How do I get rid of BUGS in my Radiator

[odieone]

All, #1 How do I stop bugs from flying in my super charger and not make it look like my little girl fixed it. #2 How or what is the best technique for cleaning the radiator and clearing out all those bugs without damage to the radiator. Thanks William

[Dom]

Quote:

Originally posted by odieone
All, #1 How do I stop bugs from flying in my super charger and not make it look like my little girl fixed it. #2 How or what is the best technique for cleaning the radiator and clearing out all those bugs without damage to the radiator. Thanks William

Perhaps put some mesh over the air scoop inside the bonnet. I haven't had a good look at it so don't now about that.

A normal low pressure hosepipe should was the cooked bugs off from the radiator easily.

Dom

[LuckyRVA]

How about a stiff toothbrush and some warm/hot water?
If the bugs are hard and crusty you might want to stop by your local hardware store and pick up a coarse wire brush.

[AER]

that's the quickest way to ruin your rad I'd say, the rad I suppose can be cleaned with a jet of water from a hose, but I'd leave it well alone, The supercharger's part can be wiped over gently with a damp cloth, but I wouldn't put to much pressure on it, for fear of damage!

[BruceK]

My experience on my Cooper S is to let the dead bug carcasses soak with water until they get all soft and mushy . Then a fairly gentle stream of water from a garden hose will flush them away.

I found the regular radiator collects a lot of bugs, but the intercooler hardly gets any. Perhaps this is because at speed the airflow moves to bugs over the intercooler scoop? (and on up the the windshield from what I can figure! )

[LuckyRVA]

Or you could try this stuff. I've seen similar products at my local car part store. I can't say how well it work though... http://www.simplywow.com/store/catal...4de5b0c8bcd930

[odieone]

Where can I get this?

[dietcokeplease]

A hosepipe aimed at the Rad/Intercooler should be adequate to remove most of the critters.

Be careful when using any brushes as the Rad fins are made from soft metal and are easy to damage/distort.

If it really bugs you (boom boom) then do what I do - use a cocktail stick to carefully dig out the bodies.

BugFreeDC

[BruceK]

BTW, since it has come up several times in this thread, for those of you that don't know:

(UK)hosepipe = (US)garden hose

[MoMini]

For the intercooler, I simply removed the plastic cover over the fins, layed a cut section of typical window screen on top of the fins, and re-installed the cover. I use the nylon screen you can buy in any hardware store. Since it is fire retardant, it is immune from the hot surface of the intercooler. It works great and prevents the bugs from becoming wedged in the fins. You can remove any insects on the window screening with a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment.
For the radiators, you cannot block all the bugs, but you can get the big ones and any stones by using screening with relatively wide openings (don't what to block too much air). I used some stainless steel wire mesh (about 5mm holes with 12 guage wire) and fastened it behide the grille using thin zip-ties (the zip-ties are hidden behind the grille slats on top). black ties are hardly noticable on the black lower grille.
Obsessive? yes, but we got lots o' bugs here in MO.