My radiator looked clean...
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 6,644
Likes: 481
From: OK
My radiator looked clean...
Was just doing some lurking and my attention was drawn to an older video of the removal and cleaning of the radiator on a 02 Z06...
Reminded me of when I pulled mine, because I was having some excessive heat issues...would get up to 220-230 ish hotter than I think it should be...
Here is the thing, I didn't take any pic...wish I had now, but I can describe what the issue was and maybe more importantly what it was't.
I live in Northern Oklahoma and I have to drive about 100 yards of shale road to access the black top, and we have lots of HOT and COLD weather along with dusty conditions.
It wasn't a discarded Walmart sack, it wasn't grass, leaves or debris.
My problem was that with many years of cold and hot, condensation and moisture between the fins of the radiator and dust...My radiator didn't really look that bad with just a routine (take a flash light looksie) but,you couldn't even see thru it after I got it out... it had formed a sod like mess that was completely blocking the flow of air thru my radiator... I tried to blow it out with an extended air wand and nozzle i made... but didn't move anything, my only option was to pull it and clean it... I used the water hose and nozzle to rinse, blow out with air, rinse, blow out with air... etc. Till I got it super clean...Made a BIG difference... stays well within the operating temperature for the LS1.
Just a heads up if you are experiencing a little more heat than normal, might be worth taking the time this winter to pull that radiator out and make sure you don't have the same issue I did...
Reminded me of when I pulled mine, because I was having some excessive heat issues...would get up to 220-230 ish hotter than I think it should be...
Here is the thing, I didn't take any pic...wish I had now, but I can describe what the issue was and maybe more importantly what it was't.
I live in Northern Oklahoma and I have to drive about 100 yards of shale road to access the black top, and we have lots of HOT and COLD weather along with dusty conditions.
It wasn't a discarded Walmart sack, it wasn't grass, leaves or debris.
My problem was that with many years of cold and hot, condensation and moisture between the fins of the radiator and dust...My radiator didn't really look that bad with just a routine (take a flash light looksie) but,you couldn't even see thru it after I got it out... it had formed a sod like mess that was completely blocking the flow of air thru my radiator... I tried to blow it out with an extended air wand and nozzle i made... but didn't move anything, my only option was to pull it and clean it... I used the water hose and nozzle to rinse, blow out with air, rinse, blow out with air... etc. Till I got it super clean...Made a BIG difference... stays well within the operating temperature for the LS1.
Just a heads up if you are experiencing a little more heat than normal, might be worth taking the time this winter to pull that radiator out and make sure you don't have the same issue I did...
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: small town in S.E Pa. PA
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you know some of this stuff can turn to cement.... they make bricks out of red clay ...
Make sure you clean the AC condenser which sits in front of the radiator.. if the radiator is clogged then so is the condenser.
Make sure you clean the AC condenser which sits in front of the radiator.. if the radiator is clogged then so is the condenser.
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Good move taking it out and really giving the radiator a thorough cleaning. Hard to see all the junk that gets in there with it installed in the car.
