HeathZ51

does anybody have a step by step or pictures of cleaning the fins on the ac condensor and radiator. i know there vere sensitive and are easily bent and wasnt sure what or how to clean them with. its getting hot now and my car tries to overheat when i turn the air conditioner on

Fast Cop

lucky131969

Unless they are plugged, which would be clearly visible, then you have other issues at hand.

Evil-Twin

Mike
You must have an awfully small head ( just teasing )to get up between the condenser and radiator to see " clearly " if they are blocked. even with a mirror you can not see the thousands of fins and if their flow is down 10% or 20 %.. bug guts and fuzzies and pollen find their way into these thousands of fins.. I know for ten years I have been cleaning my condenser and radiator in the spring and get a half cup of sand road silica dust bunnies, fuzzies. pieces of leaves.. little twigs etc.. thats why I took the bottom feeder screen off my car...all the stuff that really clogs these two components go right through the mesh, and the mesh itself hinders the air flow.. the cooling system need every breath of air at the greatest velocity possible when its really hot...another thing that I use to mention , but haven't in about 5 or 6 years is, if your car is lowered it hurts.. Ive tested heat coming off a black top road when its 90F outside.. Ive test to 140 F with a calibrated laser . sucking that air 6 inches from the surface does little to transfer heat the father way from the surface you get the cooler the air. radiators that are 18 inches from the road surface get almost ambient temps just sitting still.
( we are not talking corvettes here )we are stuck with the bottom feeder design because a corvette would look funny with the bottom of the radiator sitting off the hood.... Any way, you have to make the cooling system work ( transfer heat ) with what you have, cleaning it helps, big time .
For the OP..over the last ten years Ive received many many Private messages about fans, normal temps, temp fluctuations , etc..
you really have to clean the condenser and radiator yearly.. here how I do it.. can on the ground remove the upper radiator support, air bridge, and air filter.. remove the four bolts ( two each side ) remove the upper support exposing the condenser and radiator.. radiator behind the condenser..fans are closest to the radiator... I bought this spray foam at an air conditioning and heating supply house for cleaning condenser fins... you spray the fins of both the condenser and radiator.. it foams up does not cause any electrolysis, or aluminum erosion.. let it sit about ten minutes, then I made a water wand that fits down between the radiator and the cond. and spray from the back toward the front of the car and do the condenser first.. I also bought an extension wand at Harbor freight ( I have a compressor... it goes from 10 inches to 20 inches long.. I blow out the condenser first, Then I do the same thing with the radiator, I have a piece of fiber board that I slip in between the radiator and condenser to protect it from debris being blown from the radiator.. you can use a regular spay nozzle to blow from the fans through the radiator.. water then air.. If you let the car sit and the ground to dry off.. you can sweep up what you have blown out.. and you would be amazed at what is on the ground.. if you want to collect this stuff make sure you do not blow down, and blow the stuff on the ground away. The End

bighank

I cleaned my condenser with a hose and soft bursh first. Got a spray can of the condenser cleaner, jacked up the front of the car for better access, sprayed the whole can all over the condenser, let it sit on there for about 10 or 15 minutes then washed off with a hose and water. The stuff isn't cheap. Did not fix my cooling problem. Had to replace expansion orfice valve and recharge to do that.

If you are overheaing you have other problems with the cooling system.
How long since you dumped ur Dexron?

lucky131969

Well I guess I should have elaborated. I experienced an increase in temperature over a period of about a year. Once I had a ten degree disparity, I knew it was time to blow things out. Sure enough, I found the condenser saturated with tiny stones, which of course, created enough obstruction in the flow to allow other particles to accumulate. I did experience a sharp increase in temp one time, so much so, that I immediately pulled over. I found a large piece of plastic nearly covering the whole damn condenser...it looked like someone had placed it on there. So that's what I mean by "clearly visible", and equating it to an abnormal/overheat condition, that came on suddenly.

HeathZ51

its a slow overheat and is fine driving down the road but sitting in traffic its starts to get hot, i just wanted to know what people used to clean the condensor without bending the fins, thanks!

hotwheels57

Hot in an LSx motor is not the same hot as we used to experience in the older sbc motors of years past. An LSx motor can take it. I never watch my coolant temperature, but I keep my oil temperature permanently displayed on the DIC.

I've seen the oil temperature get into the 250's on mountain roads climbing from 5,200 to 7,000 ft at a slow pace, in a lower gear, behind other traffic. It goes down to 220 once I'm able to get into a higher gear and move fast enough to get the air flow moving again.

Gentle air pressure and/or a gentle flow of water will get a lot of it out. Once clean, you can DIY or buy an after market screen which will keep much of the bigger debris from entering/clogging the radiator and condenser. Like E-T mentioned, you almost have to make the process part of your normal routine maintenance procedure for dust, bugs, grass, etc.

What you're describing is normal but it scares most new owners. The car is a bottom feeder. With coolant temperatures below 226 and 235 degrees, the fans don't even come on. And the fans go off when the car reaches a certain speed. At that point the cooling system relies on the flow of incoming air to cool the radiator. I'm in AZ, so ambient air temperature and roadway temperatures play a part in the process as well. As long as the temperatures come down once you're moving, the system is working as engineered.