Radiator Removal Without Condenser Removal? - Overheating Due to Chipmunk Debris & Bugs / Vegetation

[emesel]

A year ago my 2019 Ranger started overheating when going uphill on a west coast trip towing my 4,500 lb travel trailer. Dealer confirmed everything was functioning properly (thermostat and sensor replaced, fan functioning, no exhaust gases in coolant). Overheated again recently towing on hills I've been on before without overheating. I decided to pull things apart to look at the radiator and found a big mess of leaves, bugs, feathery vegetation. My plan is to buy or make something to blow compressed air through the radiator backwards. If this doesn't work my plan is to use a spray foam evaporator cleaner like this. If this doesn't work, I guess I'll remove the radiator.

1) Does this plan make sense?
2) Any recommendations for evaporator cleaning materials?
3) Can the radiator be removed without removing the condenser coil?

Thanks in advance, Mark

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[Cabose-1]

Use a garden hose with a water nozzle or gun and srpay from the engine side. Saw that a lot years ago when we had a drought with no rain. Lots of radiators where plugged up with dirt and leaves. Just takes some time to clean it, and of course fan and shroud get in the way. Take off top cover an blow water in between too.
Compressed air can bend the fins. So can a pressure washer. Best of luck. Dont worry about getting wet. It cools you off too.
Not suprised the dealer did not find this issue and clean it for you

 

[Cabose-1]

May be that an animal was trying to build a nest??

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Use a garden hose with a water nozzle or gun and srpay from the engine side. Saw that a lot years ago when we had a drought with no rain. Lots of radiators where plugged up with dirt and leaves. Just takes some time to clean it, and of course fan and shroud get in the way. Take off top cover an blow water in between too.
Compressed air can bend the fins. So can a pressure washer. Best of luck. Dont worry about getting wet. It cools you off too.
Not suprised the dealer did not find this issue and clean it for you

Looking at mine it looks like you can remove the top half of the shroud and get good access to spray it out from engine side

 

[emesel]

May be that an animal was trying to build a nest??

Yes, I believe a chipmunk or something was having a good time in there.

 

[emesel]

Use a garden hose with a water nozzle or gun and srpay from the engine side. Saw that a lot years ago when we had a drought with no rain. Lots of radiators where plugged up with dirt and leaves. Just takes some time to clean it, and of course fan and shroud get in the way. Take off top cover an blow water in between too.
Compressed air can bend the fins. So can a pressure washer. Best of luck. Dont worry about getting wet. It cools you off too.
Not suprised the dealer did not find this issue and clean it for you

Today I made something to blow air backwards; got 95%. Tomorrow I'm going to spray with an A/C cleaning fluid and use a hose to clean it.
Thanks, Mark

 

[emesel]

Looking at mine it looks like you can remove the top half of the shroud and get good access to spray it out from engine side

Yes, I took off top and bottom shroud pieces. That's tomorrow's adventure. Thanks, Mark

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

resurrecting this thread as I had this same issue.

I had the large trim piece that covers the radiator off to fish wires for my front camera. While it was off, I noticed quite a build-up of debris on the fins. It looked a bit like dryer lint, dandelion seeds, or cottonwood tree fluff. It was quite loose and a gentle touch with a swiffer duster was doing a fairly good job. I grabbed the work light I was using to see how far down it went. It only went about as far as the length of the swiffer duster and I was clearing most of it but I was surprised at the pile of leaves and debris down at the bottom - about 2” deep, all the way across!

There is a plastic bottom shroud that was keeping it trapped in there but there was a way to get my fingers in from the bumper area and clear it out.

At first, I was thinking rodents but I’m just not sure. It wasn’t matted together with hair or anything else. It just seemed to be dried leaves and cedar tree bits. Any fluff that was in it likely fell down onto it while I was clearing it from above.

PSA for anyone coming across this…if you ever have that large upper trim piece off, have a look between the radiator and condenser (or whatever that is in there). If there is a build-up of fluff on the fins, you might want to clear it out.

You can also reach up onto that lower plastic shroud from underneath to see if you can feel any leaves or debris. It was easy enough to clean.

Note: No overheating events prior to this discovery.

Clean as a whistle now…

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