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Need some help, just got our new to us Vette home after 4 days at our local Chevy dealer. They went through the car front to back for us of the many issues they noted, the found the top end of the radiator was in need of cleaning, see photo. What's the best way to clean all this? Normally I'd take a hose and blast it out from the back but as you know the back side of the radiator is enclosed. Thanks!
Last edited by Ruouthere; Aug 4, 2018 at 04:54 PM.
No really easy way.
Most remove the black front shroud that directs the air.
Once removed you can vac out most of the debris and use water to get the rest out.
Some people remove the black shroud and then use compressed air from an air tank to blow it out. I have seen some people will rig up a long metal tube with a 90 degree bend on the end to be able to thoroughly blow it out.
You could also remove the radiator to clean it. It is actually pretty easy to do this.
That picture appears to be your AC condenser. The radiator is behind that. If you get under your car you will see the condenser then there is about a 1" space followed by your radiator. If you have that much crud on your condenser, the radiator may be even worse.
The others who posted have given you good suggestions for cleaning.
Need some help, just got our new to us Vette home after 4 days at our local Chevy dealer. They went through the car front to back for us of the many issues they noted, the found the top end of the radiator was in need of cleaning, see photo. What's the best way to clean all this? Normally I'd take a hose and blast it out from the back but as you know the back side of the radiator is enclosed. Thanks!
I bought the Lock-N-Lube Radiator Genie off Amazon. Careful not to bump the fins but you are able to get behind radiator and blow foreword. I also used a thin brush to brush off the fins. I might spray down the fins with a coil cleaner and use the water wand as well. I felt just using the air was good enough for now. Cover intake manifold. Dirt that came out. A lot more junk came out but blew away.
Some people remove the black shroud and then use compressed air from an air tank to blow it out. I have seen some people will rig up a long metal tube with a 90 degree bend on the end to be able to thoroughly blow it out.
You could also remove the radiator to clean it. It is actually pretty easy to do this.
This is exactly what I did. I don't remember if the air nozzle was a 1/16-27, or 1/8-27 NPT thread. But I used whatever NPT thread the nozzle had, bought an 18"-24" length of pipe, had it threaded on both ends, then screwed a 90° streetelbow on the end. I also used a cap on the streetelbow, which was drilled thru with a 3/16" drill bit, to allow for more air pressure on the fins. I used some weatherstripping on the back of the elbow, to try and protect the cooling fins from getting damaged. Leave the white protective plastic on the weatherstripping, so it will slide off the fins instead of hooking onto them and bending them. You'll be amazed what comes out the front of your radiator. If your car is equipped with A/C, do the A/C condensor, too. It will make a difference if they're somewhat plugged with junk, and most are......
Last edited by grinder11; Mar 1, 2021 at 11:37 AM.
I need to try to blow out any gunk too. Yesterday on the highway I saw 240F pretty quickly at full throttle. I need a new a/c condenser so will take it away first and then try some cleaning of the radiator and run the car again. I don’t have a front lip fitted so maybe less air was directed up towards my radiator too. There isn’t gunk in-between my condenser and radiator but the fins are maybe clogged up. The condenser looks corroded so it maybe isn’t allowing much air through to the radiator.
Before using my car I just installed a new Gates water pump/new hoses/dexcool/thermostat but it seems to be heating up slightly too much and too quickly. The low speed fan function is fine and I have no reason to suspect the high speed isn’t working but on the open road yesterday at full throttle the temperate went up fast. It also cooled down fast which I assume was the high speed fans kicking in at 235.
I should maybe just buy a new radiator at the same time as the AC condenser.
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Radiator Cleaning
