Thanks, I learn by asking. Not used to all this bs on an older motor. I got this rv for bike rallies, and maybe some summer camping. Come winter it isn't moving anywhere. Once snow flies I doubt It would make it out of my driveway anyway.

Hmm, it does have a cool air hose that goes under the battery and pulls cool air in from....nowhere. There's no grill there, just the headlight. It just sucks in air from under the hood.

Thanks for the heads up on the vacuum reservoir. It makes sense now looking at it, I can see the check valve where it tees off.

As for the coolant valve going to the heater core, If anything I may just replace it with a manual valve. I know a lot of big trucks (class 8) have a valve like that going to the heater core to cut coolant going to it in the summer time. I have no ac but I got to thinking that no coolant going to the heater core could help keep the cab cooler in summer, Then if we do need heat I can just open the valve.

 

You may need to do some more figuring on it, sometimes they have a vacuum control with a bleed and they use the coolant flow to control the amount of heat you get. You don't want it to run you out of the cab with it wide open. Or it just may be a cut-off, it's hard to say. If you follow the control line and it goes through the firewall, then you can be sure one of your dash controls control the water somehow.

You have to remember also this rig is not going to be like your Chevelle or some other lightweight hot rod that see's a blast of power once in awhile when you step on it, but otherwise just loafs along pulling a fairly lightweight car along. When you load these rv's they get heavy, and then you go vacationing in the mountains and this engine ends up laboring for long periods of time under full power. So you need to concentrate on keeping the engine and the tranny cool and making it reliable. That's why I would lean toward keeping the aircleaner and the fresh air intake. If it's drawing air in front of the radiator behind the headlights, then that is cooler air. I would add a aux tranny cooler along with the one in the radiator if it doesn't have one already. Make sure the fan shroud is there and the clutch for the fan is working if it has one.

 

Did I mention I'm a class 8 truck driver in PA? I have some experience with hauling heavy loads up mountains. I checked the radiator it's a heavy duty 4 core. There is an aux trans cooler, looks factory. I haven't gotten to check it out and see how it is yet. I will be removing the ac condenser (or is it the evaporator?) in front of the radiator to help airflow. The shroud and fan clutch are in good condition so I'm good there.