Degreasing tips

[willwal98]

Just thought people may be interested in some tips for degreesing things. I am in the process of changing my clutch and that box was filty. Nice clean parts make the job alot easier and alot cleaner and therefore alot more pleasant.

Firstly, buy a decent brand bottle of degreaser, in a large bottle if you do a fair amount of mechanical work. Spray cans are fine for small jobs but you use alot and it's not very good for built up muck, and generally end up costing more (in the long run).

Now get a spray bottle and mix about a 10 - 20% mix of degreaser and water.

Squirt this all over whatever you are cleaning, enough to wet it and a little more in the really dirty bits and let it sit for about 10-15mins.

Now get a scrubbing brush and work it around a bit, squirting some more mix if it seems a little dry. Don't go too stiff or too short bristles with your brush especially for things like bellhousings where there are lots of little corners. About 1.5" long is good.

Now hose it off, a pressure cleaner is good but your finger on the hose is ok too. And repeat the process where it's still dirty.

Once you are done just wipe it all over with a rag, some surfaces will rust otherwise, you could give rust prone bits a little shot of WD40 or similar to help protect them agains rust.

NOTE: Make sure you cover everywhere you DON'T want water to get into like the shifter hole on a gearbox, otherwise you will be draining all the oil very soon. Usually a rag stuffed in is enough unless it gets a direct hit with the hose.

Also degreaser will probably kill the grass and it may damage your paintwork (depending on paint type and degreaser brand) so be careful where you do it. If you have a large tub like a laundry tub or a bath tub these make great degreasing baths.

NOTE AGAIN: If you are doing brake parts (such as a rear axel seal covers you drum brakes in oil) degreaser won't do the best job on the pads. Good old soapy water works well and some people burn the oil off with a blow torch (i've never done this).

[Bananaman]

I'll add to this, make sure your bellhousing inspection plates are in place and seal reasonably well. On my rx7, i forgot that one was missing, got all oily water in there, which resulted in me needing to replace the clutch. Woops

[Draven]

if I were you, I'd remove the "I need rep" from the title. I haven't neg repped you for it (yet), but that sort of thing tends to annoy people, especially the people with big rep power (ie: if old rollas sees this you could lose 5 rep!)

edit: and it also means you didn't get rep for this post from me (5 points) when normally you would have

[EldarO]

annoys me too, especially considering its a thread to tell you how to spray degreaer onto something...

i usually find that degreaser + sand/dirt rubbed onto something, then hosed off works very, very, very well to get rid of all the shit.

Eldar.O.

[derekjay]

if I just go nuts and spray a can of degreaser all over my engine and in particular rocker cover without disassembling anything and then just hose it off after scrubbing, am I in for trouble or is this ok?

[oldcorollas]

yeeeup.... i hate people asking for rep.
please take note of my new title
<------------------------

personally, i think $2shop degreaser (Aussie export.. whatever it's called) is the deity's gift to car enthusiasts, not least because it comes out in a thin strong stream, and is also good for removing wasps

[willwal98]

Sorry for the title. Changed it, I agree it was silly. But could we keep the post on topic, if you want to complain for my momentary lack of title judgement can you please PM me instead. Thanks for the criticism all the same.

[Bananaman]

I've got a big bottle of degreaser that requires dilution, and it doesn't work anywhere near as well as old mate Export degreaser, thats either telling you that my degreaser is really bad, or that export is really good

[willwal98]

yeah the can stuff is ok. I just find that the bottle stuff works out cheaper and easier to use for big things. I use the cans for small jobs sometimes.

[mrshin]

Export = the goods. Sure it costs more that way, but for occasional cleaning of stuff, a couple of cans of this stuff often works better than a bigger bottle of other stuff.

[crowncustom]

I've got a big bottle of degreaser that requires dilution, and it doesn't work anywhere near as well as old mate Export degreaser, thats either telling you that my degreaser is really bad, or that export is really good

I totally agree.Diluting it down is like puttin water in with your engine oil,doesn't do the job.The old $2 Export brand is the best i've come across in along time.And i've been in the car game a long long time and have used some pretty crap cleaners.
Cheers Brett.

[millsi]

using kero is much better than de greaser, just apply with a paintbrush.
if i do need to use de greaser to get in somewhere tight then export is the way to go $2, and the stream is nice n strong.
u may notice when using dg that ifit drys even after u wash it, it leaves a residue. kero wont do this and also wont harm painted parts, or rubber.

[TooF]

and is also good for removing wasps

wow im not the only one to kill things with it either

[Ben Wilson]

personally, i think $2shop degreaser (Aussie export.. whatever it's called) is the deity's gift to car enthusiasts, not least because it comes out in a thin strong stream, and is also good for removing wasps

Supercheap occasionally sell it by the box for about $1.50 a can, it's awesome. Export degreaser + GMC pressure washer = lots of clean shiny stuff

[JustCallMeOrlando]

CT14 Gutsy Degreaser and CT18 Superwash rock my world. I've found the best method is to use a higher concentration than they specify (still don't need stupid amounts) and a bit of hot water in a spray bottle. Spray on until surface all "wet" and after 10 minutes or so spray with a high-pressure hose. Repeat if necessary. This got my spare head sparkling clean without really any scrubbing (cos I was lazy).

Also works a treat for removing stains from concrete and pavers.