My Favorite Tool for Radiator Cleansing
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2015
- The folks at a company called Radiator Genie sent me their product to evaluate. They had no idea of the big test I had for their tools.
A couple of weeks ago I started smelling hydraulic fluid. Usually when you get an odor like that it means the vapor is escaping somewhere and there's an imminent repair job. Just before I used the tractor the last time I notice just a little seeping fluid around a hydraulic oil cooler and I knew I'd be getting dirty soon. The last time I used the tractor I left a trail of hydraulic fluid down the driveway and the radiator fan was throwing it everywhere when I shut off the engine.
The hydraulic oil cooler inlet had failed. Over time, the vibration of the engine allowed a small crack to develop. When the hydraulic oil started shooting out the fan sucked it through the radiator where it mixed with seed, dirt and dust from my recent brush hogging. I had a real mess in the radiator and no way to clean it out.
That is until the people that make a product called Radiator Genie e-mailed me. They'd seen my videos and wanted me to try their product and possibly make a video about it. I told them I had a real test for it. They didn't seem concerned.
The Radiator Genie is two tools, one for your air compressor, one for your garden hose. In the video I evaluate the one for the hose. It cleaned the radiator out and made it look like a new one. I'd have been in a real pickle without it.
So, here it, my first product endorsement…I recommend the Radiator Genie for anyone who owns a tractor. Keeping that radiator clean when you're brush hogging is a real challenge, but this tool can do it. If you want to order one and help old Tractor Mike out, I am now,not only a believer, but a dealer. Here's the link to the "Shopping" page on my website:asktractormike.com/products-f... where you can purchase one.
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Neat product. My big JD 4310 doesn't get that much debris in the radiator, but my lawn mower gets a lot of grass/leaves/dandelions stuck on the radiator and causes it to get hot. This will work perfect for that. I will get one if Amazon sells it.
Yeah I have had that set for 4 years. Best tool I have bought in a long time.
wow that's a very interesting product and I may have to get one to try myself. also just so you know I have been sharing your video along with some of my tractor related videos on various places around the net. keep the videos coming!
+daveknowshow Thanks Dave I greatly appreciate it!
***** glad to help I survive on web traffic myself. well not so much surviving as its slow to keep the momentum
Mike, I enjoy your videos and have learned a lot from your tips and tricks. They are well done, short and to the point, and not product or company specific. The worst enemy of a hydraulic system is moisture or water. I was a little surprised to see that after you removed your hydraulic oil cooler for repair that you simply left the open oil lines open to the elements near the front of the radiator where the water was being sprayed. Please realize that I don't claim to be an expert or mechanical critic, I simply learned the mistake the hard way and had to deal with the results. Keep up the great videos.
I was gonna make that comment, you beat me to it Roy. Should have bagged em, then removed the battery too so that you could clean better down low.
We used to use a air gun and air tank to clean tractor radiators.
Esp the JD 4020
We regulated the air pressure down.
Instead of high volume we used a smaller 1/4" soft copper tube flare nutted to a air gun.
This made a bendable air wand to reach round obstructions.
Pinch off the end the soft copper tube a tad so its figure 8 shaped for end on jetting, drill a 3/32" hole all tge way through the tube side at the tip for 90° jetting action.
Wet the radiator first with engine brite engine cleaner and let set.
Then water rinse as much as you can wash off + allows heat hardened deposits to soften up.
Then use the air to clear out the heat hardened mud/dust and grass seeds.
By regulating the pressure down you lessen the risk of bending radiator fin's.
And you can make a airtank of air last (need 7 tanks of air)
Water is one the key ways to clean your radiator, just be patient and let it soak a bit.
Makes cleaning a breeze.
Its best to bring the tractor up to the shop where you have shop air supply and garden hose to do a through cleaning.
You know what works really well too? My Massey Ferguson has a metal mesh screen that you slide in just in front of the radiator, all dirt and debris is stuck to it, you slide the screen out, blow it with air or garden hose and slide it back in, rad always looking like new, maybe there are screens like this available as add on, this way your rad is not getting clogged, it's that screen. I really love the thing.
