Radiator cleaning article I recommend

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Apr 10, 2017 | 11:25 AM

Bfenty

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Drifting

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From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

Radiator cleaning article I recommend

I'm posting this from the articles section of this site, just because I didn't know it existed for quite some time and I think this should be added to the C4 sticky. It's a great writeup for removing and cleaning out the radiator, and MAN did it make a difference in my engine temp. I also cleaned out the radiator with vinegar on top of doing this writeup, and my car runs 30-40 degrees cooler. I can't recommend this process enough.

Click Here for Writeup

Apr 10, 2017 | 05:02 PM

billschroeder5842

Zen Vet Master Level VII

Joined: Mar 2016

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From: Southlake, TX

Good for you. Sometimes is the basics; clean radiators run cooler.

Apr 10, 2017 | 05:42 PM

Bfenty

Thread Starter

Drifting

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From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

I guess that's the point, don't forget the basics. I also just wanted to share the article, because even though it is on this site, I hadn't seen it until I saw a Google search results. Since summer is coming, I was hoping it could help some other people too.

Apr 12, 2017 | 05:36 PM

Racecarfan17

Cruising

Joined: Feb 2017

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Bfenty, What is the vinegar clean technique? Just bought an 89 coupe and this sounds like a good basic maintenance procedure. Thanks

Apr 12, 2017 | 06:11 PM

Bfenty

Thread Starter

Drifting

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From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racecarfan17

Bfenty, What is the vinegar clean technique? Just bought an 89 coupe and this sounds like a good basic maintenance procedure. Thanks

basically,after taking it off the car, I filled the radiator with vinegar-the cheap stuff you get at Walmart in gallon jugs. I left it in for about an hour, dumped it out, and rinsed with water. I had rinsed with water before I did this as well. There was a lot more crap that came out after the vinegar. Some people would recommend adding a little bit of baking soda to the radiator to neutralize the acid from the vinegar. However, vinegar is a week enough acid that a good rinse with water is all you need.

well I did not do this, some people will put the vinegar in with water in the radiator while it's on the car. You run it for a couple days like that, and then flush the system. Basically the same you would do with an off-the-shelf cooling system cleaner.

cleaning out in front of the radiator is very important, too. I had a ton of stuff in front of the radiator. The effect of doing the whole job, is that my system runs much much cooler. I will probably do this job every spring going forward. It was really easy, except reconnecting the transmission lines to the radiator was kind of a pain. They are hard metal lines, and they don't like to line up with the hole they go in.

I hope this helps you out!

Apr 12, 2017 | 06:45 PM

Racecarfan17

Cruising

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Thanks Bfenty I will certainly do this with the vinegar. Thanks again!!!

Apr 12, 2017 | 09:30 PM

SJW

Le Mans Master

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From: Central Maryland

You can do yourselves a big favor by adding one of these while you're at it:

It won't stop everything, but it'll keep a lot of debris out of the cooling stack.

Live well,

SJW

Apr 12, 2017 | 09:45 PM

antfarmer2

Race Director

Joined: Mar 2015

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Did not see pulling the knocks out why would you want to leave all that crap in there?

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Apr 12, 2017 | 11:35 PM

Bfenty

Thread Starter

Drifting

Joined: Mar 2017

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From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJW

You can do yourselves a big favor by adding one of these while you're at it:

It won't stop everything, but it'll keep a lot of debris out of the cooling stack.

Live well,

SJW

what is that and where do I get one?

Apr 12, 2017 | 11:36 PM

#10

Bfenty

Thread Starter

Drifting

Joined: Mar 2017

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From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

Quote:

Originally Posted by antfarmer2

Did not see pulling the knocks out why would you want to leave all that crap in there?

I don't understand the question?

Apr 13, 2017 | 08:32 AM

#11

yd328

Pro

Joined: Sep 2012

Posts: 732

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From: the confused state CT

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJW View Post
You can do yourselves a big favor by adding one of these while you're at it:

The po of my car did it, I like it. It looks like some screen/expanded metal from the hardware store that was cut to fit.

Gary

Apr 13, 2017 | 09:10 AM

#12

JimLentz

Melting Slicks

Joined: Jan 2014

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From: Downers Grove Illinois

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bfenty

I don't understand the question?

To fully flush the engine block you pull out both knock sensors and flush it out through the holes where the knock sensors were.

Apr 13, 2017 | 09:32 AM

#13

VikingTrad3r

Oil Producer

Joined: Apr 2014

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JimLentz

To fully flush the engine block you pull out both knock sensors and flush it out through the holes where the knock sensors were.

in your case fenty its 1 knock sensor on the passenger side.

at this point you dont need to bother. the fact that the car doesnt have a functional fan system and is still able to to hold temps sub 225 is remarkable. your cooling system is working fine.

need to get the fan switches fixed that is the next step!

VT

Apr 13, 2017 | 09:34 AM

#14

SJW

Le Mans Master

Joined: May 2005

Posts: 7,340

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From: Central Maryland

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bfenty

what is that and where do I get one?

You'll have to make it yourself, but it's not difficult to do. Check out this old thread, which contains some info about it:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...trategies.html

Live well,

SJW

Apr 13, 2017 | 09:51 AM

#15

Bfenty

Thread Starter

Drifting

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From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingTrad3r

lol-I know. I keep getting distracted.

Apr 13, 2017 | 09:51 AM

#16

Bfenty

Thread Starter

Drifting

Joined: Mar 2017

Posts: 1,897

Likes: 164

From: Nashville TN

2017 C4 of Year Finalist

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJW

You'll have to make it yourself, but it's not difficult to do. Check out this old thread, which contains some info about it:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...trategies.html

Live well,

SJW

Thanks, that is a good mod.