Help with clogged radiator

chuck t

Member
I have been mowing l the tall grass. My MF 165 radiator is clogged with weed, seeds, and all sorts of stuff. Running a little warmer than usual. The gaps are all plugged. I want to unplug it. Thought about using air compressor but it is not near any electricity. Any ideas other than using a wire to ram through the gaps?
 
if you have a gas leaf blower, try that or, a garden hose. dont use a pressure washer, you can blow holes or fold the fins over.
 
One should NEVER use wire or other such things to try to remove grass etc. from a radiator unless you want to replace it. Garden hose air or other such things is the only way to do it unless you want to risk causing a leak
 
You need a portable air tank,fill it with air and take it with you. I have an old
propane grill tank that I use. Holds enough air for what you need to do. Also good
for filling tires in the field.
Al
 

You need a hose and good stream of water, come in from the backside of the radiator and be prepared to spend 15 minutes or so getting it clean.
 
If you have a portable compressor with a reasonable size tank, run it until the tank is full and take it to the tractor.

Air up a couple of truck tires to max rated pressure.
Make up a hose with a clip on tire chuck on one end and a blow gun on the other.

Could use a 12 volt compressor to refill one while you are emptying the other.
 
In a pinch you can brush the surface stuff off with a non metallic brush and then poke a mid sized zip tie in there to clean it enough to get the job done providing you can get to the front of the radiator. When we were running CIH 2388 combines the factory book recommended brushing off the front surface with a soft brush. They recommended the soft brush for a good reason knowing most farmers don't realize how fragile a radiator is. I had to do a field solder job on a combine radiator that had a tube poked when the operator was too aggressive cleaning.
 
I doube this is news to anyone but unless you like cleaning out the fins on a
regular basis, a piece of window screen before the radiator will make life
easier. TDF
 
I had to cut the fields here to late this year, weeds, fuzz with seeds and chaff. I took the head of a golden rod plant and used it as a brush to get the heavy stuff off in the field, then put my face close to the radiator and pretended I was the air hose LOL !
Worked great and the temperature never went up to hot. I will bring an air tank with a hose and appropriate tip if cutting this material again. It got right through the screening on the grill of this tractor and I think its due to a small gap between it and side panels. I think it should fit better, but its factory and unaltered. I hate using water for this because it makes a mess and soaks the dry material that will otherwise blow off easily. Just use care with air pressure and a fine tip, you can bend over the fins if too much and too close.
 
THIS IS WHAT I DO ,,.,Get to a garden hose,. with the engine idling, splash
liberally simple green ,purple power onto ther adiator fins,,.. you know you
have enuf when it comes thru the fan ,,.next hose the fins, at idle ,. the crud
will come rolling thru , throttle up to full throttle and continue pulling the
water and rinse the simple green thru ,,. repeat if needed ,,. now is a good
time to hose off the engine
 


What I do is pull off the side cover and pull out the screen that lies right against the radiator. I clean that off by just hitting the front tire with it then reach in front of the radiator and pull out all the fluff by hand. No need for degreaser with the fluff that I get.
 

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