Cleaning front radiators

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beachcities

New member
I was detailing a saleen mustang a few weeks back, and noticed that it had the bottom part of the radiator visible through the bumper. because of this, it had a lot of bugs in it. i have also noticed this even on regular cars, open the hood and there are all kinds of bugs in the radiator fins. it seems however, that cleaning the fins could damage them and hurt the cooling process of the engine. anyone have a solution for this, that they have found to be safe and effective?
 
I use various types of brushes. As long as you don't get too aggressive you shouldn't have problems with the fins, or at least I never do.



Spraying with something like FK425 or a spray sealant seems to help a little with stuff sticking and being hard to remove.



A little work at every wash should keep things from getting too bad.
 
That's probably the AC condenser, not the radiator. It really depends on the condition of the fins. If they are still intact, try a soft toothbrush to gently brush out the debris. If the fins are bent, they can be "combed" or straighten. Try not to directly blast them with pressure, they're pretty fragile.
 
Soft brush would be fine. Stay with the grain of the fins and dont go against the grain at all.



Also, never use high pressure to spray the condenser out.
 
I own a Honda Civic and as you may know they are notorious for their AC condenser to be exposed and could easily be punctured with small rocks so I bought some chicken wire mesh from Home Depot and cut it to size and fit it in front of the condenser (from inside the bumper) ,which gives the radiator/condenser some protection .



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Eastwood sells a fin straightener- essentially a four sided comb (with different variations in teeth placement) to straighten a set of fins. Lots of water soften most bugs and debris and they just fall out.
 
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