[SEL] Radiator cleaning question.

[Tom Smith]

Jerry,

I have a very old (late 20s) Caterpillar radiator that had 60 plus 
years of mostly oil and dirt built up so thick on the lower part of 
the radiator that the fins were not visible. It was cooling ok but 
looked like hell. The former owner didn't bother to remove this prior 
to repainting, so there was a layer of paint to cap the oil/dirt 
mixture.

I removed the dirt down to fin level with a scraper which got me below 
paint and then applied several applications of a strong Chevron engine 
degreaser followed by a car wash pressure sprayer set on pressured hot 
soap. I didn't find the car wash "engine degreaser" option as 
effective as my bottle of spray degreaser after sitting for awhile and 
before hitting it with the hot car wash spray. My final application of 
compressed air took care of the bigger pieces wedged down in the fin 
area. The whole thing looks pretty good now.

Ultimately, I may have spent as much money using this technique as 
bringing to a commercial radiator shop, but I was careful not to bang 
the old radiator around causing more damage and it was (a lot of 
fun??).

Good luck,

Tom