How To Clean Semi Truck Radiator
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My truck has been running hot for the past few months. I just thought it was getting tired or something. I was at home and I park my truck at my mechanics shop. I had the hood up and he told me to start the engine and put the fan on. He put a rag in front of the AC condenser and it would not stick. It just fell down. He did that on purpose to show me.
You can see maybe 5" of the radiator top and it was plugged up solid with oil and dirt. He ended up taking the condenser and CAC out and they weren't bad but the radiator was real bad. He's assuming it got plugged up from the blow by and dust accumulating.
He was able to clean it with an air hose and brake cleaner. Then the rag stuck to the AC condenser when he was done showing it was now pulling air through.
Anyways, I was wondering if there's any routine thing I can do to keep the radiator clean? I was thinking a garden chemical sprayer filled with hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid or something along those lines.
My truck heating up has occurred over a long period of time so it sneaks up on you to a point you finally realized something is wrong. It was a major job for my mechanic to do. Lots of other parts had to be removed before he could get to the radiator.
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062 Road Train Member
Local lowes sells WEB coil cleaner for $5 a can. Basically you just spray on,let it sit a few minutes and rinse off.
If real dirty take the fan shroud loose,spray from inside out. -
Find somewhere you can use a compressor, and blow all that dust and dirt out once a week or two. Using anything with water just makes what you don't get completely clean stick in there worse once it dries. Ask me how I know......
BTW- In a pinch, you can get a 50' section of air line and either use a glad hand connect or plumb a quick connect in your air tank on the rig. That way you can also use it to air up tires and whatnot. Downside is you can't leave your motor running due to the fan coming on, so it will be a pain having to restart your motor every time the air bleeds down.... -
Well I would do what the above comments say, but I would also pull the ac condenser (if you have the room to remove it without disconnecting the ac lines) and thoroughly power wash and blow everything out. And straighten any bent fins on the core. Sometimes it's so plugged up like mine was, I just broke down and replaced it all. Good luck to ya
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I like to spray down with simple green full strength on anything greasy, dirty or oily. When you drive through train it'll loosen the oil , etc and wash it off.
You can also wash it with a hose after it's had time to sit and dissolve the grime.
BTW, I like to use a pump up garden chemical sprayer to apply. It makes life sooo much easier. On the road I carry a regular hand sprayer full of simple green and I spray diesel spills, etc.. Works great!!
Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
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I go to a self serve truck wash once a month and spray from the engine side out with the pressure washer being careful not to touch the radiator fins. Once a year, usually in the spring, I will take it apart, use a special brush I got from MAC tools to straighten the fins, pressure test the radiator, and clean it up real well with brake clean and water. Learned this from my dad having a lot of off-road equipment, it gets plugged up real fast. Compressed air is good as well, just be careful not to bed the fins on the radiator. I like the Simple Green suggestion above, may have to try that next time. I used to carry a garden sprayer of degreaser when I ran flatbed tow truck, made cleaning up the leaking fluids from wrecked vehicles much easier.
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wrong or right i use grill and oven cleaner when things get really bad. its a acid so you have to make sure you rinse with LOTS of water. but it does a really good job will make it like new. i also use low pressure water larger volume of water helps flush all the #### out and you can bend the fins easily with high pressure.
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We've always used a hot water pressure washer. Fire up the truck and set RPM to about 1200-1500 and switch the fan on. Keep the gun about 6"-10" back from the grill/rad and spray directly in, straight on. We would do this every weekend when we washed the truck. If the rad is as bad as you describe, best to take it apart and clean it up real good first since this method relies on the fan pulling the hot water through.
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you could go the route MudGuppy suggesting with hooking an extension hose up to the gladhands and just remove the belt to the fan so it won't spin if the fan clutch engages.
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Has anyone else heard of or used one of those variable pitch flexxaire fans? Looks like an interesting concept.
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How To Clean Semi Truck Radiator
Source: https://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/how-to-clean-a-radiator.290852/
Posted by: mataothed1979.blogspot.com
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