Butters00Vet

Just like a lot of folks here who pay attention to the DIC I've noticed for the past few years that the temp of the coolant doesn't seem to stay as cool as it should. Last year during one of those hot summer days, my AC wasn't as cold as it first came from the factory. Hmmmm.. so maybe it needed some freon.. went to my uncles shop to top it off, but it really didn't need any. So okay, I'd just let it go... now this year I noticed my coolant temp rising a bit higher then what I wanted.. in the 230ish range while sitting while sitting in traffic..... hmmmm it's only 70 degrees out, what gives? I did the usual check for debris in front of the the car (the condensor is what you see underneath, the radiator is behind it) and it was for the most part debris free. Okay, so I'm thinking lower stat, reprogramming fans, new radiator, new stat flushing radiator etc etc like any other forum member or car driver would think.

So I decided go to my uncle's shop last week and tell him the wonderful news. He asks me did I ever wash the radiator. I was like wash it? No. He said that was my problem. The radiator and the condensor can accumalate a lot of dirt, dust and whatever else inside the fins. The purpose of the radiator is to dissipate heat.... can a dirty and clogged radiator be as effective as a clean one? No uncle, i guess not. His shop deals with a lot of livery/limos that put 200-500k miles and obvious they are on the road a lot. A quite of bit of those cars overheat, not because of a bad radiator or bad water pump or stuck stat, but because of a really dirty radiator.

Here's a step by step process of how we cleaned the radiator and condensor

1. Remove the intake, top cover of the radiator and screws that hold the cooling fan
2. We jacked up the car, removed the front sway bar and removed the cooling fans from underneath. (This was a pain in the @ss but by removing the fans we had access to the whole back of the radiator.
3. We then lower the car back down and proceed to take a hose and sprayed down the back of the radiator, only enough to get it wet and to soften up the dirt trapped inbetween the fins.
4. We used an air compressor with a flexible air hose extention (looked like one of the goose neck things with a nozzle at the end) and started to blow air from the back of the radiator up and down the fins.
5.We repeated this same step 3 times, first wetting it and then blowing air until we didn't see any more debris come out.
6. After all was done we just put everything back together again

Now he said that using the air compressor to blow out the junk was key in making it as clean as possible. He also recommended NOT to use a power washer because if set too high you can bend the fins on the radiator and ruin it. He has had many customers complaining about a hot engine and instead of ripping them off by telling them they need a new radiator or water pump, he would do this first and if it didn't cure the problem then tell them to shell out for the other stuff. Most of the time, this cures it. He's one of the those guys you can trust with your car, but yet can't make it rich because he doesn't have the heart to rip people off.

I felt bad when I left the shop cause I left my uncle a floor full of dirt and debris. I did not even realize that there was so much on the floor until I backed up the car to help clean up. He said this was normal because the radiator and condensor is open to the elements and it's always sucking up dirt. I have had car for 7 years and it was years of dirt on the floor. Nasty.

Final Results
Guys/Gals, I can freeze people in my car again. My gf complained the other day that it was way too cold in my car and to either turn it down or turn it off. While cruising, the car runs between 187-192 on an 80 degree day. Before that it would run 196 or higher on a less warm day. When sitting at idle the temps would reach 225, the fans kick in and I can joyously watch the temp tumble down quickly and turn off again. My vette stays just as cools as the day I bought it.

So for all of you that feel your car is running hot and/or AC isn't as cool, do what I did. It worked for me. Just a bit of elbow grease and a few hours of your time before you start coughing up big dough for a new radiator or something else. And of course this will work on any car with a radiator. Just becareful using the water and try not the get anything else wet in the engine beside the radiator.

jdmvette

good job.

vermjpv

Nice write-up!! Thanks, This Forum is GREAT!!

Ol'55

Thanks! This is on my "to do list."

MUKAK

i did same thing few years back and it worked well

HmnRcn

This is a great post. Very useful and detailed. Thanks for the info.

b98

thanks.

Butters00Vet

Glad to be of service. Heat is an engines worst enemy, (well besides my lead foot) so keeping it in within the normal operating temp range is ideal. I think a lot of times because a car is not kept cool enough would lead to premature wear and tear on water pumps and wreck havoc on seals and such. That's my $.02

Secret237

Thank you very much.

tiki240

SO bad-***!!! i just logged on to search for this very problem. car sits around 220ish on a warm day and freon is topped off and compressor worked but cold air wasnt really workin. ill try this soon!! thanks!

Bob CTS

Cool post, thanks for the write up.

TopFuelTim

I'm going to take a look at mine tomorrow. Never thought about it, but have noticed elevated temps recently.

Thank you,
Tim Glover

old stingray

Good write-up

C5R USA

Great advice-info!!!
That's one for the "to-do" list

Thanks for the detailed write-up
This forum is awesome

1FASTVERT

I am putting this on my to do list also.

Good thread!!!!!!!!

WestSideC5

Thanks for the write-up

ZeeOSix

Good info.

These cars direct air in through the AC condenser/radiator flow path from low under the front end, and this causes a lot a crap to go up and into the radiators.

I'm just wondering if cleaning could be done pretty effectively without ripping out as much as you did?

Butters00Vet

Just think about that.. your crusing at 60,70,80+ mph and and all kinds of debris and dirt is being deflected from our front spoilers at that speed. We can't help but have all this stuff wedged inbetween the fins of the condensor/radiator.


To be honest, yeah I think it's necessary. It was a bit of a PITA, but I saw no other way of getting COMPLETE access to the whole backside of the radiator. You can hose it down from the rear without removing the fans but then you would have to worry about getting the fan motors wet.

When we first started to hose down the radiator from the rear, water didn't even come out of the other side. Air should flow freely between the fins of the radiator. That's when I knew mine was dirty as heck. With the air compressor, we were blowing out chucks, and i mean CHUNKS of crusty dirty and sand from the other end. I got smacked in the eye a few times cause stuff was flying all over the place. The pressure of the water hose wasn't enough to dislodge the stuff, only the force of the air from the compressor.

As for the amount of time involved, it took us 4 hours. Only reason why it took us SO long was the fact that we didn't know how to remove the fans and everything is so crammed in the engine bay. And we did a coolant change. We thought it was easier to remove it from the top, but the fact that it's so cramped in there we had to do it from the bottom side. My uncle is used to working on Fords so for him it was a hoot to work on a Corvette. But since we now know how to do this, it should not take no more then 1 1/2 hour TOPS. And even still that's a long time for my uncle b/c he can clean a radiator on a Lincoln Town Car in about 30 mins. But of course he has 2 lifts in the garage.

Bill Dearborn

Were you using the air compressor to blow air through the radiator and through the A/C condenser at the same time? It would seem like the air pressure would drop considerably after the air flowed through the radiator and entered the gap between the two units.

Bill

Butters00Vet

We used something similiar to this.. it was able to fit inbetween the condensor and radiator. Hope this helps.