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Display Mesage #-49370


PC800: Re: Cleaning Radiator Fins
Written by DWilli5342@aol.com on 1/4/2001 at 04:52 pm

David (and other listers):

DISCLAIMER: I've not tried this on the PC. As a matter of fact, I've not
'explored' yet the area around the backside of the radiator at all.
But....the concept has worked in other applications.

In days gone by, when we were racing stock cars, we had some "interesting"
engine/radiator configurations which also made it difficult to get good
access to "backwash" the radiator from rear to front, to clean debris from
around the cooling fins. One solution I developed was to take our
"blow-it-off" nozzle for the air compressor, and fit a length of small-gauge
rubber tubing (like surgical tubing) to the end of the blower nozzle, and use
that to blow out the chucks of rubber and stuff that were embedded between
the fins. The tubing is quite flexible, and you can get into pretty tight
spots, even if you can only get a couple of fingers in (hold the tubing
between your fingers like a cigarette). The air volume usually will keep the
tubing from collapsing. I'd also suggest spraying in some detergent, like
Simple Green, from the front, and let it sit a few minutes before "blowing"
from the back, to help loosen the gunk that might be trapped in there. You
might not be able to reach EVERY part of the radiator, but I'd be surprised
if you can't get to most of it.

Also ... be careful with your air supply volume. The fins CAN be delicate,
so too much air pressure could potentially do things you'd prefer to avoid!

Also, an inexpensive mud flap on the rear trailing edge of the front fender
can keep most of the road crap out of that exposed radiator. Mine works
wonderfully.

Good luck!

Dean Williams
Springfield, OR

98 PC800
"Nata Harli"

Thu, 4 Jan 2001 14:56:25 -0800

Message Thread for message #-49370