I want to clean some accumulated crap out of my radiator.

I just read a great post where somebody removed their fans, sprayed water to loosen dirt and used pressurized air to blow out the gunk.

I don't have a lift and have no idea how to remove the fans; however, I can mostly remove the cover that blocks the gap between the AC condenser and the radiator so that I can see down inside. It is sort of fuzzy and full of 95K miles worth of daily driving debris. When I look up the front of the car from the ground I can see many small stones wedged in the AC condenser fins.

Here is my question. I understand that the little radiator fins are very fragile and might bend with slight pressure. I want to build an extension for the Shopvac with relatively soft bristles and gently work the bristles into the radiator fins to loosen debris. Then, I would Shopvac as much crud out as possible. Is this dumb? I want to clean everything the best I can without needing access from underneath.

Also, any links that help me access the radiator and condenser more completely would be greatly appreciated. Last night I managed to remove the air bridge and loosened the cover that I mentioned above, but there was a wire running to the air intake area that prevented me from completely removing the cover. There wasn't quite enough slack in the wire to completely remove the cover. The wire was fastened to a cover below the air box by a clip that I could not figure out.

It should be obvious from my post that I don't know much about this stuff. I am very very nervous about messing with wires, screws, etc...under the hood. Still, this is my car and I want to learn a few things. I can fi anything that I screw up or pay somebody to help.

thanks.

 

Your doing the right thing so far without a lift.Without jacking up the front thats about the best you can do.After you vacuum which is not dumb, Spray the rad and condensor with a hose.make sure you cover your throttlebody.And that wire you can pull out with alittle effort.It just a little plastic peg like thing that pulls out and when your done just push it back in ...............Paul

 

Thanks Paul.

 

I have also used a dryer vent brush that you can buy at Home Depot for 5 or 10 bucks. It has worked well for me.

 

That was me. I was lucky enough to have a relative with a lift. But if I had to do it myself, I would have use my jack stands instead to get it off the ground. Definitely remove the air bridge and cover the throttle body before doing this. Instead of using the shop vac to suck the dirt out, I'd think it would be more effective if you plug the hose on the other end of the shop vac to where air is blowing out and use one of the attachments that has a narrower tip and put it up against the radiator and start blowing...no pun intended of course.

 

It sure was your post that I referenced I like the idea of reversing the Shopvac.