Harbor Freight has sold the same thing as the air tool for years. The last I checked they were around five dollars and some change when on sale.
Harbor Freight also has a pancake compressor for $40 for him to hook up his air gun portion to. Instead of his cheapo compressor.
Hi Mike, did you ever use a air gun connected to an air compressor to clean parts of your tractor? I wonder if this could be useful (also instead of a leaf blower), and if so, which parts you would clean?
I continuously watch my temperature gauge, when it starts climbing I clean out the radiator even if it doesn't look dirty and it corrects the problem
I wonder if this could be used on a car application with a radiator that has been kicked up with old brown coolant not to the same extent, obviously because the fins aren’t exposed like they are here, but just to get the fins and the part of the radiator that you can see when you remove the coolant cap and also to kind of break up any other of the old caked on coolant that you don’t see just from spraying it around the general area. The coolant in question is dexcool and my application is a 96 Buick Park Avenue with 3800 series 2 V6 I know it’s not a tractor, but I just would like to ask peoples opinion if it would work to at least partially break up some of the sludge that’s caked on my radiator just so the distilled water, I run it after and chemical can do the rest of the work because it’s really bad there’s a lot of caked on sludge on that radiator, I don’t know how the engine has an overheated yet after 28 years of that coolant being like that but you can’t kill a 3800 Buick engine as they are pretty durable if anyone would know if this would help at least loosen some of that stuff up, please let me know
I have seen bulldozers on job sites with what looks like a block of concrete for a radiator.
Mike - I have a small pancake-type compressor (will only support nail guns, etc.) and haven't upgraded to anything more substantial. I don't think I quite understood what you were explaining at the beginning of the video about the "compressed air" version of the product. Can you explain a little further what your limiting factor(s) is/are for the air model?
Thanks as always. Enjoying your videos.
Unfinished biz: Please don't forget to do a video on the brush hogs & finish mowers with the chains and rubber mat guards when u can. ;-)
+Ji Fi-01 (Jif) You have what I have only yours is probably better. Yeah, I wasn't very clear about that, it doesn't have an air tank and it's NOISY! I had a little trouble getting the Genie to hook up to my air chuck disconnect and I'm not sure why. I'm sure my disconnect was the cheapest thing I could find and that's probably why, I'll try to see what the issue is and post.
That looks pretty interesting, but what I've been doing that seems to work very well, even after a solid 4-5 hours of hogging through lots of goldenrod in the fall (LOTS of "fluff" coating everything) is to break out my small shop vac and simply suck the material back out of the radiator from the front. The crevice tool reaches into the tight areas quite well.
The thing I'd be concerned with using the Genie is getting in and around the tight areas behind the radiator and between the fan blades. How tough is it to avoid damaging/bending the paper thin radiator fins? Working in such a tight area, how can you see to avoid tapping the back of the radiator with the tip of the water wand?
+Lawrence Black It would be real hard to damage the radiator fins by contact with the wand because the jet of water is so strong it's pushing back from anything in front of it. I guess when you let off the handle and the water stopped that would be possible. It's a little difficult to get around the fan but what I couldn't reach from the back I got when I came in from the front.
***** Gotcha. I was concerned because, as a young man, I tried to "help" dad by cleaning the radiator, with a wise broom (it didn't go well).
Uh, WISK broom (damn autocorrect)
Has anyone tried a prefilter screen like we put on our dune buggies? I am going to make one that just sits in front so I can just take it off and clean it without having to mess the the radiator fins. Seems obvious to me. But I could be wrong.
No, you're on the right track. A lot of tractors have a screen like that straight from the factory. Unfortunately, mine isn't one of them...
Mike, so how is this an improvement from just shooting from behind with a garden hose nozzel? I'm new to tractors, so I'm not being a smart-alec. Just don't really understand how this genie works exactly. Thanks!
