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Radiator Cleaning Advice?

T

TurboTahoe

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Hi guys,

It's time to clean out the Tahoe's radiator, and I'm ashamed to say I have never removed it.

It's easy to see that the upper and lower radiator hose need to come off, as well as the hoses for the overflow tank, but what are those metal lines going to what appears to be the side of the radiator?

Thanks for any help here.

-Rob :)
 
those sound like the tranny cooler lines. You're going to want to be very careful with the oil cooler, the fittings are plastic and won't take very much twisting or pulling. Don't ask me how I know that.
 
Tranny lines, Rob. Plug the lines with a little chunk of plastic or wood (like a slightly whittled-down golf tee), and plug the fittings in the rad with something to keep water etc from getting in there. I picked up a couple little plastic plugs at the hardware store when I did mine.

I never bothered getting mine boiled out, and they can't rod these aluminum rads properly. I figured if it was pooched, I could order a new one cheap enough, so I wasn't tossing more $$ after this one.

Turned out I didn't need to.

CHeck and clean your tstat fan clutch while you got it apart, and this is a good time to change thermostat, too. Take your time on the rad - soak, clean, soak, over and over. I put mine face-down on 2 sawhorses in the driveway, where I could wash the crap away easily, into the street. Get some foamy coil cleaner or 'scrubbing bubbles' cleaner to help with the soaking.

Oh, and beer. Spray the rad with cleaner, let soak while you have a beer. One beer is about perfect for soaking time. Tell the Missus it's just a timing device, recommended by your Canadian friends. :D Takes about 3-4 soakings to clean a rad properly.


One of the old guys posted that he used a leaf-blower to blow it out after soaking and washing, and got a ton of little sand particles out... might be worth a try if you have one.

Don't use a pressure washer - a garden hose sprayer works just fine. The Aluminum fins bend easy. Same goes for compressed air... keep your distance.

Have fun!
 
JiFaire said:
Tranny lines, Rob. Plug the lines with a little chunk of plastic or wood (like a slightly whittled-down golf tee), and plug the fittings in the rad with something to keep water etc from getting in there. I picked up a couple little plastic plugs at the hardware store when I did mine.

I never bothered getting mine boiled out, and they can't rod these aluminum rads properly. I figured if it was pooched, I could order a new one cheap enough, so I wasn't tossing more $$ after this one.

Turned out I didn't need to.

CHeck and clean your tstat fan clutch while you got it apart, and this is a good time to change thermostat, too. Take your time on the rad - soak, clean, soak, over and over. I put mine face-down on 2 sawhorses in the driveway, where I could wash the crap away easily, into the street. Get some foamy coil cleaner or 'scrubbing bubbles' cleaner to help with the soaking.

Oh, and beer. Spray the rad with cleaner, let soak while you have a beer. One beer is about perfect for soaking time. Tell the Missus it's just a timing device, recommended by your Canadian friends. :D Takes about 3-4 soakings to clean a rad properly.


One of the old guys posted that he used a leaf-blower to blow it out after soaking and washing, and got a ton of little sand particles out... might be worth a try if you have one.

Don't use a pressure washer - a garden hose sprayer works just fine. The Aluminum fins bend easy. Same goes for compressed air... keep your distance.

Have fun!
Click to expand...

Jim, that is a fantastic written tutorial - I love the timing device advice!

Thanks!

-Rob :)
 
I used my pressure washer, but on low pressure steam not high pressure hot water if you have access to one that works nice too. Jim's right probably not worth boiling these. I forget sometimes they are plastic/aluminum and think old scool.
 
don't bother getting it boiled out. I paid the local crook $125 to "remove my tanks and clean it" and I think all he did was spray paint the bugs. I bought a new radiator for $160 from JC Whitney. When I applied a nice 20% discount coupon, it was even less expensive.
 
For cleaning the radiator core and AC condenser along with the other coolers out front, I went the local Heat and Air home shop and bought a product called PRO-GREEN for $16 a gallon. It is evaporator core cleaner and you mix 3 parts water to one part PRO-GREEN. I mixed 1 gallon and sprayed everything that needed to be sprayed, let it set for about 5 minutes and then rinsed it off with a garden hose. There was absolutely nothing left on any of the coolers and coils. I can now look in through the grill and actually see my engine through the AC condenser and the radiator. I would highly recommend this stuff or a similar product that the Pro's use. I used Scrubbing Bubbles and a pressure washer a year ago and did not even get remotely close to the "CLEAN" that I have now.
Peace and Blessings - Mike
 
The pro green is not that expensive only $18 for a gallon jug.

Just do a Google search for pro green coil cleaner and it will pop up.

Here is some info on it;

Coil & Drain Cleaners



Pro-Green Evaporative Coil Cleaners - 1 Gallon


The Pro-Green is a non-toxic evaporative coil cleaner, which is a safe-to-use product on your evaporator coils.
This coil cleaner can also be used on air-cooled condensers, electronic filters and fan blades.

