Best degreaser to use? (1 Viewer)

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Jun 12, 2005
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Saginaw, MI
I was going to clean up the chassis and engine compartment tomorrow and was wondering what degreaser everybody thought would be the best. I'm not going to paint immediately, but just want to clean everything up. Any ideas? Cheap is always good, but I also don't want to spend twice the amount of time doing it!
 
Castrol Superclean works good but is very strong, as in, use eye face and skin protection and don't use it on aluminum. Can put it in a squirt bottle and let it soak in then scrub and rinse off. Pressure washer is one of the better ways to go. Simple green isn't as nasty but probably not as strong. I know there are some commercial products out there but keep in mind that they are not good on your eyes, skin and lungs.
 
simple green works good on most of it, but kinda lays down on the real heavy, thick deposits in the nocks and crannies and other spots that the sludgy stuff had decades to collect and cake.
 
Second on the oven cleaner. Don't spray on alumimum. It worked wonders on my engine and related parts. At the Dollar store it is $1.00 a can (funny how that works out).
 
Marine CLean is expensive. THere are cheaper alternitives. But it does work. I use MC as a final degrease step when I plate stuff.
 
I used Greased Lighting and it works great. Got it at Lowe's (5 gallon container was less than $30.00). You can't use it on aluminum but it removes caked on grease better than anything I have used before. The castrol works good too, but a little pricey if you need alot of it.
I mixed it with about 40 % water and soaked knuckle parts over night. They came totally clean with very little scrubbing. One caution use gloves. This stuff almost removes your skin. I left a parts brush in it over night and the next day it was in pieces.
 
Pressure washer and 3 cases of brake-cleaner / not carb cleaner . get the brake clean and then pressure wash like a mother.
 
Rent a pressure washer with steam capabilities. My neighbors and I all pitched in a whopping $10 each, and cleaned everything we owned in one day.
 
The pressure washer method still works the best if you pre-soak with a degreaser. Using a true "steam" cleaner is the best way but you need to be careful about what parts you hit with it - seals are no match for a good high pressure steam cleaner. Cold water pressure washers aren't much good without a good presoak of degreaser.

A handheld pump-style garden chemical sprayer works great for applying a thin film of precleaner without wasting too much. I use the Hotsy brand cleaners and have a couple sprayer setups around for each.
 
I 2nd Marine Clean Worked great on my restore!!!

later
Ryan
 
What does Superclean and oven cleaner do to aluminum? Never tried it. I do know that Muriatic acid and aluminum DO NOT MIX!
 
I use Simply Green. I apply it , let it soak for 5 minutes and then I rinse it with a garden hose. Trying to avoid the distributor and other cables. I usually do this at the end of the day, when I know I won't be driving for the rest of the day. That gives time to dry. And that way I don't get the pesky "Check Engine" light that comes on when you get some parts of the engine wet.

Simply Green works very well.

Regards

Alvaro
 
i've used a gallon or so of diesel as a soaking solvent and it's worked great of engine parts and motorcyle parts. it's less flamable too, which is nice. obviously only works for soakable items and might not work in this case.
 
As a side note to those who use Castrol Superclean... it's the same thing as K&N Air Filter cleaner.

So if you use that type of air cleaner then you can save some bucks.
 

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