Cleaning engine case

Passatman · Post by **Passatman** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:26 am

Can oven cleaner and carb cleaner be used to clean the t4 engine case.

dstar · Post by **dstar** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:32 am

YEP! THat is what I use!

Don

Can Drive Soon · Post by **Can Drive Soon** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:37 am

How bout startin fluid?

dstar · Post by **dstar** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:58 am

IT evaporates too fast to be of any use, other than just getting a buzz
from the fumes.........

Don

Can Drive Soon · Post by **Can Drive Soon** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:59 pm

Ether isn't my idea of fun.

I like to get a can and spray a design on the driveway and light it from the beginning, if it doesnt all evaporate...

Unkl Ian · Post by **Unkl Ian** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 5:29 pm

Just don't leave it soaking too long in oven cleaner.
The Lye in the Oven Cleaner will slowly attatck the Aluminum.

Can Drive Soon · Post by **Can Drive Soon** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:30 am

Believe it or not aluminum is a very reactive metal. If aluminum is ground fine enough and some iron oxide is added and if enough heat is added there will be an alumnothermic reaction (aka Thermite). The aluminum rips the oxygen from the iron oxide molecule and this creates a ton of heat, once the reaction is done there will be almost pure iron a the bottom.

Another reaction is with mercury. If a little bit of mercury is out on a piece of alum. the aluminm will "rust".

Wally · Post by **Wally** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:47 am

Make sure to remove the plugs, or at least the ones behind the flywheel (3). Most 'gunk' is behind those and you will not flush it out any other way, whatever the solvent.

TxFordGuy · Post by **TxFordGuy** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:23 am

do yall not use engine cleaner on these motors

Tristessa · Post by **Tristessa** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:22 pm

TxFordGuy wrote:do yall not use engine cleaner on these motors

We could use engine cleaner, but most of us would rather save a few gallons of Elbow Grease and use something that does the work *for* us.

Passatman · Post by **Passatman** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 4:04 pm

Thanks for all the help. I understand that the guys here in jamaica use a power washer and diesel fuel mixed with kerosene oil.

Can Drive Soon · Post by **Can Drive Soon** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 4:52 pm

You let all that crap go into the ground when you wash your engines?

LancelotIV · Post by **LancelotIV** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:16 am

Can Drive Soon wrote:You let all that crap go into the ground when you wash your engines?

It's Jamaica maaan. . . they've got tons of real estate down there to abuse

They've got a whole island of red iron sludge dumped from steel manufacurers and all that cleanser could help shine things up a bit, eh!

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:38 am

Be very careful when you select your cleaner. Most oven cleaners have sodium hydroxide (as mentioned). It will eat aluminum. The case will generally not get too much damage. But areas like the lifter bores and bearing saddles can lose microns of metal and get a rough surface after using sodium hydroxide. That means more polishing to get proper surface and more loss of tolerance.

In my opinion heads should not be put in oven cleanr/sodium hydroxide solution. Too many areas teh soloution can get under.....like valve seats, guides and cylinder seating areas.

Also....be careful of industrial degreasers. The thing about sodium hydroxide...is that it has a PH is 11-13. Very corrosive. But its solution strength in oven c;leaners is usually no so high that organic oils cannot buffer it down and dilute it. This is improtant, because sodium hydroxide has just high enough solution strength that it takes large amounts of water to dilute it enough to sheet off....so it no longer feels "slimey"....and no longer has a high enough PH to be corrosive.
Back to the industrial degreasers though... Many floor cleaners use an ingredient called sodium metasilicate. It operates much the same as sodium hydroxide. It is a high PH oxydizer. But...its PH is above 13....and its solution strength is usually so much higher than sodium hydroxide....that it requires much more water and usually under high pressure.......AND.....it does not buffer down very well with acids oils or water. It stays live and corrosive. After drying if it is not washed properly...it stays on teh surface and is reactivated every time it gets wet...including just humid weather. It will eat your stuff. Ray

plynch · Post by **plynch** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:35 am

what do you guys think of this? i used a jug of this pink stuff called aluma-brite it is used here in the coal mines on all aluminum fuel tanks to restore the shine, it too contains sod-hyd- which is h2s right? anyway i leave it on for about 10 minutes and spray it off with a pressure washer, it will eat the aluminum and it cleans the concrete drive really well,

i cleaned the last type 1 engine in it and it was clean enough to eat off of, after i payed for the local vw shop to jetwash the case and it came back with crud on it still... i also cleaned the heads and the rocker arms with it, it did oxidize the metal a little i forgot it in for about an hr and a half. but i washed and wiped the parts off before dipping in oil and then covering in assembly lube... i used it on the aluminum t4 case, do you think this got the galleys clean? i brushed it on and then sprayed some into the galley holes and then put the pressure washer up to the holes.... then i kept rinsing.... it looks good...

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Cleaning engine case

Cleaning engine case

alumi-brite