Radiator/Condensor/AT cooler cleaning...

[corsair23]

Last week when many were up having fun at Jenny Creek kiosk install I was stuck at home so I took the opportunity to clean both the 80 and the LX's radiator, condensor, and AT cooler. I saw a thread on MUD awhile ago talking about this. I bought a Thexton Radiator/Condenser Cleaning Wand (awhile ago by now of course) and went to work...It works pretty good but does have a tendency to leak like a sieve so I'm glad that it was warm and that I was wearing shorts and Tevas...

A no brainer on the skill level although I did not take off the cross member piece to get between the radiator and the condensor...I'll do that down the road on the LX for sure when I put in my Slee light harness. Basically all I did was remove the top two fan shroud bolts to get to the radiator and the grill to make it easier to see what needed to be cleaned.

Pics don't really do it justice but suffice to say a LOT of nasty crap came out of the areas ...And, it is obvious what 10+ years of rocks, bugs, etc. will do to the condensor and AT cooler fins.

Initially I thought I noticed about a 5 degree drop in my water temp but I think that was mostly due to the cooler weather last week...Still, it could have hurt getting all that crud out of there.

Here is the Thexton deal (crappy internet pic) and the before pics...

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[corsair23]

After pics...

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[Red_Chili]

Wow, you could spend a couple weeks with a toothpick and straighten out all those fins and see a performance improvement...

 

[Crash]

Fin combs are cheap and easy to find. Like a regular old hair comb but with four different sides with different spacings to match you radiator. Spending the time to use one of those, as Bill said, would greatly enhance the performance of those banged up radiators!

 

[Shark Bait]

Fin combs are cheap and easy to find. Like a regular old hair comb but with four different sides with different spacings to match you radiator.

Gee, Jeff, between the washer and the comb you could have a nice little side career as a radiator stylist.

 

[corsair23]

Gee, Jeff, between the washer and the comb you could have a nice little side career as a radiator stylist.

...Hey Bill, is Squishy still looking for work?

One thing is for sure, if I ever get a new AT cooler or condensor I'll have to seriously consider fabbing up a way to attach some fine mesh screen behind the grill to stop the bug/rocks/etc. from bashing the snot out of the cooler and condensor (or whatever that dealyo is called)

 

[Red_Chili]

Squishy is still up for side jobs, but I think maybe 'radiator stylist' is something he would try to price himself right out of....

 

[corsair23]

Fin combs are cheap and easy to find. Like a regular old hair comb but with four different sides with different spacings to match you radiator. Spending the time to use one of those, as Bill said, would greatly enhance the performance of those banged up radiators!

Ok...Let's say a person was to go out and buy a fin comb...Anyone know off the top of their head what the '97 80 series condensor and AT cooler fins per inch count is?

Apparently there are different styles of combs varying anywhere from 8 per inch and up. It looks like most combs come with multiple heads for multiple uses but there are combs for 8-14 fins per inch and then combs for 13-20 fins per inch.

Until today I never even knew such a tool existed

 

[Uncle Ben]

Ok...Let's say a person were to go out and buy a fin comb...Anyone know off the top of their head what a '97 80 series condesor and AT cooler fins per inch count is?

Apparently there are different styles of combs varying anywhere from 8 per inch and up. It looks like most combs come with multiple heads for multiple uses but there are combs for 8-14 fins per inch and then combs for 13-20 fins per inch.

Until today I never even knew such a tool existed

Got Stanley?

 

[corsair23]

Got Stanley?

Yeah, but that would be way tooooo easy and not would mean I wouldn't rely on the vast knowledge of the Rising Sun gurus

Plus, knowing me I would measure wrong

 

[wesintl]

you have way too much time on your hands to hand clean a radiator and then break out a comb and straighen fins.

Here is a link for one. Radiator comb

 

[corsair23]

you have way too much time on your hands to hand clean a radiator and then break out a comb and straighen fins.

I wish ...It took all of 15 mins per truck to do the cleaning including the time to get out the hose, remove and reinstall the grill, etc. Now straigtening out the fins, that is a whole 'nother story

If anyone wants to borrow the radiator cleaning dealyo let me know...I think it is worth it to do but no sense in anyone buying one unless you feel a burning desire to do so