Need Advice On Crud Cleanup

[PineRidge]

Need some advice on the best way to loosen crud, grease, and tar accumulation on a tractor engine. I need to clean it up for resale purposes. I have heard some say to spray it with diesel fuel and before I do so I want to be sure that it will not affect the engine paint as well. I do own a 2500 psi cold water pressure washer but I need a way to first loosen the 5 years worth of buildup before it blast it. Cold water by itself won't touch it. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[chim]

Get some Castrol Super Clean. It has been great on everything I tried it on. I keep it one of those pump bottle sprayers. A good soaking and some brushing with assorted brushes gets rid of the crud. It's cheap - around 5 bucks a gallon at K-Mart.....................chim

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Be careful using Super Clean, it is so powerful it can take the paint off too. Diesel works, WD40 can loosen grime too.

 

[Junkman]

Get a garden sprayer and mix up a solution of liquid dish washing liquid and put in a cap full of sudsy ammonia for each 1/2 gallon of water. Mix well and spray the entire engine and surrounding areas. Let it soak in well and spray the heavy accumulation areas well. If possible, remove the heavy crud with a paint mixing stick before spraying. The less it has to penetrate, the better it will work. Hit it with the power washer and it will clean up well. Try to keep away from the distributor if it is a gas engine. If you have a compressor, blow dry. This is how I have cleaned many old car engines with good success.... and the nice part is that it doesn't hurt the paint. A pressure washer will clean off the crud with out any other help, but it will leave it with a oil film.

 

[jinman]

Diesel will not hurt your paint. It's an old used car dealer's trick to put diesel on cars with dull paint to make them look shiny. I'd use the diesel to cut most of the grease and grime and then use something like a 50-50 solution of Superclean to get the last residue off. With Superclean, put it on, brush it, and rinse it off right away. If it stays on your paint for much more than a couple of minutes it will do nasty things. It works great, but it needs to be rinsed off pretty quickly.

By the way, don't forget that diesel is flammable. It's not as bad as gasoline, but you still need to use caution. Don't use it on a hot tractor and keep a hose and fire extinguisher handy.

 

[JerryG]

When I worked at a tractor dealership we always pressure steamed the crud out of them. If I was going to do a really bad one at home, I would soak it down with Simple Green and them power wash it. BTW one more thing, when you power wash it, do it with the engine cold. Cold water is hard on a hot injector pump.

 

[DKinWA]

I'd just rent a steam cleaner for part of a day and use their recommended cleaning detergent. It does cost a little, but you could use it to clean the whole tractor and have it looking pretty good in a couple of hours.

 

[Richard]

When I tore into the front end of my backhoe to clean up the oil leak I had, the dude at the store sold me some "Purple stuff' or "purple cleaner" as I think it was called.

I was very impressed with what it would do. I cleaned up the thick gunk with a putty knife. On the loader arms where I had accumulation of "oil blowby" (this was hydraulic oil) I would spray this purple stuff on it and just watch the oily mess melt away.

Never used the green stuff, nor others mentioned, but I did have excellent results with that purple stuff.

Richard

 

[Junkman]

It is called Purple Magic and it is one tough cleaner. It got its start in the auto detailing business back in the late 1960's early 1970's. If you dilute it, it will clean your carpets, upholstery, etc. If you use it full strength, it will take off the color in the carpet or the paint off the engine.... Great product, but be careful how you use it. Wear rubber gloves and safety glasses, because it is very caustic out of the bottle....
The Green Stuff is Simple Green.... another good cleaner that isn't as aggressive and safer to use.... works well also...

 

[jinman]

Richard, AutoZone stores sell a purple cleaner that's very similar to the Castrol Super Clean. I think AutoZone calls theirs Power Clean or something similar. I use it for many cleaning chores because it's such a good grease cutter, but it will get to paint pretty quickly. The proper dilution is the key to success as Junkman suggests. I've even used it to clean soap scum out of a cast iron tub. You just spray it on, count to 10, wipe with a brush, and rinse. Presto! Soap scum is gone. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Be careful though, if you spray it on your metal faucets and then the telephone rings, don't answer the phone until you rinse it off. If you do answer the phone and come back 10 minutes later you will have permanently spotted faucets. Please don't ask me how I know. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Steven]

My friend does car detailing and he sometimes uses "scubbing bubbles" the stuff for cleaning tubs and showers. he just sprays it on and lets it sit for a while and hoses it off. will not damage anything and you do not need to use high pressure washer to get it off. which could get water where you may not want it. I have not tried this yet but just thought i would pass it on.

 

[PineRidge]

Jim thanks for the input as I used your advice. Diesel in the pump up sprayer cut right through the accumulated crud. Then a follow up with the pressure washer to get rid of the stubborn stuff and a follow up with water and diswashing detergent to remove the diesel residue. One more rinse and viola. And by golly there really is paint under the crud after all! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Getting the Bison ready to sell, as my new TC-40D is at the dealers now. I checked in on it today as they were prepping it for delivery. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[heehaw]

since you put it that way....the local pittsburgh paints store here sells a product named "crud cutter". it does just that, and works very well..haven't tried it on a vehicle engine, but have on several other things, and it worked great.
heehaw

 

[tdenny]

I just cleaned up an old tiller that I hadn't used. It was covered with grease, oil and who knows what else. I used Engine Brite (Gunk) and let it sit and just sprayed it off a couple of times and it looked good as new.