Cleaning oil stained parts........ ?

[abently]

Such as Cylinder Heads & rockers etc. What do you find most effective ? And is there anything bio-degradable that works just as well ?

[brett_celicacoupe]

sand blasting works well

[w810sc]

petrol, carby cleaner and degreaser. But if it's baked on then I just use a scraper and a paint/toothbrush. Ask a sand blasting company or a machining shop of how they do it.

[oldcorollas]

google is a wonderful thing.. it can help you clean any parts

[jeffro ra28]

try searching for decarboniser. there are a few different brands that are made. Pretty hefty stuff tho.

[Duk]

sand blasting works well

Don't use sand blasting for inside the engine (it's not sand anyway).
We have a bead blaster at work that uses small and very abrasive bead that makes a mess of aluminium.
Also, the small beads embed themselves in soft metal, only to come out at a later date, like when your engine is running .
I've heard of wet bead blasting that uses a larger plastic bead and water to clean aluminium parts. Never seen or used it tho.
Most of the 'good' industrial solvents aren't around anymore, probably because they gave you 6 different forms of cancers befor you opened the drum. I've used some nasty ones that would make your skin blister from a bit of a rub with the stuff .

Petrol works well, as does CRC carby cleaner. White spirits can be handy when there's lots of sticky crap to get rid of. Kero works well. But if it's baked on crap, then it's the old fashion elbow grease (short of an acid bath) to help get through the hard external layer. Try scratching at hard shit to allow a decent solvent to work at it. Don't be scared to leave it over night to soak. Cover any containers with flamable (most/all of the good ones) solvents .

I work in an archaic industial place, the cleaning solvent we use these days is actually water based. It won't kill you horribly, but it's not much good for cleaning anything other than your dish's after cooking a roast either.

[Kedderz]

I used carbie cleaner to clean up my p-steer pump today, worked very well, surprisingly well!

[LeeRoy]

Ive used degreaser, petrol, and the soapy water in repitition on various engine parts combined with a toothbrush, wire brush, scraper, and screwdrivers with success. Have used this on the cars body ie engine bay, under rocker covers, cylinder head, and so on.

Just make sure with stuff like heads and blocks that you dry them once finished and the re oil the bare metal surfaces to stop rusting again. Engine oil will work fine.

[Grega]

carby cleaner seems to be the best.
otherwise take to a machinist and get them to wash it in their soap based pressure washer.

[RA23]

Only for external parts: oven cleaner, or if they are small parts: boil for 30 minutes in water with washing powder (the stuff with enzymes) -> like new.

[abently]

Thanks guys !

[Grippy]

Ive found carby cleaner, brake cleaner and oven cleaner to be the best, along with a toothbrush for the fiddly bits

[oldcorollas]

just don't get it on your hands

[driftedmz20]

brake clean....best stuff ever

and there is no need to hose it off.

try it

[DeftAnesthetik]

there is an eco friendly alternative ive found, its called AB-50 its a green liquid your "supposed" to dilute 50:1 but ive been mixing it 4:1 in a spray bottle

if you take a look at the top of the picture here you can see how i used it on half of the underside of my engine lid, i just sprayed and wiped off with paper towel, very very effective. only 2 issues with the product, it will remove ink from decals (my rad fill warning is nearly illegible now) and if you dont rinse alluminium it will leave that white salt-like residue. as you can see on my intake.