 2 1/2 years ago with new Atlas components which were what was orginal. Rad is now leaking again and I am using Vol Radiator in Knoxville, TN who have record with there own core. They advise against trying to fix the leaks in the header because they said it was not a heavy duty design and they thought that a fix would only be short time. They told me the header thickness and design was not like most heavy duties radiator that they see.  I paid them $3800 for the installing the new core. Moore Tractor Repair did the removal and install. With my 96 & 04 RAD & CAC I have had out 4 times. This has been one of the most expensive Items I have replace on both coaches. I hope this is the last time this happen.