Thanks to Mojo and belmor for the info on removing/cleaning the radiator. I did it today. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The part that took me the longest was removing the OEM clamp from the hose at the throttle body to the "T" in the upper radiator hose. Oh, I replaced all the radiator hoses (4 in all on my 94) while I was at it. The radiator was full of crap, looked like cotton fiber coating the face of the radiator. I spent about an hour washing out the fins and using a little screw driver to straighten out the bent ones. Cleaned all the crap that accumulated between the radiator and condenser. Took the overflow tank and the other radiator filler tank out and cleaned the poo-poo out of them as well. While I had it up on the lift, I decided to clean the under side of the Vette and change the oil/filter and lube. I let it idle for about 30 minutes after I was all done, and the temp never went above 190. I can already see this was well worth the effort, where as before, it climbed up past 230 in the same situation. I am very pleased with the results.

I can also say that the most important tool I used for this chore were the ratcheting end wrenches that I bought last week. Many places the regular ratchet and socket were too deep to get into the space, but the end wrench NO-PROBLEM. What a time savers.

I took pretty good notes as I went, so if anyone needs them I can send them to you.



We have a very nice lift at school.

 

happy to hear your results! i just did mine last week and cleaned out the lake mud i scooped up when i drove back to shore from an ice run on a frozen lake.

funny you mentioned the ratcheting end wrenches. i certainly could've used a 10mm to save a few minutes.

 

I remember the story. That 10mm one was worth what I paid for the whole set.

 

Would love to see the notes (and any instructions you may have gotten from Mojo). I'm going to clean the radiator in a few weeks when the weather gets a little warmer and can use all the help I can get!!! Thanks!

 

Unless you've cleaned it already, every single person in C4 gen needs to do this. It needs it and you won't believe how much cooler your car will run.

 

Here's the link to what Mojo and belmor had to say. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1549932792

I have the procedure of the way I did it written up in Word format. It's rather lengthy. I could send it to you if you want. Or I guess I could post it here.

 

PM it to me, too.
Or post here.... whichever.

Thanks.
Larry
code5coupe

 

Me too! Thanks a lot.

 

Great! I'm always amazed at the stuff the beast snuffs up during her travels.

 

Please include me in the PM's. I'd like to tackle that job before driving season starts.

 

Is the procedure the same on a 90 with an L98??

 

Can you PM me your porcedure as my '91 overheating problems could hopefully be resolved with a good radiator cleaning.

Thanks, Sam

 

I was able to follow them when I did my 90. There were 1 or 2 minor differences but they were nothing hard to work around. You can do it.

 

I'd like to ask for a PM as well. This is a project that is in my near future.
Thanks!

 

Since there are several that want it I guess I'll post it here. If you still want it sent let me know. I'm not sure how this will relate to the L98, can't imagine that it is too much different though. The big thing will be the radiator hoses are probably different, Chris told me some guys were going to the 96 upper hoses. I don't know what the difference is, but I just went back with the ones for my 94.

