986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners (http://986forum.com/forums/)
-   Boxster General Discussions (http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/)
-   -   A Good Day for Radiator Cleaning (http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/5907-good-day-radiator-cleaning.html)

98Boxster98 04-30-2006 07:29 PM

A Good Day for Radiator Cleaning
 
I followed the instructions found here:

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Porsche/Radiator/Radiator.html

The instructions are excellent. I didn't have any hiccups (now that I have a new wheel lock socket.) Took me about 2 hours but it should be a lot faster the next time. I found lots of pebbles, grass, dirt, cigarette butts and even a couple of pennies. I also took time to relocate the trunk release. Too many dead battery stories for me. It's a good thing I took a look for the trunk release cable. It was hidden in one of the headlight bays. Weird.

MNBoxster 04-30-2006 08:39 PM

Hi,

Good Job! It's tedious work, but not really difficult. I would recommend one change to the procedure, that is to unscrew the bottom of the Bumper Cover first before removing the Top Screws, it makes dropping the Painted Bumper Cover much less likely.

It's also not a bad idea to look for any crooked or bent fins to both the Radiator or the AC Condenser. These can be straightened by using a Fin Rake - a cheap (less than $5 tool from any Parts Store or online from Eastwood ) which looks like a Comb, but is designed to fit between the fins and allows you to open/straighten them if required. This too will increase your airflow to the Radiators. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

98Boxster98 04-30-2006 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster
Hi,

Good Job! It's tedious work, but not really difficult. I would recommend one change to the procedure, that is to unscrew the bottom of the Bumper Cover first before removing the Top Screws, it makes dropping the Painted Bumper Cover much less likely.

It's also not a bad idea to look for any crooked or bent fins to both the Radiator or the AC Condenser. These can be straightened by using a Fin Rake - a cheap (less than $5 tool from any Parts Store or online from Eastwood ) which looks like a Comb, but is designed to fit between the fins and allows you to open/straighten them if required. This too will increase your airflow to the Radiators. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99


Good points, Jim. I did need a fin rake but I have to leave that for another day. It looks like someone hit the AC condenser with a high pressure water hose.

Also, I didn't remove the wheel liners completely. I used Loren from Renntech technique of using twine shown in his 3rd radiator install instructions.

kabel 07-29-2006 04:41 PM

I did this today. Wow, I have read the many discussions about how much crap can accumulate in the scoops and between the radiators, but I truly was not prepared for the amount of dirt, leaves, and grass I found in between the radiators, simply astonishing! :eek:

I also followed the excellent write up linked in the first post. I was having difficulty separating the two radiators, and almost did not bother, I was really worried about bending the aluminum pipes. Glad I did though, wow.

Also too the opportunity to repaint the inlet grills,, decided to split the difference between black and silver, had some dark metallic gray left over from a set of wheels I painted. It was too dark to get a good pic of that today. But I like it :D

boggtown 07-29-2006 05:02 PM

I cant access the link, anyone know why, I would like to clean my radiators also. I did clean them a little about 2 weeks ago with a vaccum attachment through the grills. But from what I can see is that there is a lot more.

boggtown 07-29-2006 10:01 PM

Nevermind, it started working for some reason.

Paul 06-14-2008 01:41 PM

I finally got around to doing this after I fished out alot of junk from my radiators including a lid for a large fast food soda.

Here's what it looked like after I tried everything I had to remove as much junk as possible:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...t/P6140108.jpg

This is what it looked like with the bumper and ducts off:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...t/P6140112.jpg

Here's what it looked like when I separated the condensor from the radiator:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...t/P6140115.jpg

The other side was worse!

Brucelee 06-14-2008 03:41 PM

Not exactly "accessible" no?

Good job.

:)

Paul 06-14-2008 06:00 PM

The worse part is those plastic rivets that hold the wheel liners in place. Not a very hard job once the car is on the stands.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...P6140111-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...P6140121-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...t/P6140120.jpg

silver arrow 06-14-2008 07:30 PM

Wow, that's a lot of crap. I have to figure out why the L side radiator fan isn't coming on at all, so I might as well clean everything while I'm there.

Paul 06-14-2008 07:42 PM

Check your fuses....

Brucelee 06-15-2008 06:11 AM

Product Idea.

Retro kit that allows a "trap door" approach to this job. Given the location of the radiators, one would expect this maint. to be done on a regular basis.

Inventors, lets go! :dance:

Paul 06-15-2008 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silver arrow
Wow, that's a lot of crap. I have to figure out why the L side radiator fan isn't coming on at all, so I might as well clean everything while I'm there.

You can access the fan (almost) by just removing the inner fender liner.

Brucelee 06-15-2008 02:43 PM

How about combining the quick access door with access to the trunk? Two problems with one kit?


:)

Paul 06-15-2008 02:55 PM

The trunk issue is easily resolved by putting the release cable in the threaded hole for the tow hook.

Paul 06-15-2008 02:59 PM

Took the car for a Sunday drive, no difference in temp gauge readings. I guess those radiators are way oversized for the heat load of our cars.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:10 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2025 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website