| Reed Jensen |
05-14-2007 10:58 PM |
I've cleaned out multi-pass oil coolers before with good results. It's a messy time consuming job... but it can be done. First off... flush repeatedly with clean solvent. This will dissolve any oil or sludge. Don't be in a hurry. Let the cooler soak for a couple of days if need be. Continue to flush with solvent until the solvent comes out clear. Drain completely. This may entail inverting the cooler many times. Next... get a good degreaser that is water based. You can go to a grocery store and get a laundry pretreater. I know this sounds crazy.... but I've found this stuff will degrease the greasiest of engines and engine compartments better than any auto parts store degreaser such as Castrol's. The name of this stuff is "Soilove". It comes in small one pint bottles and cuts grease like crazy. Partially fill the cooler with a 50 50 mix of degreaser and water. Do NOT totally fill the cooler. Next you want to swish the cooler back and forth for a few minutes. Let the cooler sit for a while and lay it in different positions so that the degreaser gets to all areas of the cooler. (You will probably have to find plugs for the cooler at this point). Agitate for several hours if you can.... Next....... and this is the most important part. You need a flushing device like radiator shops use. This looks like a gun where water goes in one end and air goes into the other end. Connect the flushing tool (They are available from Snap-on, I have one) to super hot water. Open and remove the plugs... Flush the cooler with hot water and blasts of air. Repeat about a hundred times (wear gloves so that you don't burn your hands) in different positions and flushing in different directions. Invert and drain the cooler, blow out with dry air and leave them in the sun for a few hours to make sure all the water is dried out. I did this to two huge multi-pass coolers and didn't have any problems with contamination after. I also flushed and washed out the lines the same way. It was a lot of work,,,, but a hell of a lot cheaper than buying new.
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