Gummy parts!

[Bill Gibson]

i just took apart an older, but low time K&B 3.5 O.B. motor, and all the parts are gummed up....what do you guys use to clean things up? The motor is in good shape so i dont want to damage the parts...Thanks!!

 

[camaroboy383]

Hey ole buddy! I would use some nitro and soak the parts in it, hit them with a toothbrush scrub after a half hour or so.... it should break down the gummy crap fairly quick... when you get it all cleaned up just give it a quick bath in some tranny fluid, marvel, or after run... should be good to go after that buddy.. just make sure there is no issues with the bearings and they spin smoothly, may be best to swap them out.. even the smallest pits in the balls will lead to failure for sure... hate to kill a piston and liner over a couple bucks worth of bearings...

Great to see you on the board my ole friend!

 

[Mike Hughes]

White gas is a great solvent. Been using it to clean out bearing for years. Gets everything out so you can feel all the problems. I have to use it for motors that have sat and are locked up as well.
Mike

 

[John Beardslee]

Bill, I use an old crockpot with ethylene glycol (antifreeze) heated. I drop the whole engine in, it doesn’t hurt anything, loosens everything up even on some antique motors, saved some gaskets as well. I also use it to clean tuned pipes and the mufflers from my helis.
Thanks John

 

[Ray Sametz]

Bill, I use an old crockpot with ethylene glycol (antifreeze) heated. I drop the whole engine in, it doesn’t hurt anything, loosens everything up even on some antique motors, saved some gaskets as well. I also use it to clean tuned pipes and the mufflers from my helis.
Thanks John

Outdoors I hope.

 

[John Beardslee]

Outdoors I hope.

For sure! But if you live alone who knows? This process makes the aluminum twinkle, gets rid of the burned castor oil stains inside and out on the pipes, natural aluminum that is, I’ve never put a powder coated pipe in so can’t say how that would work.

 

[Mike Cathey]

Sonic cleaner set on 160degrees with Simple Green Degreaser in the water. Everything comes out looking like jewelry after 2-3 cycles. It even removes some of the grit on the unmachined parts of the case from the sand casting.

 

[BobSmith1]

good info, I need to try this, I would luv to have a few of my older motors look like jewelry!

 

[bob miller]

Sonic cleaner set on 160degrees with Simple Green Degreaser in the water. Everything comes out looking like jewelry after 2-3 cycles. It even removes some of the grit on the unmachined parts of the case from the sand casting.

what make sonic cleaner are you using ?

 

[Kez]

If you do not want to use chemicals, I will share a technique that works very well for me.

First, I open the back door and spray WD-40 liberally and also into the plug hole. Then I wrap the engine in aluminum foil. When I come home from work, I place the gummed up engine on the car engine block and leave it there for 20 min. I then put on a pair of work gloves and rotate the flywheel. It may take a couple of times for heavily gummed up motors.
Once the thing loosen up, I completely strip it down and then clean the parts in acetone or paint thinner.

Good thing about this technique is that you do not stink up the oven and also there is no need to watch the temperature.

Actually, I would not soak the motor in nitro fuel. Methanol absorbs moisture and nitro corrodes Aluminum parts. I left some raw fuel one time in one of the engines. I noticed an hour or so is enough for the nitro fuel to corrode the crankcase.

k

 

[Mark Poole ModVP]

Spray PB Blaster down the intake and in the plug hole until the engine is full. Put it in a zip lock bag and leave it overnight.

 

[Bradley Maglinger]

Sonic cleaner set on 160degrees with Simple Green Degreaser in the water. Everything comes out looking like jewelry after 2-3 cycles. It even removes some of the grit on the unmachined parts of the case from the sand casting.

I like the simple green “d” in the ultra sonic

 

[Mike Cathey]

what make sonic cleaner are you using ?

Some Chinese job off of ebay. Paid about $125 for it. About 10" wide and 16" long and 12" deep. Has a setting for temperature and time. I got some stainless screen and formed it over a stainless kitchen bowl to contain small parts. I will see if I can find it on ebay and post it.

 

[Mike Cathey]

Look on ebay for the Jietai Digital Ultrasonic Cleaner Kit. I have the 15L. The price has gone up $15 since I bought mine. Does a great job with headers and pipes to (I have to do one end of a pipe and then the other). You want to use the purple Simple Green Degreaser (Lowe,s , Home Depot, Amazon). I use a cup in a full tank. I also bought some jewelry cleaning solution for my wife's stuff on ebay and that really comes out looking like jewelry

 

[Bill Gibson]

Bill, I use an old crockpot with ethylene glycol (antifreeze) heated. I drop the whole engine in, it doesn’t hurt anything, loosens everything up even on some antique motors, saved some gaskets as well. I also use it to clean tuned pipes and the mufflers from my helis.
Thanks John

John, this is a tough one to answer, but how long does it normally take to clean up a particularly nasty engine??? Ive got one that's been "cookin" for several hours, but still looks kinda rough.....!

 

[John Beardslee]

Hi Bill
Sorry I missed saying hey in Brandon. I know guys that leave things in for more than a day. On my grungiest heli mufflers usually 24 hours was enough.
Thanks John

 

[Gary Lauer]

I did the ethylene glycol process yesterday with terrible results. the block turned a yucky dark gray color. the cage in the large bearing disappeared, and the one in small bearing melted. anyone know a way to make the block look like aluminum again.

 

[Bradley Maglinger]

I did the ethylene glycol process yesterday with terrible results. the block turned a yucky dark gray color. the cage in the large bearing disappeared, and the one in small bearing melted. anyone know a way to make the block look like aluminum again.

I put mine in the Simple Green "D" that I got from home depot and ran it about 6 times through my Ultrasonic, let is oak over night and used a brush and warm water. Looked new to me. Simple Green "D" is safe on Aluminum and will not etch it. Good luck

 

[John Beardslee]

I did the ethylene glycol process yesterday with terrible results. the block turned a yucky dark gray color. the cage in the large bearing disappeared, and the one in small bearing melted. anyone know a way to make the block look like aluminum again.

Was this in a crockpot or hot plate? Are you certain it was ethylene glycol? I’ve never had that kind of results! Scary!
Thanks John

 

[Gary Lauer]

It was ethylene glycol, I used a crick pot on high like you told me. It was in the stuff for about 12 hours. do you think putting into a vibrating stone polisher with walnut shells would polish it without harm?