Hey guys, does anyone have any tips on how to clean the radiator of all the bugs collected there? In case you're wondering, I'm talking about the radiator behind the front grill. If you open the hood of the car, there is a large hole where I could potentially stick a big pipe cleaner down there and move it around but there has to be a better way. So, any recommendations? Thanks guys!
Don't use a pressure washer. It will bend the fins. I use a large bottle brush and sweep it back and forth dry. You can then use a low pressure water jet (garden hose). Moving it back and forth will usually work the bodies out. I put mesh behind the grills to stop most of this stuff from getting in there in the first place.
A bottle brush was exactly the recommendation that I was looking for, thank you David! Mesh is an excellent idea and I'm sure it keeps your radiator sparkling clean. Thanks again!
I usually put a fiberglass screen in front of the radiator to prevent rock and bugs hitting it. I've done it to all the cars I've owned and the radiator still looks new after so many years. Most of the time I have to remove the bumper to put it in properly but it's worth it for me. I've used something like this from Homedepot, cheap but last a long time. 36 in. x 84 in. Silver Gray Fiberglass Screen-3003918 at The Home Depot
I used evestrough mesh (aluminum expanded mesh). It was not easy to get it behind the grills. You can see pictures in the thread "yet another comparison".
Hello im having a same issue with my second gen Prius and was also wondering the same thing. I just recently discovered the bugs and several leaves on the radiator. I used a long screw driver trying to poke a huge insect off of the radiator and I heard it drop on the inside bottom cover. Truly disgusting. I'm hoping I can find an easy way to get all this cleaned soon. Were you able to come up with any ideas of making a mesh for the front grill?
I once had a different, older, vehicle that did not come with a cabin filter, or any kind of screen on the cabin air intake. When it was 15 or so years old, I saw that the fins of the A/C evaporator were very well packed with leaf powder. The car had just been sucking in 15 years of autumn leaves, pulverizing them in the blower blades, which then sent them straight on to the evap coil and packed them in with air pressure. I ended up taking the evaporator out, sealing the gozinta and gozouta, and immersing it in a wastebasket holding tepid water. Went to the hardware store and bought some of the bacteria/enzyme culture made for adding to septic systems to break down organic matter faster. Stirred in a couple capfuls and let it stand a few days. Swooshed it around now and then. Smelled a little funny. For the final step, I did go to a U-spray auto wash and use the pressure nozzle to rinse the digested gunk out. By kind of keeping the spray at an angle along the fin direction, I don't remember any trouble with the spray bending fins. It came out very clean and shiny, and the A/C performance was much improved. Probably no radiator (well really, the thing in front that gets the honor of catching the bugs is mostly the A/C condenser) will need a treatment like that unless it's been driven through a plague of locusts or something. But I can report that it does work. -Chap
Simple Green. Just apply liberally, let set, rinse with water hose. This stuff desolves bug juice like no other product.
To put mesh over the rads. remove the plastic panel at the top in the engine bay. That will give you some access, though it's still quite tight. You can then cut some expanded aluminum mesh to fit over each grill (upper and lower). I used black zip ties to fasten it to the plastic grill, installed from the front. Bend the zip ties so you can feed them through the mesh and back out the front, around the plastic grill "bars". Putting it on the inside looks better and keeps it out of the way. The mesh will "break up" any large insects and will keep rocks and small sticks from damaging the rads.
This works like a house on fire! After the worst love bug season since the early 1970's I had tons of love bugs stuck to my radiator. I thought it was hopeless. Simple Green did the trick immediately! Thanks BZzap! for posting this!
