993MAN

I just posted that I painted my I/C surround. How do you guys clean yours to get all the crap off the radiator? Mines got some polish and whatever it is, and it's quite hard to get off. Simple green?
TIA

993MAN

Bump! I need to know how to get the crap off. Is it OK to get them wet?

ca993twin

Sure you can get them wet... they get wet in the rain. And you can spray a degreaser or whatever on them. You can also paint them, but go easy on the paint thickness.

Basal Skull

I only clean mine out on the inside! A little petro to loosen the oil and compressed air. Haven't had to do that recently though, not much oil.

Mike J

What would happen if you half-filled it with water/simple green or some other degreaser, shake and mix, and then dump, rinse, and then dry with compressed air?

I used Tumbler on engine paint etc. that stuff is good at getting adhesives, etc. off.

Texas993

Mike, when I was having my turbo issues - Kevin told me to wash out the inside with Dawn detergent and water. Repeat the process a few times and let it dry in the sun. It works. Unfortunately I had to do it a few times during the diagnostics process!

I like idea of cleaning it with fuel instead, that would dry faster.

As to cleaning the exterior of the intercooler, I'd say anything goes that won't ruin the paint.

Mike J

Sounds like a plan! I have Scarlett in pieces right now, just finished cleaning her "bottom".

Its not perfectly clean, but good for a first pass. The PO's never cleaned underneath, and I guess its a consequence of having a lift that I was down with Xenit, Simple Green, WD40, pressure washers and all that cleaning the bottom. Got most of the crap off, and will leave the rest for the Summer when its warmer....

I have mechanical work (oil change, Kevin's valves, slave cylinder, brake flush, transmission/diff oil change, misc items) and a complete polish to do yet - then put it all together. Since I will remove the IC anyways, I might as well clean it, since the PO had issues with one of the Turbos and I am sure the IC has oil residue.

Cheers,

Mike

badabing

I used brake cleaner once and a parts washer another time to clean out oil from oil filter/overfill incidents. Then compressed air to dry.

I was careful to avoid the sensor sticking through the side of the neck that mounts up to the TB.

Ditto on that stuff removing the black paint. I lost some paint where the IC hoses attach.

ca993twin

I think the original post was about cleaning the OUTSIDE of the intercooler. But some very good ideas for those that want to clean the insides also. Lets be clear which we are talking about.

993MAN

Thanks for the replies.
I will pull it off and get it cleaned up.
Ta

nzskater

Resurrecting this thread to say thanks - used some of the info here as a guide to cleaning my 997.1 Turbo ICs over the weekend. 9 years of buildup was pretty ugly, especially the fossilised toast someone must have thrown in there!

TrackDays247.com

Big toothbrush...works amazingly well

wilson.c

Acetone works well as it evaporates very quickly after your pour the excess with the dissolved oil in it out.

Plug the intercooler, pour in a bit of acetone, shake shake shake, pour out excess and let dry before reinstalling.