Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Radiator Cleaning - Why did I wait so long??

[dnesbitt3]

Well after hanging out here for the last 8 years and learning that waiting until you have a problem is not the time to take action (LP, guages, VP44, TC, transmission) I've been taking a more proactive approach to fixing things before they break.



Drained the cooling system, replaced the hoses, serpentine belt (had gone 133K), and thermostat (Cummins) and pulled the radiator - this is what it looked like:



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For those of you who think it looks bad... . you're right, and the backside looked even worse - 4 minutes at the local car wash a 3 or 4 lbs of grease,oil, grime, dirt and bugs later I could actually see through the fins.



I tried rinsing this thing out about 6 months ago with a garden hose with a pressure nozzle - evidently that's not a very effective method. Complete job took me about 2 hours - I'm slow.



Wanted to change the fan clutch as well, but couldn't figure out how to get it off - I guess there's some special tool that I need... so I'll save that project for next week end although I'm sure it would have been easier with the radiator out.



Truck now has 270K and I can't imagine parting with it unless Santa brings me one of these:



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[bigredblur]

I need to do that. Last night after I changed my lift pump and relocated it, I decided to change the serpentine belt. I noticed that my fan has a nice coat of oily dirt all over it. That whole front end needs some hot soapy pressure spraying done to it.