Mazda Rotary Club

Cars by Model Type => 3rd generation RX-7's => Topic started by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 07, 2010, 07:57:22 PM

Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 07, 2010, 07:57:22 PM
Hi all, Im trying to think of a way of cleaning my intercooler out in situ (it is welded to the chassis)
 
I could run my pressure washer through it
 
I could get some simple green (whatever that is) and carb cleaner
 
I tried blowing through the IC today and there was quite a bit of resistance, which shocked me.
 
I could fill it with roller cola. :Giggle
 
I have seen some solutions but i think i need to fll the thing to the brim with something to clear it out and that might cost quite  a bit,
 
whats the cheapest liquid that will do the job?
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: hairyhoover on February 07, 2010, 08:49:52 PM
Petrol!!!!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: Jono FD3 on February 07, 2010, 08:58:03 PM
yep, unleaded ;)
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: ad4m1 on February 07, 2010, 08:58:54 PM
nitromors ;)
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: MaLicE on February 07, 2010, 09:13:18 PM
really really stupid question, but if its welded lol and you fill it up how do you expect to drain it completely?? as im pretty sure coke would be not a good thing to such through lol!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 07, 2010, 10:09:33 PM
hehe. im thinking petrol myself. i have various syphoning tools which should do the trick of empting 99% and then a hairdryer/cloths for the remainder. ill check nitromors out too
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: m1tch on February 07, 2010, 10:54:26 PM
Could you not just run WI when the engine is plumbed in with 50/50 mix :) will clean the IC out hehe plus it will steam clean the rotors :)
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SiH on February 07, 2010, 11:06:17 PM
Quote from: DR SCHNITZEL;670830Hi all, Im trying to think of a way of cleaning my intercooler out in situ (it is welded to the chassis)
Wait... What?!?! :3Confused As in actually welded, welded? Am I missing something? Or was someone just too lazy to make up some decent removable brackets?

I do of course prepare to be stand corrected, but welding an IC to a chassis seems a little, err, daft.

If you can\'t guarantee to get it 110% clean afterwards, FFS don\'t put something like Nitromors in it!
Approach it from the angle that whatever you put in there will probably go through your engine at some point.

I\'d start by cutting it off the chassis, rust protecting wherever you have to cut it off from (thoroughly!), cleaning it out, and then putting it back on, but reattaching it by a means that doesn\'t sound like it was done by a man in stetsons and a 10 gallon hat.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: MaLicE on February 07, 2010, 11:19:33 PM
Quote from: SiH;670903Wait... What?!?! :3Confused As in actually welded, welded? Am I missing something? Or was someone just too lazy to make up some decent removable brackets?

I do of course prepare to be stand corrected, but welding an IC to a chassis seems a little, err, daft.

If you can\'t guarantee to get it 110% clean afterwards, FFS don\'t put something like Nitromors in it!
Approach it from the angle that whatever you put in there will probably go through your engine at some point.

I\'d start by cutting it off the chassis, rust protecting wherever you have to cut it off from (thoroughly!), cleaning it out, and then putting it back on, but reattaching it by a means that doesn\'t sound like it was done by a man in stetsons and a 10 gallon hat.

love it when you get flustered lol!

i would fill it up with petrol, get as much as you can out... let it sit for a day or 2 for the rest to evaporate... or if your feeling brave (i would go this route) wear gloves and light a match or a mini blow lamp or something, the vapours will clear out the rest of the fuel and it will prob make a pretty cool noise lol!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: ad4m1 on February 07, 2010, 11:23:50 PM
lol  i was joking about nitromors dont use it! theres no way ull getit all out with its consistency.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: jackaleks on February 08, 2010, 08:55:20 AM
+1 for unweld it and run it under the tap...
 
i can\'t think of any reason to weld in an IC, unless it\'s so big it had to replace part of the chassis :P
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: nuki on February 08, 2010, 09:40:38 AM
Yes deffo 100% cut it off and quickly fabricate some new brackets. You will deffo need it removed to clean properlly.....

i woke up one morning with nothing to do... so i removed and cleaned my old intercooler with a bit of pressurised water, Emptying the water out into a bucket to see if there was anything foreign in there. Water came out as clean as it went in...

