A Clean Engine Compartment

[Rob58]

I like a clean and shiny engine compartment, but I’m a little hesitant to get in there with a pressure washer and just have at it. What kind of solvents or cleaning agents are a good solution for keeping things in good condition and how would these be used? Appreciate any help from the collective!

 

[Gary Ward]

Like you said, I would not use a pressure washer.

I like to use mineral spirits in a re fillable "Zep" spray bottle from HD or your local hw store, some rags and small brushes sometimes.

 

[NordicDave]

I use a small steam clearer with almost 5 bars of pressure. Melts oil, grease, git like a champ and no toxic chemicals just distilled water.

 

[Bell206]

Appreciate any help from the collective!

FWIW: If you cant achieve the result you want by wiping down the engine area using a rag wet with varsol or pure mineral spirits, spray it down using the same cleaners with a siphon gun at low pressure or a pressurized sprayer. Let it sit for a period then rinse off with clean water. Repeat as needed. Make sure you mask off or avoid certain areas like electrical items, air intake, breather tubes, vac pump, etc.

 

[Brad W]

i've been watching a car restoration channel on youtube lately, a few times she's shown a dry ice blaster. Something you might be able to rent but she has to buy the ice pellets in a large qty (might be a location/supplier thing)
it looks to do a nice job on most everything except that really thick oily gooey stuff you get from years of seepage. Looks to be gentle on the surfaces.
...just food for thought, I'm not saying if it's a solution or not

 

[3393RP]

FWIW: If you cant achieve the result you want by wiping down the engine area using a rag wet with varsol or pure mineral spirits, spray it down using the same cleaners with a siphon gun at low pressure or a pressurized sprayer. Let it sit for a period then rinse off with clean water. Repeat as needed. Make sure you mask off or avoid certain areas like electrical items, air intake, breather tubes, vac pump, etc.

Where does the water and mineral spirits runoff go?

 

[Bell206]

Where does the water and mineral spirits runoff go?

Drain pan then into a waste barrel or if no barrel into an evaporation vat. I use the same syphon gun for the water so not much waste product.

 

[Dana]

Nobody's yet mentioned the old A&Ps who swear by 100LL in a spray bottle?

 

[3393RP]

Drain pan then into a waste barrel or if no barrel into an evaporation vat. I use the same syphon gun for the water so not much waste product.

Thanks for the reply. Pretty much what I assumed, and good for you.

 

[geezer]

Dana said:
Nobody's yet mentioned the old A&Ps who swear by 100LL in a spray bottle?

The older A&P's used unleaded 80 octane, or white kerosene.

While on a training cross country, we were ramp checked by a pair of FAA guys. After all the papers were inspected, one asked if he could look under the cowl. We agreed, and he did a good inspection. It was a 1960 Cessna 150, with the big cowl flap. He complimented us on the cleanliness. We informed him that we cleaned thee entire engine room at each oil change, with white kerosene. They approved the choice, and the result.

 

[Magman]

Likely the oldest A & E’s had 115/145 in the PostFlight Can for radials!

 

[Bell206]

Gasoline is the best cleaner......

 

[Gary Ward]

When I was drag racing we used gasoline for cleaning parts outside at the track. Each pit had our own drain drum that we dumped used oil and parts cleaning gasoline into. That aluminum cover on that red drum caught our gas spray and drained into the drum. We dumped our used oil into it also. Had a 100 gallon gas tank in the back of the dually and went through 10-20 gallons a weekend depending on how many passes we made.
I started with a coke syrup container that we would fill with gas and pressurize with hose and spray wand. It lasted 5-10 years until it wore out. At the races we overhauled the engine every pass so a lot parts cleaning was done.

My mechanics are in black, 5 of us could overhaul a motor and clutch in 90 minutes.

Then when the coke syrup tank wore out I got a real pressure tank made for solvents. I used it outside with gasoline for years. Inside it has mineral spirits in it to clean stuff with. I have never used gasoline inside to clean parts. I also keep a squeeze sprayer with mineral spirits in it for small jobs like my front strut on the plane.

I have a old 5 gallon fuel jug in my hangar that I pour my old engine oil and this old spirits into. Then I take it to work and dump it in our waste oil tank.
Spirits evaporate pretty fast, not quit as fast as gasoline.
White kerosene IMO "stinks" to use for parts cleaning. Does not work as fast and takes longer to evaporate. Leaves oily residue.

 

[Jdm]

Damn that’s cool Gary!!!

I’ve always used 100LL from tank drains to wash engines.

 

[Huckster79]

This works insanely well! From belly of the beast- to the engine compartment. My A&P friend snd I looked at ingredients and nothing corrosive (not true of the same brands degreaser- hand cleaner only)

primary reason I think it works so well is the “goo” factor. It holds in place a while it dissolves whatever. Then things wipe right off- clean as a whistle. It has petroleum distillates in it so one does need to wipe it dry so it’s not a dust attractant but getting the grease off this is it! And you come out of the job smelling good with clean hands!

everyone at my airport that’s tried it has went n bought a case…

 

[Dan Thomas]

Spraying gasoline on anything is insane. A carburetor does that, to create a terrifically combustible mixture. Good way to blow the hangar and/or airplane off the map, along with the mechanic.

Spraying solvent is as far as I went. Even then you want to be careful.

