Thread: Intercooler cleaning...

Originally Posted by Lowrange

Hi...

Im pulling things off the front of the Tdi at the mo to do the timing belt,( are fuzzy fibres and bits of rubber in the inspection hole bad??? ...lol ) and replacing any worn items as I go. Ive short listed the acc. belt, and tensioner, and poss a water pump. Are there any other things I should also do?
Im going to get the radiator cleaned and want to clean the I/C, does anyone know the name of a locally avail (WA) product to clean the intercooler with?
Or any safe alternatives?

Cheers

Kero will be fine, just make sure it is totally dry before the refit.

I did mine with a litre of acetone

I've never cleaned mine, but once I searched the Internet and found this site:

http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intec...%20Maintenance

Worth having a read.

Pete

I use one of our own products ERG UFA.

It was originally designed to flush out air conditioning and refrigeration systems before an oil/gas change or after a compressor/component failure.

I have used it very sucessfully for engines, gearboxes, pumps and the like, and if you strain the 'used' flush through a good (and I mean good) quality oil filter you can re-use the flush.

It's avaiable from Heatcraft, BOC and Actrol in most states

Have a look at www.erg1000.com

I've washed a few out with petrol
(FYI petroleum spirit (petrol) was a cleaning product before they built an engine that used it for fuel)
what other solvent can you but for under $1.50/ltr (petrol is expensive to burn but a cheap cleaning solvent)
Just make sure it is 100% DRY before you refit it
I normally clean it first and leave it in the sun to dry while i do whatever other jobs need doing
sniff it before refitting, you may smell a little petrol residue but of you can get a rush (or watery eyes) off the fumes it's still wet
Blow out with compressed air or even flush with water and shake out to help get rid of the petrol vapour (shake out all the water you can, a few water droplets left in the cooler wont hurt your engine, a few petrol droplets will)
Jase

Blow out with compressed air or even flush with water and shake out to help get rid of the petrol vapour (shake out all the water you can, a few water droplets left in the cooler wont hurt your engine, a few petrol droplets will)
Jase[/quote]

Sorry but I disagree - a few water droplets can emulsify oils/lubricans - and make them totally useless and cause untold damage - whereas a few droplets of petrol would only reduce the viscosity by a very minimal amount.

I would never use water where water 'aint meant to go.

Petrol is good, go with that but use natural warmth or air to evaporate it out afterwards.

At this point I'll mention WHY you want the internals to be dry before re-fitting....

Any residue will get drawn into the combustion chamber and will cause the engine to rev alarmingly high, potentially causing damage. Once it starts, it's very difficult to stop (especially if everything has been reconnected!!!).

So... The tip I was taught was to re-connect everything other than the hose to the top of the intercooler. Start up the engine and move the hose close enough to the intercooler to start drawing air through - If there is any residue, you will hear the engine note go up. Keep the hose in a position such that the engine doesn't rev high, yet still able to draw air through.

As the residue reduces, so you'll be able to move the hose closer until it's finally connected.



M

like Ladas, I've used a refrigeration system flush, except it was R141B, but that's too bloody expensive, so I use White Spirit, blow a bit of dry nitrogen through and blow through with the hairdryer till the I/C gets nice and warm, for the reasons that Camel Landy states.