How to clean a radiator

Ran into an unexpected snag. Took the grill off, took the clunker outside and washed the AC core. Was going to swing it out of the way after supper, but what happened is the mennonites have some beehives on my parents property. They came I guess to get the honey and that made the bees aggressive.

They must be attracted to the simple green because they were still there this morning. At least a hundred of the ########!

 

Lmao. I know what the ####### meant

 

Wow those little bass turds lol. I use concentrated simple green in a pump sprayer also with normal low pressure garden hose to wash mine out. Works great.

 

The problem with oven cleaner and other acids is that it is hard on paint and chrome, if you use those keep that in mind. I personally like simple green for anything and everything, it smells good too.

Dawn dish soap is really good for washing your hands too.

 

Well I've certainly learned a few things:

1) You pretty much have to wash each piece individually. That means swinging the AC condensor out of the way, and totally removing the CAC. Nothing else will cut it.

2) Simple green can and will remove paint. Especially on my rad.

So here's what I have done:

1) Removed grill

2) Cleaned condensor. It will clean fairly easy because it is standard V fins with fairly wide spacing, and the condensor is not very thick.

3) swung condensor up, then sprayed it from the top down. Perfectly clean.

4) Removed CAC - Keep in mind it is aluminum, my Duralite CAC has really weird looking fins. They're kinda U-shaped with kinks and patterns in them. This means it is a ##### to wash. The nice thing is it is removed. I've washed it a few times with simple green then rinsed it top down. I've also used compressed air. That plain doesnt work. It just pushed the bug guts to the other side. If you flip it you'll just be pushing the bug guts back. Back and forth back and forth. A few ideas here would be to us a harsher chemical, or maybe a bath of some sort. Soak it for 12 hours or more. You can use a bit more water pressure on the CACs.

4) The rad is between the CAC and condenser in effort level but takes the most time. It is standard V fins, but it is very thick and mine is aftermarket so the fins are smaller(more tubes). This takes a lot of time because as you're washing it the bug guts don't necessarily come out the other side. Sometimes they take a ride into a fin below! I've got the top half clean, and the bottom 15% is covered by the bumper so I don't know what to do there. Can't use harsh chemicals, the rad is probably the most sensitive out of all 3 pieces. Can't use too much pressure either, you will bend ####. I haven't tried compressed air because I dont have a hose long enough and it likely would just damage the rad. I already have a few bent fins from a while back.

Maybe a few things to try when cleaning the rad:

- Keep the nose of the truck higher, so the bug guts don't come back around through the fins
- Build a tube that completes the CAC circuit so it's safer to run the engine and fan. Heat plus suction from the fan. I think this would help tremendously when using water.
- I have a pressure washer but it's cold water and really sucks, I think having hot water would really help. I'm just using a garden hose with sprayer and cold water. But I'm using hot water whenever I soak things down.

I really think the aftermarket CAC and rad have kicked me in the arse here. They both plug up quicker than stock options. I'm now looking into a bug screen.