+sreihart No, you're not being a smart-alec, I wondered the same thing before I tried it so it's a fair question. There are really two reasons its better than a garden hose and a nozzle. First, you get a really targeted blast that can be directed through the individual fins. When I turned it on I was amazed at the pressure of the water because of the fin-shaped opening at the end. And second, because of it being a long narrow tube you can actually sneak around the fan and get to all of the fins. I've used the garden hose/nozzle thing and it wouldn't have down what this thing did on my radiator.
Okay, that helps a lot! I didn't realize that it had that type of end on it. I'll have to keep this in mind when it comes time to clean mine. I only have 15 hours on it so far, but I've only had it less than three weeks.
sreihart
Hi Mike do tractor’s have a air flow sensor that indicates low air flow?
I've never seen anything like that. Just a temp gauge.
How about being proactive and stuffing window screen material in front of the radiators?
Simply pull it out when contaminated and shake it...
There are several tractors that have a removable screen like that as standard equipment. Alas, my tractor isn't one of them.
My Kubota has such a screen. I still need to blow out the radiator while mowing the pasture. That Radiator Genie looks like a good investment. I watch the temp gauge, and head back to the tool shed when it goes above half way. Three radiators to clean, and then back to the pasture... At about five feet a pass, it takes a few days to mow...
I have a Massey Ferguson 1529. It has a factory screen. The lower part of the radiator still needs hosed out.
I got the air genie and was working great then started blowing out the handle any ideas what could be causing this not plugged up or anything
Brandy, no, I don't. I've never had one do that. You might try giving them a call directly at 303-915-9092 and see if they've heard of that before. Good luck!
@@TractorMike I called sending a new one thanks for the number
Wait mike they will start e-mailing you like crazy to have take a look at stuff. Maybe I could get a tractor company like John Deere to contact me.....what do ya think?....LOL
+The Plow Guys Shhhh! That's what I'm trying to do!
Any concerns with water on the battery terminals?
+RoanJS I probably would have covered up the battery if it were my cleanup job before proceeding.
*insert lawyer voice ... here* Your mileage may vary, no batteries were harmed (apparently) in the making of this video.
+RoanJS Oops! Yeah, I probably should have thought of that. On the plus side, it's really, really clean.
***** I am sure a well maintained battery can handle a splash now and then. So I can see overlooking it. Someone needing this tool all the time might fab a cowl for the battery. Thank you for your response. I enjoy and learn from your videos. Do you have videos on getting the tractor ready for running in the winter?
RoanJS No, not yet, but I'll put it on the list. Great idea!
Could you use a pressure washer to clean the radiator?
You probably could but I'd be a little worried about all that pressure in a confined area damaging wiring or other engine components. My wand has multiple tips, there might be one that was gentle enough for a radiator, but my personal opinion is that's too much pressure and if you did do damage it might be expensive to repair. If the radiator were out of the tractor you'd be okay.
YES it’s not going to hurt it at all. Your not going to mess anything up. Tractor Motors are designed to get wet. They are designed to be left out in the rain/elements. Pressure washing your tractors engine is something you need to do regular just stay away from your air filter. Then just leave the hood up in the sun and let it all dry. No need to go buy these special tools good o’l high pressure water does the trick better than anything else.
I have seen radiators that were pressure washed . If you ever had to comb the fins back out straight so air can flow through, you won't ever use a pressure washer at full throttle.
No sound.
Oops! Wrong type of radiator :-)! I'm looking for the inside-the-house type. Wish you had a great tip for cleaning those!
you should really of taken your battery of so it doesnt shore out from water on top of it
🤦🏻♂️ Jesus people act like this is new. Just pressure wash it and the motor then leave the hood up and let it all dry. You need to be taking the dirt and grime off the motor regularly anyway. There is no importance to cleaning it through the back VS the front .
Many pressure washers are too powerful, they will bend the fins of the radiator and cause you significant issues if you dont end up punching a hole in it. These are small thin radiators, not something on a giant IH unit. Be CAREFUL of using a pressure washer, keep your distance with it.