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engine cleaner

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zimmy

zimmy

Jedi Knight
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anyone got a spray on cleaner that eats that sludge out...the wire brush isnt cuttin it ; (
brake fuid maybe? ; ) suggestions.......
 
Mineral spirits, "Gunk" in a gallon can (not the aerosol) or laquer thinner and a half-dozen cheap "parts cleaning" brushes. Thinner is nasty, dangerous, polluting stuff so mebbe not... And a dozen or so rolls of paper towels /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Good luck.
 
it's a simple one, but i've grown very happy with gasoline as a solvent for oil buildup.... (not to be used on painted areas though of course)

Gas and a wire brush should get you a long way! just make sure you let it dry completely before doing anything 'sparky' and use a well ventilated area of course....
 
Ummm... mebbe a ~copper or brass~ wire brush with any volitile liquids?
 
patience, a stiff solvent brush, mean green or purple stuff spray bottle, a putty knife, and lots of rags.


mark
 
Paint thiner and Gunk. Works every time.
 
We get "Oil Eater" by the gallon at BJ's. They say to dilute it, except on the most extreme of jobs ... I never do! It works fairly well, but you need a stiff bristled brush and a good bit of patience.
 
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Ummm... mebbe a ~copper or brass~ wire brush with any volitile liquids?

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LOL, good point.
 
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patience, a stiff solvent brush, mean green or purple stuff spray bottle, a putty knife, and lots of rags.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just went through this with my car (well, a good part of it anyway) and I have to agree with Mark on this one. Get you a "grease cutter" like Simple Green, 409 or Now. Soak the grime and let it sit for a few mintutes, then scrap it off with a cheap plastic putty knife. Finish her off with liberal doses of grease cutter, a stiff plastic brush and paper towles. If possible, catch all your scrapings on a tarp or flattened box or something then dump them into your oil catch pan for the next time you take it to the parts store to be recycled. If you have a particulary nasty spot, denatured alcohol is much safer for you and the environment than mineral spirits or gas.
 
I used 3M Adhesive & Wax Remover (aerosol) and a lot of shop towels to clean up the engine bay of my Sprite prior to painting it recently. It seemed to work well.
 
As most above have said, scrape or wipe the thick stuff off getting down as close as possible to the metal. After that you have your choice of cleaners. If it's possible to rinse the area with water I'll make a mix of liquid soap and a solvent (usually Kerosene or Mineral Spirits) and use a stiff brush to scrub the area with the blend. After some soak time and brushing I'll rinse that off. If that's not to your liking and you don't mind spending some money, I've had extremely good luck with POR's Marine Clean. It's a very concentrated caustic cleaner for removing grease, oil, varnish and the like. Because it's caustic, keep it off your skin and don't use it on aluminum.
 
Doh, wish I'd have thought of that. Mine has a feed for "soap" or whatever else you'd like mixed with your high pressure spray! It'd do just the trick with water-soluble "oil-eater" for cleaning heavily crusted parts.
 
If you run any of the really strong cleaner/degreasers through your pressure washer, be sure to flush the suction feed system with a lot of really clean water when you're done. The DIY pressure washers I've used all had aluminum diecast pumps which won't survive long exposure to strong caustics.
 
I've a "Craftsman" here with a hole in the pump body. Devcon products WILL be explored /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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