Radiator Removal

1. Disconnect Battery. I just took off the negative post.
2. Remove Air Filter Assembly. 2 outside bolts on filter housing (thumb screws) and loosen clamp on TB (straight screwdriver). There are three sensor connections on my 94, one way up front on the air filter housing, 1 on the MAF and one closer to the TB. Unplug all three.
3. Remove Horn on driver’s side. Just the one connecter there. (12mm socket)
4. Remove Air Pump. I just took off the three rubber mounted bolts from the bracket. Don’t do it that way, you have to go back and remove the bracket anyway to get to three little screws later, so just take bracket and all. This consists of two additional bolts (10mm) in bracket. The third bolt for the bracket is the one holding on the horn.
5. Remove Headlight relays (I think that’s what they are) mounted on the drivers side of the shroud (2, 10mm bolts). I just carefully laid it back out of the way so I didn’t have to unplug the connecters.
6. Move to passenger side. Remove Coolant recovery tank. One small hose (straight screwdriver), 2, 10mm bolts (w/large washers attached) to frame, and 1, 10mm bolt through the inner fender.
7. Remove passenger side horn. (12mm bolt), one connecter.
8. Disconnect small hose on radiator (from fill tank) straight screwdriver.
9. Remove AC dryer bracket blots from shroud (10mm bolts, 2) and I also removed the 10mm bolt that holds the dryer to the bracket, it gave me a bit more slack when I was removing the shroud later on.
10. I also removed the screw (10mm) that holds one of the AC coolant lines for the same reason. This screw was down on the crossmember frame right in front of the engine. Again this was to give me a little more slack when removing the shroud later.
11. Remove the 6 screws that mount the fan to the shroud (10mm). 3 at the top and 3 on the bottom. Lay the fans back a little way to clear the shroud.
12. Remove the bolts from the shroud. On the drivers side there are 3 little (7mm) screws that are down on the front under the frame rail. A 7mm nut driver works great on the bottom 2 the top one is a pain, I was able to loosen it enough with an open-end wrench and then screw it out with my fingers. (I have big hands, so it can be done, not easy but it can be done). There is also two 12mm or 13mm bolts that go through the shroud into the top of the frame rail, and one 10mm nut that must be removed from the top of the frame rail. On the passenger side there are the same three little 7mm screws, handle the same as the driver side. There are two 10mm nuts on the top of the frame rail and one 12mm or 13mm bolt.
13. At this point I drained the radiator. The pet **** on mine opened without any problem. I used an eight quart drain pan to catch the coolant (well sort of caught most of it).
14. Next I removed the radiator hoses, first the bottom hose (passenger side) more coolant will run out (missed most of it). Then the upper hose (drivers side), more coolant, more mess because I missed it too.
15. While I was doing this I had decided to change the hoses out. My 94 has the upper hose in two pieces connected with a brass “T” with a smaller hose running from the “T” to the TB. I replaced that hose as well. The lower hose was a 1 piece unit. I replaced them with genuine GM parts, bought them from Chris May @ Superior Chevy in Kansas City, 1-800-728 8267. The total for all four hoses and shipping was less than $70. You would have a hard time beating that price, just tell Chris you a Corvette forum member and you’ll get a discount. The biggest problem I had was taking off the OEM clamp from that small hose under the TB. It took me about 45 minutes, just couldn’t get to it from any angle. (when you put it back on, buy a screw type clamp and save yourself some headaches)
16. The next thing I did, (which if you have a standard transmission skip to the next step) was remove the automatic transmission cooling lines. A flare nut wrench is best here, but I didn’t have one so I carefully used a 12mm (I think) open end wrench. More mess as I didn’t catch the transmission fluid that ran out.
17. Next is the shroud removal. Carefully lift from the driver’s side first. Raise it up past the hood hinge (kind of a pain), and then you can work it up past the AC lines that go to the condenser.
18. Once the shroud is off, the radiator can be removed. Note how much junk is in between the radiator and the condenser and how much junk is embedded into the front of the radiator. Clean the front of the radiator, if you use a high pressure hose (either water or air) be careful. High pressure stream can bend the fins over, reducing the cooling capacity of the radiator. Once I had the junk cleaned out I spent about 30 minutes straightening the fins that were bent over using a small flat blade screwdriver.
19. I took this opportunity to clean the front of the engine compartment in front of the fans really well. Vacuuming out all the junk and the front of the condenser as well.
20. Reverse the procedure for putting it all back together.

As a note here it took me about 4 hours to get to this point. I could do it much quicker the next time. I would estimate about half the time.

 

Holy moly...
how many miles has that radiator traveled?
my '86 just rolled over 100k... looks like i'll need to add this lil project to my list of things to do before my trip this summer.

 

The same for me, I have to do it and any insight would be much appreciated! First thhing to get is the ratchet wrenches!!!! Thanks I hadn't scrolled all the way down to see the notes, Cut and paste to my vette word doc.

 

Thanks for the procedures posting. I've only had mine since October, it's got 72k on it,,, and I imagine this cleaning has not been done. Looks like a nice quiet Saturday / Sunday afternoon project this spring.