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Old 04-28-2005, 04:27 PM   #1
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I want to wash my radiatior....plan is to spray liberally with Simple Green then wash it. Was thinking of using the pressure washer on lower setting, wide pattern. Any reasons not to use the pressure washer?

Also, another IRV2.com forum member suggested that FL said to wash the radiator from the engine out....I looked under the coach tonite and I don't see how. There is a fan shroud and other than sticking a hose nozzle in that general area, I don't see how you could effectively wash the core well.
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Old 04-28-2005, 04:27 PM   #2
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I want to wash my radiatior....plan is to spray liberally with Simple Green then wash it. Was thinking of using the pressure washer on lower setting, wide pattern. Any reasons not to use the pressure washer?

Also, another IRV2.com forum member suggested that FL said to wash the radiator from the engine out....I looked under the coach tonite and I don't see how. There is a fan shroud and other than sticking a hose nozzle in that general area, I don't see how you could effectively wash the core well.
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Old 04-28-2005, 04:34 PM   #3
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Be VERY careful using a pressure washer around the radiator. It is suprizingly easy to bend the fins thus making the cooling coils much less effective. Also if there are any weaknesses in the coils you will find them. Some radiator shrouds use a foam insulation to direct airflow around the top and sides of the radiator(s). A high pressure stream of water will blow these out. Sound like experience..it is.

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Old 04-29-2005, 04:26 AM   #4
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10-4 Charlie,

Simple green and regular garden hose pressure is all you need. If your radiator is realy cruddy with black oily soot, you need to get the crankcase breather tube replaced or extended. There is a recall on the original tube, it allowed the breather fluids to contaminate the radiator. This will cause over heating and lead to other problems.

Once your breather tube is updated, theres really no need to worry about the radiator that much. Mine stays really clean now.

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Old 04-29-2005, 06:18 AM   #5
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Tomcat:

My radiator is not oily or sooty, just dusty. How would I know if the crankcase breather has been unpdated? My tube extends just past the bottom of the hitch receiver...there is a greasy build-up on the receiver but not in any other location I can see.
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Old 04-29-2005, 11:21 AM   #6
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Before we had the breather tube extended, we had a terrible oily-dirty build up on the radiator from all the oily smoke and road dust and grime the fan pushes through the radiator. Engine started heating in Wyoming coming east out of Cody through Greybull. We made it to the top of the pass after several stops to cool down. Made it back to Georgia with little or no increase in engine temp. I believe it was a member here that suggested the dirty radiator flues as a cause. He suggested a steam cleaner but I did not have one.
I ended up at a 'quarter car wash'. Sprayed the radiator with degreaser and let it set for a few minutes. Came back with hot water and soap and washed it from the outside back toward the engine. I saw no way to effectively cover the entire radiator from under and thru the fan. The amount of crud and dirt that came from the washing was amazing. We repeated the process and again a lot of black gunk came out. On the third and final wash, the water was clean. A trip to Gaffney for service and and an extended 'puke pipe' solved my problems in that regard.
I am not sure what the pressure is at a carwash, but probably not as much as a high pressure washer. It certainly did no damage to the radiator itself. Not a hard job, took about 30-45 minutes and a few dollars worth of quarters.
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Old 04-29-2005, 11:29 AM   #7
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Smiranger,

You can put a pint of Simple Green in a weed sprayer along with a gallon of hot water. Pump it up and you'll have enough pressure to squirt on through all three heat exchangers from the outside then hose it down. Or
use a weed killer applicator that screws into your garden hose. Hot water helps almost as much as the detergent. Simple Green is tough on aluminum so rinse throughly.

Home Depot handles Zep products and they have a citrus based product that eats the oily stuff. I think it's called Zep Corrects of sorta like that. 3M has Natural Cleaner if you can find it. All are water soluble.



The high pressure sprayers are too strong for that weak metal MO.
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Old 04-29-2005, 01:41 PM   #8
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Smlranger-
"My tube extends just past the bottom of the hitch receiver...there is a greasy build-up on the receiver but not in any other location I can see.

You've got the blow-by tube problem covered as far as radiator plugging goes. Just needs to bypass spitting on the radiator.

The cleverest solution to blow-by I've seen (short of an AirSep type recovery system) is a plastic peanut butter jar. Cut a hole in the center of the lid a bit smaller than the size of the tube o.d. & park the lid on the tube using hose clamps above & below. Stuff the jar w/copper wool sponges to assist in condensate & oil collection. Drill some 1/4" holes in the rest of the lid for hot air to escape, & screw the jar on to the lid. Clean out the jar & sponges every so now & then, & you don't have to clean the oil off the toad.
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