I have been reading posts here literally for hours in preparation for my engine re-build. What a great wealth of information!



I apologize if I missed this one, but my question is - does soaking housings, etc. in simple green and water (50/50) hurt the bearing surfaces?



Thanks again,



Jeff

 

For years airplane people have had this thing going on with the Simple Green cleaner. Like many cleaners it has some caustic soda in it. Much less than before, but the story goes on long after things have changed. Any caustic (Base)will attack nonferris metal. And that includes aluminum (on airplanes) and bearing material. So the use of any caustic cleaner can be a problem. If it was a scrub and wrinse then probably no damage. Soaking for a few days probably not good.



Scrub in a solvent tank (bucket?) containing Kerosene or diesel fuel. Wash in warm water and dish soap. Your hands will be lovely. Drag the whole mess to the car wash and pressure blast it.



Blow off the remains with compressed air and spray with WD-40 to prevent rust. Cover with a clean cloth until assembly.



Lynn E. Hanover

 

we used jet fuel (kerosean) in our parts cleaner at the airport until the EPA found out about it. Then we got some enviro friendly stuff that didn't work for ****. If you use it like Lynn said, don't soak it for a ridiculous amount of time it will start to pit it and rinse it well.

 

Thanks for the replies gentlemen, diesel or kerosene it is.



I am going to quote you Lynn regarding the effects to one's hands and see if my wife wants to do a little parts washing ;^) !



Jeff

 

Ive always used kerosene because it works so well. Anything water based doesnt work worth a crap on the oily sludge you always find with old engine parts.



Ive been wondering about diesel lately, since kerosene prices are crazy high around here.

 

I'll let you know how the diesel works, kerosene is much harder to fine around here and expensive.

 

diesel/kerosene same diff really at least for the task at hand.

 

Kerosene is more refined, and doesnt smell as bad. But we'll see. If I cant find kerosene for $3 a gal here, Im gonna go with the $2.25 diesel I can get 2 minutes from my house.



I used to use avgas a lot for smaller things when working on aircraft. Just drain a little from the tanks to clean bearings and other smaller parts. Works well, but evaporates too quick to be used in a parts washer, not to mention rather expensive.

 

The last time I bought kerosene, it was $5/gallon with tax.



10 gallons lasts us a year, though. Even if we changed it twice as often, that's still only $100 a year. And the used-up (gunked-up) kerosene gets thrown into the waste-oil furnace, so really we needed to get it anyway. We don't collect enough waste oil and end up having to purchase it from other places or just buy heating oil.

 

i noticed in the shop manual they say to use MEK (methyl elthyl keytone? ) its with the paint thinners in the hardware store. it works quite nicely



ive used simple green for years and not had any trouble at all, but i dont soak.



the trouble with simple green is like it doesnt break up the grease, so its like you just spread it around