Clean your radiator!!

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: GMBoy



255 is too hot. Did you check to see if your fans are working? You should never see more than 230 on that Vette for any long periods of time, also. My fans come on around 228-230 and go off at 212-218.


Yep, fans are working just fine, in fact I've got custom tuning which turns them on sooner, so my high speed fan comes on at only 200F.

If I'm driving on the highway at a steady speed on a cool morning, it'll stay at 187-190F the entire time, it's only when stuck in traffic for long periods on hot days with the AC on that it got as high as 255. But as I mentioned, it doesn't go that high anymore since I cleaned some of the gunk off the rad. I just need to get a bit more of it off there to bring the temps down even more.



Makes sense now - I'm gonna clean all my rads this weekend!

 

[TheBus36]

I have an electric pressure washer which is not as powerful as the gas type. I've sprayed my radiator for the outside and have never noticed any bent fins. Now that you mention it make better sense to sprav from the inside out.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: GMBoy



255 is too hot. Did you check to see if your fans are working? You should never see more than 230 on that Vette for any long periods of time, also. My fans come on around 228-230 and go off at 212-218.


Yep, fans are working just fine, in fact I've got custom tuning which turns them on sooner, so my high speed fan comes on at only 200F.

If I'm driving on the highway at a steady speed on a cool morning, it'll stay at 187-190F the entire time, it's only when stuck in traffic for long periods on hot days with the AC on that it got as high as 255. But as I mentioned, it doesn't go that high anymore since I cleaned some of the gunk off the rad. I just need to get a bit more of it off there to bring the temps down even more.



Makes sense now - I'm gonna clean all my rads this weekend!


What are you running in the GN? I did the F-bod radiator for $120 and the dual fans for $90 and with a frontmount in 100 degree weather it never gets above 175 degrees. Best money I ever spent.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: Junior
Just don't stick the pressure washer in there or you will bend over the fins.

Junior, when you say pressure washer, do you mean the kind at the coin-operated do-it-yourself car wash? That's the only water stream I have. If I leave the stream on the lower setting, will that do it? Or will the higher-pressure rinse bend the fins?

 

[Junior]

It really depends on the radiator/condensor you are cleaning out and the angle of the spray and distance away.

A lot of automotive radiators and condensors have many fins per inch and are very fine. The benefit is higher effiency. The downfall is they plug easier and are easier to damage. Some of our off road equipment only has 4.5 fins per inch and are pretty tough. But we know a lot of stuff is going to get sucked through them. So to compensate for the lower effiency we have to increase the size and increae the airflow through them. 30 HP just to run the cooling fan.

Anyway, if you can stay far enough away and get straight at the rad, you can use a pressure washer. Unfortunately, you really can't do this unless the radiator is out of the vehicle. There isn't room under the hood to get the nozzle far enough away or at the correct angle. I have cleaned several radiators out of the vehicle this way. However, I have bent the fins while trying to clean with a pressure washer while in the vehicle. I spent a long time with a radiator comb fixing my screw up.

Use caution with any pressure washer.