Removing oxidation on brushed aluminum

I have a brushed aluminum radiator and it developed some oxidation over the past couple of years while sitting. I tried a paper towel soaked with vinegar lying on it for a short time. Also tried scrubbing it with a cloth soaked in vinegar. No luck with either. Any suggestions on cleaning this off?

Oxidation causes pitting.

You may be able to polish to a fresh surface, but no cleaner removes pitting.

If it was anodized & just the coating wore through, you may be able to have it anodized again?

Thanks for your help. I may Flitz it and then hit with Eastwood Diamond Clear. It'll be polished then instead of brushed tho...

A Scotchbrite pad will clean it off and keep it brushed looking. Just scrub in the direction of the brush marks. They make different grit pads for finer or more aggressive scrubbing.

Try Colonel Brassy . I used it on old ozidized wheels and they are very presentable.
A mothers power ball chucked in a variable speed drill will help.

A Scotchbrite pad will clean it up fast.

"OO" steel wool works great also on bare aluminum.

Rubber sanding block with a fine grit paper and some water. Sand left to right to make it uniform. Little car wax when your done to seal it.

I tried all these suggestions on my Power Wagon's anodized grille but nothing brought back any shine. My mechanic suggested Oven Cleaner so I tried that then scrubbed with the scotch brite and that actually brought back some shine.

To polish anodized aluminum, you first have to remove the anodizing. The oven cleaner you used, stripped off the anodizing so the aluminum could be polished.

Non coated wheel cleaner will remove the oxidation / stains and brighten the aluminum but it will not remove pitting. Works well on carbs and intakes

Autosol . . . best damn stuff ! Will take some elbow grease too, but it will be awesome !!!

http://www.autosol.com/product_p/1824.htm

Thanks for all the replies. Its brushed, but I don't think its anodized. Hopefully I can brush, sand off the oxidation, brush the "brushed" pattern back in, and clearcoat it.

I use gray scotchbrite pads to get the brushed look. It's very similar to how it's done in manufacturing but they have big powered wheels of the stuff.

In the air conditioning trade, we use some caustic cleaners called nu-brite, and alka-brite for cleaning and brightening aluminum condensers. It works really well for car parts as well, cleaned up the belly pan of my viper with it.

Non painted aluminum wheel cleaner should work great, it brings back heads a manifolds also.