Then decided to try a bit of petrol in there!...
Well..... Seriously Black mucky horrible nasty petrol fluid came out the other end!
Ended up having to flush it and shake it and leave it with petrol in and flush it 4 times until the cooler eventually started pouring out clean petrol.
Like i said the intercooler was clean until she met petrol.
Highly recommend removing the cooler to clean it.
i ended up using a coupple of gallon of petrol.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 08, 2010, 01:19:55 PM
Petrol it is, nice one matey.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 08, 2010, 01:32:05 PM
The car came like that. It will come off but not easily at all.
 
Ill fill it with petrol slosh it about leave it to soak and see what colour it turns. i have plenty off access to the inside of the ic so i can get the petrol out easily. then ill run the pressure washer through it and see how it goes. Just an improvement will do for now.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SmbFD3S on February 08, 2010, 02:30:28 PM
Dont run a pressure washer through it when you\'ve added petrol !!! Petrol and or oil dont mix and you\'ll have big problems getting the water out, as the fuel will float on top.... Water in the combustion chamber dont compress well !!!
 
Best and safest idea is to get it off the chassis as others have said and clean it properly.  Petrol or Parrafin is fine to use but dont flush it water after....
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 08, 2010, 02:46:51 PM
Quote from: SmbFD3S;671039Dont run a pressure washer through it when you\'ve added petrol !!! Petrol and or oil dont mix and you\'ll have big problems getting the water out, as the fuel will float on top.... Water in the combustion chamber dont compress well !!!
 
Best and safest idea is to get it off the chassis as others have said and clean it properly. Petrol or Parrafin is fine to use but dont flush it water after....

i meant after removing the fuel sorry, imagine hydrolocking a rotary lol
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 08, 2010, 02:47:53 PM
Ok ill try to remove it. i have tried before and failed tho.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SmbFD3S on February 08, 2010, 02:57:09 PM
Even after the petrol has dissipated if you add water, the petrol residue will still be there and water will still be present. If you\'re going to flush it through with water you\'re better off using Jizer (water soluble) and then rinsing it so you get rid of the water. Water that is floating under a petrol layer wont evaporate and the petrol wont evaporate off the water as the water is effectively a heat sink.....
 
Just my 2p\'s worth.
 
I used Parrafin to "rinse" mine out and then left it for a few days to evaporate.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: FEED Addict on February 08, 2010, 04:25:33 PM
weld a drain plug in the bottom and hey presto!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 08, 2010, 04:59:42 PM
I could drive the car around for a bit with the ic disconnected at the exit that would also do the trick, with a filter on the elbow. should dry out nice on a 60 mile trip to and from work.
 
ill get the majority of the stuff out with a syphon
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SiH on February 08, 2010, 05:36:16 PM
Quote from: DR SCHNITZEL;671044Ok ill try to remove it. i have tried before and failed tho.

(http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/BOSCH%20ANGLE%20GRINDER.jpg)
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: Jono FD3 on February 08, 2010, 09:18:42 PM
When I did the mods to my IC, I flushed it out with water.... left it one end for 24 hrs so the water would flow to the end of the tank, poored what I could out then used a rag to get the remaining out. Thought it was all dry, butto make shure I put it on the car, hooked up the turbos to it but didn\'t connect to the throttle body, gave it a few good blips & the amount of water that came out of it was amaising!

Ended up taking it off again & putting it on a house radiator for 3 days, untill it was bone dry!

