Technical Heater Core: How to remove Pine Needles in Fins

They're stuck all the way in. Every light spec in the pic is a needle completely in the fins.
Compressed air and vacuum did hardly anything.

Think of way to dissolve they or reduce to ash.

• bake in oven
• caustic soak (hot tank)
• ?
• Soak in flammable liquid, fill core with water, set on fire.

Radiator shops probably have a way to do (if you can still find one.)

 

pressure wash with low pressure spray nozzle from the back holding tip straight fanning left to right...

 

Tweezers first, then hot water blast with a nozzle on a garden hose. Poke between each fin as necessary with a dull object like the tang end of a points file.

 

There are tools made just for that purpose.

Many choices
Here:
https://www.google.com/search?clien...HYMBBx8QtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=1280&bih=800&dpr=1.5

 

That is how I would do it, I've done a **** ton of them at the car wash when I washed the engine off.
When you have it clean I'd put a piece of loose weave window screen in front of the radiator. My grandfather and a lot of others did that on their cars to keep the bugs out of the radiator around here as it was a lot easier to clean the screen than the radiator.

 

Cut the pointed end off of a cable tie and push that through.

 

Gentle washing in the wife’s laundry tub when she’s not home.

 

I wonder if the stuff the home HVAC folks use to clean the condenser with will do the job?

Ben

 

Green tip on pressure washer. Shouldn't take long at all.

The problem with plant matter is that it's mostly cellulose is that not much dissolves it except other organic processes eating it so your chemical options are gonna be limited.

 

I would try to soak the core in water overnight to soften the ****, and then try compressed air. Be careful with a pressure washer, I have bent the fins on an air conditioner with one before.

 

Really

 

Excuse me for asking …. But how did the pine needles get to the heater core?

 

Soak it to soften the needles, then pressure wash it.

 

Take it to a old school radiator shop (one that works on radiators instead of replacing them with a new aluminum radiator) and have it vatted, that stuff will remove any **** in the tank and the pine needles. HRP

 

They fall down the cowl vent. I would use a cut to fit black window screen under the factory (usually plastic grill) on my cars to prevent this.I found, Almost all the cars with leaking a/c evaporator cores were sitting in a bed of pine needles once the case is opened.I think the acid in pine needles eats away at cores.

 

Put me on the "I'd use pointy tweezers" list please