Gjac wrote:
Thanks for your post I have not even thought of this or seen it posted before. The question that I have is if you had known this before you pulled it do you think that you could have cleaned it with the AC condenser blocking the radiator?
No. I had already tried power washing through the front, but because the radiator is completely hidden behind the AC condenser and transmission cooler that are mounted in front of it, it was not only blocked from view, but also from the force of the water. After seeing how bad the blockage was, I'm convinced that even at full force the water would not have budged it. And unless the fins were free of oil residue, which water is not going to accomplish, the problem would have reappeared eventually as bugs and dirt once again built up on the sticky fins.
The only way to completely clean that solidly congealed mess out of the fins would be with a solvent and in the case of this rig, that requires removing the radiator, a time consuming and thus expensive proposition. The cost of the new radiator was a drop in the bucket compared to the labor - a two mechanic job taking a few hours. This is one of those cases where an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. I hope my sad experience saves others from a similar gooey, pricey fate.