Jono
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: jackaleks on February 09, 2010, 02:57:09 PM
lol at the angle grinder.
Title: Cleaning
Post by: REVIT93RX7 on February 10, 2010, 05:37:23 PM
Why not bring it to a radiator shop.  They will have a tank they can immerse it in and really clean it well.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on February 11, 2010, 12:10:41 PM
Quote from: REVIT93RX7;671528Why not bring it to a radiator shop. They will have a tank they can immerse it in and really clean it well.

good call. ill have a look for one nearby
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: mx1311 on February 11, 2010, 12:47:34 PM
why would anyone ever want to clean an intercooler out with water.
water dissolves oil now?
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SiH on February 11, 2010, 12:54:16 PM
Quote from: mx1311;671700why would anyone ever want to clean an intercooler out with water.
water dissolves oil now?

Special water dude, the same as that magic stuff that you can make engines run on according to t\'interweb.
Oh no, hang on, turns out that was crap, and petrol is much better, which ironically, would also seem to be the case here :D
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: mx1311 on February 11, 2010, 01:00:10 PM
fill the cooler halfway with petrol then use the blowtorch idea.

thatll get the welded cooler out grand
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: MaLicE on February 11, 2010, 05:48:50 PM
Quote from: SiH;671702Special water dude, the same as that magic stuff that you can make engines run on according to t\'interweb.
Oh no, hang on, turns out that was crap, and petrol is much better, which ironically, would also seem to be the case here :D

USE VINEGAR!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SiH on February 11, 2010, 10:02:48 PM
:D PMSL

msglngth....
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: CharlieP on February 28, 2010, 10:08:15 AM
Ok I\'m doing this now....had some reworking of the pipes done on my ally IC, and a fair bit of shrapnell etc went in there....
 
On the petrol thing....surely hot water will help loosen oil and petrol!?
I\'ve been using the steam cleaner on about 90 degrees, and a fair bit of dirty/oily water came out...along with plenty of ally dust :(
 
Will keep at it until no more comes out and hope its good enough!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: SmbFD3S on February 28, 2010, 12:25:13 PM
Why does everyone keep doing this ???!!!!  Oil is water resistant so how can you acheive good results with water.....  For god sake, petrol and oil are solvents which means you need a solvent to dilute them.....
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: Paul-Tll on February 28, 2010, 12:41:07 PM
Yep, soak over night in degreaser,with a slosh round now and again empty and flush through with clean petrol. Leave to stand in warm place for surplus fuel to evaporate job done.
P.
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: DR SCHNITZEL on March 24, 2010, 01:20:40 PM
2 GALLONS OF PETROL SORTED IT!!! I left it overnight and drove the next day
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: fil_auto on March 24, 2010, 01:27:59 PM
Yep - I need to do this too! Gonna cost as little more now though!! ;)
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: CharlieP on March 24, 2010, 01:38:36 PM
Quote from: fil_auto;681608Yep - I need to do this too! Gonna cost as little more now though!! ;)

Well make sure you get it done before the budget...will cost even more then :eek::2Confused
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: fil_auto on March 24, 2010, 01:44:30 PM
That\'s what I meant Charlie! Due to the 3p rise per litlre ( atleast )... it\'s gonna be a bit dearer now! :rolleyes:

Actually - my old man has one of those paraffin / petrol bays for cleaning all his old MG parts etc.... could I use that instead? :mmmm

Quote from: CharlieP;681615Well make sure you get it done before the budget...will cost even more then :eek::2Confused
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: CharlieP on March 24, 2010, 01:49:14 PM
Maybe, I think the thing with petrol is that is breaks down oily/greasy stuff, so it can then flow out
 
I used very hot water, due to the amount of ally filings in the IC from cutting a pipe, hot water also does the job as heating up the oil/grease it becomes less viscous and will flow out better....all petrol would have cost a fortune!
Title: Cleaning IC
Post by: fil_auto on March 24, 2010, 02:05:15 PM
Cool cool - something I\'ll look into me thinks ;)