school boy error!! or just thick???

howdy doo..
I will start by saying that I'm open to all insults and degrading comments on how stupid I must be! But I've learned a valuable lesson today and it may prevent other newbies or thick people like myself from doing what i am about to explain!!!
Let me begin.

D1 3.9 efi over heating problem..
I havnt owned the vehicle for long but it hasn't taken me much time to realise it's had its head kicked in for most of its life, it's been abused as much as Daniela westbrooks nose!! The D1 is rotting and falling to bits also,, anyhoo
The temp kept creeping up from time to time under load going to 2 3rds of the way on the guage,but it never hit the critical "throw your engine in the scrap pile" reading.. did have it boiling over and a canny bit steam out of the expansion tank!! I let it cool.. lost half a litre of coolant, topped it up and in my way again .. so!!! In total panic, changed water pump, stat &flushed system, topped up on pure good quality anti freeze got all air locks out and that was me thinking I'm a fekin genius and it's all sorted!! If I was flexible enough I would have gave myself a pat on the back!!
Anyhoo,, had it running this afternoon ticking over while I was watching adult movies on tinterweb. This is when I realised the expansion tank looked like it was going to do a Chernobyl and blow its self to bits.. again, let it cool and thought about getting extremely drunk and drowning my sorrows!!
Anyway back to it,,, this is where you tell me if I'm stupid, thick, ignorant or naive .. or anything else you can think of!! I found this.. I'm going to attach some picks,, god know how you do it. Like I said, I'm as thick as two freelander owners combined!
What I found is my radiator was thick of rock hard mud. Also the aircon madoobee in front of it... so after a few minutes i had a eureka moment Amd i realised that dry mud stops airflow.. I knew that because i used to eat mud as a kid and when it dryed up my nose I couldn't breath!!!
So what am I ? Genius? Fool? Or just learning? All answers welcome
Kind regards weldy

Many have fallen foul of the temptation to use a pressure washer on the rad only to discover why extreme caution is needed

I'm glad I posted as that was going to be my mornings job!! Blast feck out of it! But I can see why now ... I've took the aircon pump off when I first got it as the clutch was knackad! Who needs aircon??? So I will be removing that radiator now anyhoo!! Is there any problems associated with removing that??
Thanks for the info and not an insult in sight yet !!

Weldy said:

Like I said, I'm as thick as two freelander owners

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Don’t be too hard on yersen

You could be right!! I would've had this problem on a freelander if I was that thick!! Luckily I have an IQ of 26 and it kept me away from buying one!!

Weldy said:

I'm glad I posted as that was going to be my mornings job!! Blast feck out of it! But I can see why now ... I've took the aircon pump off when I first got it as the clutch was knackad! Who needs aircon??? So I will be removing that radiator now anyhoo!! Is there any problems associated with removing that??
Thanks for the info and not an insult in sight yet !!

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Before I took it off, I'd be pouring/brushing hot soapy water on it so that it soaks in and gets soft. Then I'd try a hose over it, take you time.

I thank you kind sir!! Yey!!! I get to play with bubbles!!!!

Weldy said:

I thank you kind sir!! Yey!!! I get to play with bubbles!!!!

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Take it easy and go canny.
As blue beasty indicated here

blue beasty said:

Many have fallen foul of the temptation to use a pressure washer on the rad only to discover why extreme caution is needed

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The zig-zag fins between the radiator core are very delicate and essential for the rad to work properly. Which is why yours isn't. Very gently with a brush to get some hot soap around and then rely on gentle water pressure to wash the loosened mud away.

