I was on a sober 35 mile trip to escort a small group of innocent guys to a few bars for a friends bachelor party and realised the temp seemed to be running higher than I was cumfy with. (cumfy....I am probably spending a little too much time with Tina). The guage was reading around 220 and red line (overheating) is 260. Is this normal or is this something I should be concerned with?

Does your coach have a 454?

If so, don't worry. However, if it gets hotter than that, listen for the fan to go into high blow. You can check this on hot hillclimbs or block your radiator for a test drive with a newspaper and listen for the fan roar at about 210-220. On a hot hillclimb, my fan goes from loud to quiet, then back to loud, etc, until the hill is crested.

The fan should also roar for a minute or so when you start the MH up from cold, then dramatically go quiet.

Perfect. This is exactly whats happening. It does have a 454. Thanks so much Bill.

It's not a bad idea to clean the radiator occassionally, too.

Do you mean to clean off the outside, or to flush the radiator? Thanks.

Both. At the least, the coolant should be 50-50 antifreeze and distilled water. I always flush the cooling system when I first get any vehicle. While you're at it, the upper and lower radiator hoses are worth replacing.

Since your Barth came from Texas and Florida, it was subjected to a lot of dust, dirt, bugs, etc. Don't use a pressure washer to clean the fins - spray on some cleaner (Tuff Stuff, Purple Cleaner, etc.), let soak, rinse with a hose/nozzle.

You bet! Thanks for the advice! I have noticed that all of my rubber lines and hoses are a bit dry and it must have something to do with the Texas dry air.

Someone suggested using easy off oven cleaner to clean fins on my ac condenser. I love what easy off does to my oven but I don't know what it would do to my condenser in the long run.

I'm going to clean the radiator fins too. Is a little water pressure ok? I have your typical garden hose nozzle that can go from pretty good pressure(nothing like a pressure washer) to a light spray.

I've got purple power in the garage. Will use that since a trip to grocery store is not in picture today. However, your comments will be appreciated.

First: Spray from the rear out the front (otherwise you push the dirt in). EZoff works good, but keep it away from any painted surfaces!!!

Easy off can be pretty tough on aluminum. It is an alkali that can get in the crystallite boundaries (depending on the alloy used) and could cause weaknesses that could bite you later.

At best, it could take off the black paint, and leave you with less efficient cooling. And your corrosion protection would be gone. Corrosion would further compromise cooling.

I would use nothing stronger than Gunk. Spray it on when things are really warmed up and let it sit for a while.

ditto on easy-off! It will eat aluminum if left on or not rinsed really well. Gunk is harmless, works great when warm.

I prefer to wash mine cold; I use Simple Green or Purple Cleaner. I don't use Gunk because it's relatively thick, and it's difficult to get into the openings.

The reason for doing it cold is that I pre-wet the radiator, then spray on the cleaner, expecting it to migrate through the water. I leave it set for 5 minutes or so, then clean.

If the radiator were hot, the water would evaporate along with the cleaner, leaving yet another residue to deal with.

I use the hose nozzle on the solid stream, and try to get every passage. It's time-consuming 1/2 hour), but that's what it takes. At least on a DP, it's easy to get to...

Rusty, do you spray from the engine compartment out?

I do like Rusty, spray from the inside out first and then use Simple Green or 409, let it set for awhile and then rinse

I spray from the inside out. then I start up to clear out what I may not have gotten out with just the water spray. Then I spray from the outside in, again starting up after that spray, then I spray from the inside out again.

Pushers with rear radiators really get lots of road dirt and dust. You should have seen the mess I had in there when back from Alaska, not only the radiator, everywhere!!!