How to get mud out of radiator?

[yeepski2019]

I went mudding last weekend and on the drive home my 2019 JLUS started overheating. I pulled over, washed the radiator and cranked the heat enough to make it home safely. Since then ive gone over the engine several times with a pressure washer but its still running a little hot. Not bad enough to register on the main gauge, but when i open offroad pages it gets up to about 220, and I read the 2.0 engine should run at about 190.

Anyone know a good way to wash the radiator out? I can't seem to get a good angle on it.

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[Toycrusher]

If you got into clay you might be SOL. That stuff can harden into concrete and you'll never chip it out of the fins

 

[No IFS]

Pull it out and give it a good cleaning on the ground soak in water if possible. It Has to be fixed. so if you can’t clean it it’ll already be out so you can replace it with a new one.

 

[madscientist]

Time to go swimming....?

 

[jeepdabest]

Mopar Radiator Part #867-5309

 

[MSUConrad]

You have to pull the radiator. Same exact thing happened on my 4cy turbo. I washed it 4 times front and back, even made a special wand out of PVC to get the corners. The bad part is that Jeep designed this poorly. This engine needs soooo much cooling, it has multiple radiators (engine/turbo/AC) that stack together. The only way to get mud out of the middle is to pull them. I spent $300 for Jeep to pull it and clean it, but will try it myself next time.

 

[A Sober Animal]

You have to pull the radiator. Same exact thing happened on my 4cy turbo. I washed it 4 times front and back, even made a special wand out of PVC to get the corners. The bad part is that Jeep designed this poorly. This engine needs soooo much cooling, it has multiple radiators (engine/turbo/AC) that stack together. The only way to get mud out of the middle is to pull them. I spent $300 for Jeep to pull it and clean it, but will try it myself next time.

Do you have any instructions on pulling it? Local dealership is trying to charge me $1000 to pull, clean, and replace.

 

[HankRubicon]

Following - Jeep just cleaned my Rads on my 2018 JL - but I would be keen on doing it myself

 

[A Sober Animal]

Following - Jeep just cleaned my Rads on my 2018 JL - but I would be keen on doing it myself

Did you pay for this or was it covered by dealership? My car is currently at the dealer for this exact issue and it’s costing me $1000 since they’re saying it’s “outside influence.”

 

[AcesandEights]

Also, they make radiator combs. You want to make sure the fins aren't bent.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

Did you pay for this or was it covered by dealership? My car is currently at the dealer for this exact issue and it’s costing me $1000 since they’re saying it’s “outside influence.”

@A Sober Animal

Why would / do you think dealer or warranty should pay for this?

 

[HankRubicon]

Did you pay for this or was it covered by dealership? My car is currently at the dealer for this exact issue and it’s costing me $1000 since they’re saying it’s “outside influence.”

Mud on the roads is not a warranty issue, I got “lucky” and did not pay due to the following factors:
1. Car was in the dealership for other warranty matters
2. Car was delivered to me without coolant in the tank (making it unsafe to drive, and it could have seized the engine), had they followed protocol and check everything that cleaning would have been on my pocket
The fact is that this has alerted me to what seems to be a design fault on the JL’s, with the 3 rads so close together it’s very tricky to clean mud from from (back to front) - you will think you have cleaned it from the front but there will be a lot in the back… this is why I am checking if there is a way to remove the back plastic panel without to much work (not mechanically minded) so they it can be hosed down after any even with murky water

 

[correfe]

Here are the instructions on how to remove and replace the radiator .
There is also a drain plug in the front lower corner of the radiator on the driver side.

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