Thread: Inter cooler cleaning

Not really possible to do it properly insitu. To clean properly you need to be able to flush with "shellite" and tip it out ,repeat a few times until clean then dry it with air.

Unless your engine is quite fumy it may be ok. Take a hose off and see how oily the inside is virst.
Cheers Scott

I have been thinking about this. I think it is possible, how effective do not know. My idea is to use a couple of PVC reducers on the inlet and outlet side of the inter cooler and connect it via some clear plastic tubing to a drill operated pump. Fill the intercooler with shellite or similar and circulate the fluid, drain, repeat etc until fluid comes out clear.

You should try to take it out. It's not really that hard, just time consuming.
When it's out of the way, you'll have an opportunity to clean between the fins of the i/c and other items in there, ie the a/c condensor and the oil cooler. They'll be full of crap too.
A garden hose (low-pressure) and an air-line will be useful.
When I did mine (D2a), the oil-cooler was 1/3 totally clogged with a mix of oil and mud - it looked like the oil had been getting out of the 'cool' end of the i/c.
Good luck.

its easy to do it in the car, just exend some pipes up so you can fill it & let it soak in degreaser , drain , hot soapy water , drain , run hose through, then hook up the garden blower and blast it with air to dry it out . job done. then fit a provent to stop it clogging up again.

I have not had a close look for some time - do you have to remove the Rad to get the I/C out?

Originally Posted by crash

I have not had a close look for some time - do you have to remove the Rad to get the I/C out?

Not too hard to remove. You actually have to remove the IC first to get the radiator out. When removing the IC, you remove the front grille, remove the battery and battery holder, remove fan shroud, remove inter cooler hoses, and the undo brackets holding IC in place. The IC hangs off the radiator brackets. You do need to push the radiator back towards the motor but does not need radiator hoses removed. Just be careful with the small hoses connected to the radiator as they are easy to accidentally snap off as the plastic becomes very brittle after 10 years.

you will have to remove horns and foam behind them to access brackets 10mm head on the bolts from memory, once you have the grill off , I've never taken the battery out ( not saying not to) but I remove fan as this gives you more room to move the radiator back without damage.

What he said ^^^^^^^^

A nice walk through here www.discovery2.co.uk / Workshop / Intercooler Cleaninr