Radiator cleaning suggestions, please

[200lc1]

My dozers radiator is quite closed in and guarded, has a pusher fan. Can't get in there very well to wash surface, which is collecting dust and plugging. Any recommendations? I cleaned it well with all the covers off a short while ago, didn't expect it to clog so fast. Compressed air? It's quite thick to try flush out from the front.
Thanks

 

[epirbalex]

My dozers radiator is quite closed in and guarded, has a pusher fan. Can't get in there very well to wash surface, which is collecting dust and plugging. Any recommendations? I cleaned it well with all the covers off a short while ago, didn't expect it to clog so fast. Compressed air? It's quite thick to try flush out from the front.
Thanks

I have the same problem with small dead sticks , and leaves matting against my radiator . I get about a day by the time my torque coverter and water guages start differing in needle angle . I use a inch and a half hose pump at about 30 pounds pressure . Drives me to distraction . I break up the mat from the motor side first then put the flow from the outside to wash it away . I have thought about using a water blaster but do not want to risk folding the fins over . Some fans are reversible , wish mine was . I read a post here few months back where a poster said he burnt it off , tempted to try . Dirt and dust would not be a problem with good flow .

 

[DMiller]

At some point will need to soak the radiator with a soap or oil release agent(even diesel fuel works) let it soak a short time then use a MEDIAN pressure and NOT a high pressure wash system to clean the garbage out, as are pushers you are gonna get a mess as need to Back Wash onto the engine to get it freed up and moved., entire machine will need a good bath when done. Be a perfect time to clean belly pans too.

 

[200lc1]

Thanks for the insights. The fine dust and ash from spreading out burn piles seems to accumulate quickly. Guess I'll have to limp it along until I can walk it back to a water source, and do a better job of cleaning when I do.
Unfortunately I've been keeping up well with the belly pan cleaning lately, chasing an assortment of tranny leaks. Think I'm finally gaining ground on that front.
Cheers

 

[Fourtencustoms]

something like this help?
https://www.amazon.com/Right-Angle-Blow-Liquid-Sprayer/dp/B017Y8ZPQO

Or this?
https://www.amazon.com/IPA-Tools-80...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MWW2DB00MPX6J8FBFXF3

Ive been considering something like this in the shop to help clear out these radiators.....

 

[DMiller]

The fine debris from burn piles can include some creosote or tree sap that did not combust, that can be sticky as oils and will dry like coal tar.

 

[mitch504]

I find that compressed air does a fine job of blowing out fine dust and ash. Water will sometimes make a paste of it. It is best to first blow opposite to the direction that your fan does, then back and forth until you are not getting much out.

I have built several of those tools like above, a cheap blow gun with 1/8 pipe threads in the end, a compression adapter, and a piece of left over steel brake line. Hammer the end shut, and drill holes from the side. Make it the length and shape you need.

 

[hosspuller]

Wood ash is corrosive when combined with water from the Dew or rain. Get it cleaned out or your aluminum radiator will get leaky.

 

[200lc1]

Thought I'd be clever today, cleaned out and pressured up an old dead fire extinguisher. Was only a 3lb'er so the charge didn't last long enough. Ran the dozer a bit but it was a little too hot for my liking. Ended up walking it back to the shop and pressure washed it out. I used plenty of soap to break down any residue, then rinsed thoroughly. I have another larger dead extinguisher I might rig up with a tube extension as described, otherwise a portable air tank may be in my future. I don't get much opportunity for seat time so I have to make it count, not running my equipment back and forth from my shop to where I'm land clearing. These are some great ideas,
thanks all.

 

[DMiller]

You can laugh
Have a 55 gal drum a 12v high volume pump and a gas engine pressure washer
Used those to clean my machine at least a little bit when in the field and when I built my first barn as no water

 

[Fourtencustoms]

buddy of mine had a WWII torpedo he converted to an air tank....that sucker was awesome! Torpedo housing is nice and lightweight and he would fill that baby to 160 psi and take it to the junk yard. Back then air tools in the junk yard were still allowed and nobody had electric stuff that could handle these jobs.. That torpedo was awesome! light enough to carry around, large enough to provide some real air power!

 

[seville009]

Don’t know if it would work in your situation, but I carry one if those long dryer lint brushes in my tractor for when I brush hog fields in the fall. The tall grass seed and chaff clogs everything up pretty good and makes the engine get in the hot zone. The lint brush gets the radiator fins pretty clean - good enough to keep the radiator from overheating until I’m done at least.

 

[LN Pipeline]

You may have to remove it to thoroughly clean it. Sometimes they are just too inaccessible.

The last radiator I worked on, I was blowing out twice a day and still overheating. Pulled it out and it was over 50 percent plugged, packed full of dirt and grass. Couldn’t get that packed in stuff out when it was in the machine. Too much stuff in the way with the shrouds and other coolers.

I have one piece of equipment that has hinges on the hydraulic and A/C coolers. You can fold them out and access both sides of all the coolers. I don’t understand why all heavy equipment isn’t designed that way.

If your radiator has bolt on tanks, you can easily remove them and make sure your core tubes aren’t plugged. Had another radiator somehow get a bunch of small rocks in it, and a bunch of tubes were blocked.