I was inspecting my intercooler today and noticed that it's beginning to look a bit grungy. I've decided it needs a cleaning, but was curious as to the preferred method of busting all the grunge off the outside of the fins and bars without harming it. I've heard some horror stories of people using corrosive cleaners and really screwing it up, so I thought I'd ask for thoughts here.

I'm only interested in cleaning the outside while its on the car, for now.

So, does anyone have suggestions as to what cleaners and methods to use? If you have suggestions for cleaning the inside as well, please fell free to speak up. Thanks.

 

hi
use a tooth brush(and some water), and if you can get some compressed air.
but be careful with the brush.i used this methode to clean my
radiator of my bike....and it worked

btw you could also use WD 40 to clean the clear parts of the intercooler

 

When I had my Evo I just hosed it down. If you want to scrubed it I suggest a sof brissle brush. Black Magic makes one for wheels cleaning and is very soft.

 

 

lol

 

@taurran :

what you don´t know WD40???? it´s a lubrication to get rid of rust and other similliar things.it´s pretty good and won´t harm your intercooler.
but maybe you couldn´t get that in america....don´t know???

 

Best way honestly would be to pull it off the car, cap the ends of it, fill up your tube and get a soft brush and some slightly soapy water and scrub away...

 

I use that Orange clean stuff you get @ pepboys/autozone. I use it on my rims between polishes too. Works pretty good and doesn't hurt anything.

 

i see where he was going with the wd-40 stuff now. to remove road tar and things like that. personally, simple green is the cleaning agent of gods!!

 

Yup...

 

Chrome it out like the greddy!!! lol. sorry but im the smart a$$ kid of the forum so i had to say something on this thread.. but honetly i just wash it with a pressure washer. clean as a whistle. how bad does it look?

 

fins are easy to bend. id spray it with degreaser and wash off. Nothing more u shoudl really do.. Also matt black it

 

This is more of the response I was hoping to hear. I'm talking more aggressive cleaning than just spraying it off with water.

 

Never use engine degreaser on an intercooler. It will cause serious corrosion of the surface. Use Simple Green.

 

+1 on the pressure washer. I've used this and simple green for nice results.

 

Glad you asked this I was getting ready too-mine is nasty and I cant have that with the grill now cut out. Simple Green and a powerwasher it is, Ill do this later this week and post pics...

 

So I've heard, yet some have sugggested using engine degreaser. I've read of soaking it in a degreaser bath, but you can seriously f**k things up if not done properly. By the way, if you want to read up on intercoolers, I'd suggest this article. They have a section on maintenance, but its a little to extreme for my tastes.

http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm

 

I personally wouldnt touch an intercooler with a high pressure cleaner. The fins are so easy to bend as is.

As for degreaser corroding alluminium... No idea, but mine is working great after 2yrs...

 

has anyone polished the spearco IC? i saw a member in houston did it but dont know who it is. he was at the Z convention in dallas.. looked awesome

 

Clear parts of the intercooler??