Good advise !! Patience is the key! I'm going to remove the full unit and stick in the sink for Wor lass to do. I'm too heavy handed!! I'm over the moon with these replies.. yous have saved us money affectively!! Thanks !! From disaster to victory!

plus 1 what the other guys have said , don’t be hard on urself , all about learning and understanding it more as u slowly go through repairing it

hats off to u mate and at least u caught it before doing untold damage , as the worse senario could be either a new rad or getting a company to drop a new core in there for u

plus doesn’t always hurt getting some new hoses, not forgetting putting a hose pipe through the water ways to ensure it’s all nice and clean

PS, another way to get all the mud out is fill up a large enough container in order u can get most of the rad in water , then dip the rad in horizontally and out of the soapy water, then the water will slowly push its way through the fins

@gstuart Wow!!!! Compliments also!! I am blushing!!
I take it this has been a problem for many in the past!!!
I only found the problem as I dropped my phone in the fan cowel.. it wasn't from being clever and deducting that it could be a problem.. it's very difficult to hold on to your phone with one hand whilst watching adult movies .... so thank over 70.s . Com
If it weren't for the grannies I wouldn't have dropped my phone

So the sink is big enough!! She's just said she will do it!! She likes cleaning... so she's took it all on board... brilliant advice... i will make a container in the morning!!!

Did you put it through the mud to get it like that? If so, then obviously it's best to hose key parts thoroughly clean, on your return home before it sets.

Weldy said:

@gstuart Wow!!!! Compliments also!! I am blushing!!
I take it this has been a problem for many in the past!!!
I only found the problem as I dropped my phone in the fan cowel.. it wasn't from being clever and deducting that it could be a problem.. it's very difficult to hold on to your phone with one hand whilst watching adult movies .... so thank over 70.s . Com
If it weren't for the grannies I wouldn't have dropped my phone

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compliments only come once a year , lol

i don’t mind admitting i’ve been there with my old series 3 after finding the rad was chocked with mud

think at the time i used an old plasters mixing bath , as dipping it horizontally the water pushes the mud out of the fins , well that’s my trick anyway , lol

Al2O3 said:

Did you put it through the mud to get it like that? If so, then obviously it's best to hose key parts thoroughly clean, on your return home before it sets.

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Unfortunately Wor lass is to blame.. I said don't go in that mud me dear!! But she wouldn't listen!!! Next think we know... the heater vents in the dash start spitting cow poop at us!! I did jet wash every inch!
But I neglected to think of cleaning behind the grill when we got back!!! So my fault on that!! Just over looked or taken for granted!! But a valuable lesson!! But she shouldn't have went In that ditch !!! So her fekin fault really

Weldy said:

So the sink is big enough!! She's just said she will do it!! She likes cleaning... so she's took it all on board... brilliant advice... i will make a container in the morning!!!

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make sure u don’t scratch the sink or might be finding out what it’s like sleeping in ur landy , lol

hopefully it makes sense , pushing the water through the fins as u dip it in water , but as the guys also said , very carefully and gently

Weldy said:

So the sink is big enough!! She's just said she will do it!! She likes cleaning... so she's took it all on board... brilliant advice... i will make a container in the morning!!!

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I wouldn't take it off. That's a lot of time, effort and money in buying new antifreeze. Swap the time/effort in taking it off in to cleaning it in situ.

Al2O3 said:

I wouldn't take it off. That's a lot of time, effort and money in buying new antifreeze. Swap the time/effort in taking it off in to cleaning it in situ.

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going to now be a 50/50 decision,

wonder if a rad cover would help protect the rad for future use off road

gstuart said:

compliments only come once a year , lol

i don’t mind admitting i’ve been there with my old series 3 after finding the rad was chocked with mud

think at the time i used an old plasters mixing bath , as dipping it horizontally the water pushes the mud out of the fins , well that’s my trick anyway , lol

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It looks like it's been in the plasters mixing bath while he was using it!!! I will make a tank big enough so she can lay it flat!! And deep enough to sloosh up and down!! How did you find the problem on your series 3? Were you watch movies too??

Weldy said:

It looks like it's been in the plasters mixing bath while he was using it!!! I will make a tank big enough so she can lay it flat!! And deep enough to sloosh up and down!! How did you find the problem on your series 3? Were you watch movies too??

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after taking it off road i was changing the engine oil i noticed the rad looked like a chocolate bar , so that’s when i decided to remove it , then bought a rad cover for the front and it did help reduce the amount of mud entering the rad when i next went off road

but the guys here are extremely knowledgeable