* Cleans And Treats Coils
* Maximum air conditioning efficiency
* Deodorizes and rids condensate pans of slime.
* Strong
* Fast
* Easy
* Non-Toxic

DIRECTIONS: For both indoor and outdoor use. Wear protective goggles and gloves. For best results, mix one part pro-green solution with three parts water. Shut system off, then spray the Pro-Green solution into the coil fins from bottom up. No rinsing is required for lightly soiled evaporator coils: however condenser and extremely dirty evaporator coils will require rinsing. Return the system to service. Pro-green is also an excellent cleaner/ degreaser for electrostatic and permanent filters.

READ CAUTIONS AND FIRST AID ON BOTTLE BEFORE USE.
 
Last edited:
Mix it 50/50 and spray away is how I read 3parts to 1 part :)

That's actually very cheap. Considering you'd buy a few scubbing bubbles you'll be right there anyhow. I
 
If you've never cleaned the AC evaporator/heater box inside the cab, this would be a good time. That pro green is perfect for it. Not sure on your Tahoe, but my 'Burb has no real cabin filter, anf the heater box and AC evap. get some leaves/pine needles/dead bugs collected there. At the feet of the passenger side, few screws, easy if you have skinny hands. Also, another beer timer opportunity, for consistency sake.
 
preachermic said:
For cleaning the radiator core and AC condenser along with the other coolers out front, I went the local Heat and Air home shop and bought a product called PRO-GREEN for $16 a gallon. It is evaporator core cleaner and you mix 3 parts water to one part PRO-GREEN. I mixed 1 gallon and sprayed everything that needed to be sprayed, let it set for about 5 minutes and then rinsed it off with a garden hose. There was absolutely nothing left on any of the coolers and coils. I can now look in through the grill and actually see my engine through the AC condenser and the radiator. I would highly recommend this stuff or a similar product that the Pro's use. I used Scrubbing Bubbles and a pressure washer a year ago and did not even get remotely close to the "CLEAN" that I have now.
Peace and Blessings - Mike
Click to expand...

Did you remove the radiator or just do it in truck?

To be honest, I'm scared of removing my rad as I don't want to do damage to other lines attaching to it, tranny lines especially. Things don't come apart easy on my truck. Especially things being untouched for 12 years.

I'm going to get the pro-green stuff and do it still in the truck. I'll remove the shroud/Fan and the grill. I have no A/C so I can get right in there. It'll still be better than not doing it by 100x and I really dont' have any overheat issues except for when plow on, So I'll do it until I can see clearly through it.
 
DieselCash said:
The pro green is not that expensive only $18 for a gallon jug.

Just do a Google search for pro green coil cleaner and it will pop up.

Here is some info on it;

Coil & Drain Cleaners



Pro-Green Evaporative Coil Cleaners - 1 Gallon


The Pro-Green is a non-toxic evaporative coil cleaner, which is a safe-to-use product on your evaporator coils.
This coil cleaner can also be used on air-cooled condensers, electronic filters and fan blades.

* Cleans And Treats Coils
* Maximum air conditioning efficiency
* Deodorizes and rids condensate pans of slime.
* Strong
* Fast
* Easy
* Non-Toxic

DIRECTIONS: For both indoor and outdoor use. Wear protective goggles and gloves. For best results, mix one part pro-green solution with three parts water. Shut system off, then spray the Pro-Green solution into the coil fins from bottom up. No rinsing is required for lightly soiled evaporator coils: however condenser and extremely dirty evaporator coils will require rinsing. Return the system to service. Pro-green is also an excellent cleaner/ degreaser for electrostatic and permanent filters.

READ CAUTIONS AND FIRST AID ON BOTTLE BEFORE USE.
Click to expand...

This sounds suspiciously like "Simple Green"

http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_products_all_purpose.php

Anyone know if the two are related?

-Rob :)
 
Don't know if they're related, you could look up the MSDS on them and compare.
I DO know that Simple Green is stronger than most think, we used to use in in a parts dip tank, and forgot some pieces in it over a weekend. S.Green stripped the plating off some, the paint off another. Had to junk 1/2 of them. It even grows moldy and stinks if we left it in the tank too long. The barrels we bought it in were some kind of plastic.
For short exposures like radiator cleaning, S.Green should be fine. Wear rubber gloves.:troll:
Dave
 
I did it this year with rad still in the truck. I pulled the top of the shroud off and used a pump up sprayer to get in between the rad and ac coil. Let it set a little and then rinsed it off real good. I had all kinds of bugs and dust and stuff on the driveway.
 
Matt Bachand said:
Mix it 50/50 and spray away is how I read 3parts to 1 part :)

That's actually very cheap. Considering you'd buy a few scubbing bubbles you'll be right there anyhow. I
Click to expand...

Lol same here... I'm going to give this a shot until I can visually see through it.

FWIW, a few years back I compressed air the piss outta my radiator, not knowing any potential damage. Ignorance is bluss. Alot of crap flew out, and it didn't bend the fins thank god.
 
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