Removing white oxidation on engine (1 Viewer)

[woytovich]

I know it's not really Paint & Body but you folks are probably the ones to ask.

2UZ engine that has been sitting out (covered in an open-ish shed) has a lot of white powder aluminum oxidation happening. I can remove some of the easier parts for media blast/hand cleaning but the larger chunks, no. I'm not looking for a show-piece engine, just want to make it look a little more presentable. Would love a chemical spray-on rinse-off solution...

Thoughts?

 

[Prairie Swamp]

Would love a chemical spray-on rinse-off solution...

That's a tough one. You're basically looking at an acid to take off the white rust/aluminum corrosion. The issue is that anything that is going to be "no touch" is going to be really nasty. Personally I would start with a mild acid like grocery store vinegar combined with some brush scrubbing either plastic or brass brush. You could move up to something like Wesley's (?) white wall tire cleaner and so on. They used to sell a "mag" wheel cleaner in the 80's that was for unpainted aluminum or magnesium wheels. That stuff was getting up on the "nasty" scale as I recall. Caused the aluminum to bubble a little bit. Prolly not even available anymore.

All of these involve rinsing with water for a long time. Even vinegar sitting in a hidden little recess will dissolve stuff. And I see some open electrical connectors which would have to be sealed.

As you said best option is disassemble, blast powder coat.

 

[Splangy]

I would start with a parts store engine cleaner spray and a pressure washer (with everything sensitive bagged off first). See how it goes with that before selecting anything harsher. Acids won’t cut through grease, anyways.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Woytovich, I looked at your thread earier, but didn't respond.
At the time I thought, maybe some dish washing detergent a stiff synthetic brush and a liberal amount of "Elbow Grease?, may get the job done?
Since then, I wondered getting the aluminium Soda Blasted?
They use dry Baking Soda (I think it is?), as a less aggressive version of Sand Blasting.
You would need to wrap any thing that could get filled up with any Soda dust/material (Alternator, Air intakes, etc, etc ,etc), prior to getting this done.

Regardless of which method you use, after you get it done, you will need to protect the newly cleaned aluminium, with some type of Wax product, etc.

Hope that helps

D'oh!
Homer

 

[red66toy]

What about some kind of marine aluminum polish/cleaner? I used a little brass bush to clean off the thick oxidation, then I used a little on my 3FE intake and it helped. Its been keeping it at bay for a few months now.

 

[hygge]

@red66toy figuring out a good wax is something I did not do after my cleaning of the engine bay. I’d like to find out what’s others have used. Now that it’s winter I have a white oxidation where there was once heavy grime.

 

[hward1]

watched this guy on youtube one day pretty detailed guy for sure -
oven cleaner and a scotch brite pad

Anti Corrosive Gel for Magnesium and Aluminum | Sealants / Adhesives / Lubricants Product | MercedesSource.com

mercedessource Product - For protecting clean and bare aluminum and magnesium engine parts Kent has been working a long time to find a way to stop the ugly corrosion on aluminum and magnesium engine parts. Particularly valve covers and intake manifolds. You will notice the beginnings of...

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