Princess 45 cooling

[double g]

Hi
Has anybody resealed the cooling system on a tamd71b stb engine,there appears to be little room i'am unable to remove the inserts to replace the seals as the floor is in the way.Should i be thinking of removing the aftercoolers and heat exchangers in one lump and if so what the best way forward.what antifreeze should i be puttting back as there are so many on the market.I've been told to use the 5 yr red coolant has any body any comments that may be of help.Many Thanks in advance. Graham

 

[rosssavage]

Take off the coolers as one lump, not too difficult as long as you can get your arms in there!

Remove inserts, clean, change ALL seals (big one at the bottom, big gasket at the top, and little ones on top where the raw water pipes attach) and reinstall.

DO NOT use red antifreeze!!

Use the proper Volvo green stuff - get it from a Volvo truck and bus dealership, much cheaper. You'll need to bring your own container as they keep it in 2000 litre tanks and pump out what you need. Volvo will sell you empty 20l containers at about £8 if you can't find your own.

 

[superheat6k]

Hi
Has anybody resealed the cooling system on a tamd71b stb engine,there appears to be little room i'am unable to remove the inserts to replace the seals as the floor is in the way.Should i be thinking of removing the aftercoolers and heat exchangers in one lump and if so what the best way forward.what antifreeze should i be puttting back as there are so many on the market.I've been told to use the 5 yr red coolant has any body any comments that may be of help.Many Thanks in advance. Graham

I found mine (TAMD60C) easier to fully dismantle in my workshop, and removing the complete lump (after cooler or heat exchanger) wasn't so bad. Getting the seals to move and free up where the pipe stubs come through the exchanger casing was difficult, and on mine if you try to punch or press inside the tubes you are applying the force onto the delicate plate matrix.

I did have an issue with wear grooves in the copper tubing, and eventually I sorted this by cleaning the grooves with a Dremel and then building up the resultant gouges with solder which I then rubbed back to the original profile, but this took quite some work. I also applied a wipe if Loctite 577 to help the new O rings, and reduce dissimilar metal corrosion where the solder sits, and I have no leaks. I am monitoring the joints concerned to see if the solder does get corroded away.

By careful not to overdo the bolts, because the internal threads in the ally casings aren't that strong, fortunately the one I stripped out had plenty of space beyond the hole for a nut to be added, but some are blind holes. If the bolts are stiff worth clearing these out with a suitable tap, or cut a groove down the side of a spare bolt and use that as a thread chaser.

For the anti freeze ordinary EG green, but I am adding some anti cavitation stuff as well - Fleetguard DCA4.

 

[double g]

Hi
Many thanks for your reply i live in maidenhead is there any chance you could point me in the direction of a Volvo truck and bus dealership,also when you say take off in one lump did you mean 2 sets of 2 or all 4 together (coolers),

Thanks Graham

 

[superheat6k]

Hi
Many thanks for your reply i live in maidenhead is there any chance you could point me in the direction of a Volvo truck and bus dealership,also when you say take off in one lump did you mean 2 sets of 2 or all 4 together (coolers),

Thanks Graham

Barnes of Reading in Theale near the railway station. On mine each lump comes off separately.

 

[kashurst]

be careful when unbolting the coolers if access is poor because they are pretty heavy. I had to strip a 71b cooler a few years ago - I put a rope around it and secured it before removing the last two bolts. easy to gently lower it down then.

 

[Flynnbarr]

Take off the coolers as one lump, not too difficult as long as you can get your arms in there!

Remove inserts, clean, change ALL seals (big one at the bottom, big gasket at the top, and little ones on top where the raw water pipes attach) and reinstall.

DO NOT use red antifreeze!!

Can I ask why??
The old boy who looks after my engines is about to change mine and says 'antifreeze is antifreeze'.
I'm now confused!

 

[lynall]

Basic rule on car anything older than 98 will be on the old blue glycol stuff
Later stuff is Oats which is the red gear.
Lots of other makers use different colours, these I have no experience of.
Many people with classics have tried the Oats one, several leaks later they have gone back to the glycol.
Daf trucks didnt go to Oats until sometime in 2004, Daf gave this habit of letting everyone else try all the new stuff first, sometimes a wise move.

 

[rosssavage]

Gets complicated!
All antifreeze is based on ethylene glycol, and that's the bit that lowers the freezing point of the coolant.

The tricky bit is the additives mixed in with the glycol. Unfortunately, colour doesn't tell all - some reds have x added and some y, there's also pink and orange and yellow and green to choose from too, but crucially one manufacturers red may differ from another's, so unless you buy the right stuff, you effectively don't know what you're filling your engine with.

They will all prevent freezing, but they may not all be compatible with materials used in your engine. Some may rot certain types of rubber used in the cooling system, some won't protect the solder in your cooling matrices against corrosion and so on.

The best way (as with all fluids) is to use only that which meets the spec of the fluids recommended by the manufacturer - they know exactly which materials they used building your engine, and exactly which fluid specs will protect them.

Hence, for VP TAMD71's, use the antifreeze approved and supplied by volvo - it's the only way to ensure you have the right protection. Not all green antifreezes are created equal!

As I said, get it from a Volvo truck dealer and it's far cheaper than a chandler or marine supplier.