Poor Cooling Due To An Obstructed Radiator

The OE radiator works very well when it is clean. Because the air inlet to the radiator is only a few inches above the ground it is common for the radiator to become obstructed by debris.

Radiators that have a small amount of debris on the face may also be obstructed by sand in the fins. The only way to clean the radiator completely is to remove it and back-flush water through the cooling fins. The radiator is at the bottom of the stack of three heat exchangers. The AC condenser is on the top of the stack and is seen when viewing the air inlet from the front of the car. The face of the radiator can be viewed from the right side through the oil cooler hose opening. The air flow reduction is usually twice as bad as it looks from that oblique angle.

   

The radiator works well if it has an opportunity do so. This one had little chance.

This radiator received a coating of oil from a leaky oil cooler hose. Over time the oily area captured dust. One quarter of the radiator was totally obstructed.

The air inlet of the C4 can act a lot like a vacuum cleaner. The leaves are stacked on the AC condenser which is the most forward of the three heat exchangers. In the stack are, the AC condenser, oil cooler and radiator.