Gasoline can ruin an alternator or generator pretty fast. It can remove the insulating varnish off the copper windings. Solvent can soften it. A vacuum pump with an unshielded drive coupling can be trashed by just about any liquid. Tempest's newer pumps fix that, and they also have the vane wear inspection provision so you can safely run that pump to the end of its life without risking failure from rotor breakage.

 

[Magman]

Dan nailed it!

Most engine compartments tend to be fairly clean and improper cleaning can compromise some components. Magnetos?

Many Techs disagree with FARs and prefer to do the initial visual inspection prior to any cleaning. Exhaust and fluid leaks, loose rivets etc may be much easier to find before evidence is removed. Talk to your IA first if an Inspection is getting close.

 

[Pinecone]

The older A&P's used unleaded 80 octane,

WHAT 80 octane unleaded?

80 octane avgas was leaded.

 

[geezer]

Correct, it had 0.16 g, as opposed to 1.12 g in 100 octane.

The Geezer is from a time when gas was either leaded = Hi test, or unleaded = Low test. We did not split hairs over a tiny amount.

Today is different, and we are aware of the tiniest amounts of poisons wherever they are.

 

[MBDiagMan]

Wing solvent.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

View attachment 111801
This works insanely well! From belly of the beast- to the engine compartment. My A&P friend snd I looked at ingredients and nothing corrosive (not true of the same brands degreaser- hand cleaner only)

Are you sure about that??

I see the ingredient that turns aluminum into swiss cheese.

How do you get this stuff out of the lap joints it inevitably gets into?

SAFETY DATA SHEET
Purple Power Heavy-Duty Crème Hand Cleaner

Ingredient___________CAS#____ Percent
Petroleum Distillates__64742-96-7___30-50
Sodium Hydroxide____1310-73-2___0.1 – 1.0

https://www.clean-rite.com/_files/ugd/14ad0e_40413a79a44f4e2c8207957a16927a4b.pdf

 

[Magman]

And what time is The Geezer from?

 

[Dan Thomas]

Correct, it had 0.16 g, as opposed to 1.12 g in 100 octane.

The Geezer is from a time when gas was either leaded = Hi test, or unleaded = Low test. We did not split hairs over a tiny amount.

Today is different, and we are aware of the tiniest amounts of poisons wherever they are.

My Dad was one of those men that washed his hands in gasoline after working on machinery. Leaded gas. Insane. He died just a couple months short of 91. Might have lived to 100 if he had lived a little better.

Sometimes, though, we take safety too far. That's sometimes a result of dishonest journalists hyping risks simply to get more readers/viewers and make more money. By now, we shouldn't be eating anything anymore. Fat and sugars are out, or were out. Vegetables and fruit have been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides and fed fertilizers. Beef and poultry have been fed hormones. Butter will clog your arteries. Fish are feeding on polluted stuff and swimming in polluted water. Crustaceans are bottom-feeders. Salt will make your blood pressure skyrocket and your heart will explode. I wonder why the organically-fed folks of 1900 only had lifespans of around 50 or so?

 

[Dan Thomas]

Are you sure about that??

I see the ingredient that turns aluminum into swiss cheese.

How do you get this stuff out of the lap joints it inevitably gets into?

SAFETY DATA SHEET
Purple Power Heavy-Duty Crème Hand Cleaner

Ingredient___________CAS#____ Percent
Petroleum Distillates__64742-96-7___30-50
Sodium Hydroxide____1310-73-2___0.1 – 1.0

https://www.clean-rite.com/_files/ugd/14ad0e_40413a79a44f4e2c8207957a16927a4b.pdf

Sodium hydroxide is known as lye. Nasty stuff. We had a tank of heated water, mixed with sodium hydroxide, for cleaning steel and cast iron compressor parts. Anything aluminum or zinc that found its way in there ended up as a white paste on the bottom of the tank.

There are airframe cleaners that have Boeing's approval, and there are reasons for that. Good, safe aircraft cleaners might be expensive, but they cost a lot less than another airplane to replace the one that flunked the annual due to expensive corrosion.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Sodium hydroxide is known as lye. Nasty stuff. We had a tank of heated water, mixed with sodium hydroxide, for cleaning steel and cast iron compressor parts. Anything aluminum or zinc that found its way in there ended up as a white paste on the bottom of the tank.

There are airframe cleaners that have Boeing's approval, and there are reasons for that. Good, safe aircraft cleaners might be expensive, but they cost a lot less than another airplane to replace the one that flunked the annual due to expensive corrosion.

Yup. I am amazed every time I see someone using some magic cleaner on an aluminum airframe without pulling up a SDS.

The SimpleGreen original formula airplane debacle comes to mind...

Residual alkaline left in between joints of thin aluminum that can't be rinsed away is bad mojo. It's going to be working away in there for a long time.

Plus, there are inexpensive safe cleaners as well, such as mineral spirits.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Jump to 22 seconds to see Sodium Hydroxide making friends with thin aluminum.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

It cleans well because it's the active ingredient in these two favorites.

 

[Huckster79]

Are you sure about that??

I see the ingredient that turns aluminum into swiss cheese.

How do you get this stuff out of the lap joints it inevitably gets into?

SAFETY DATA SHEET
Purple Power Heavy-Duty Crème Hand Cleaner

Ingredient___________CAS#____ Percent
Petroleum Distillates__64742-96-7___30-50
Sodium Hydroxide____1310-73-2___0.1 – 1.0

https://www.clean-rite.com/_files/ugd/14ad0e_40413a79a44f4e2c8207957a16927a4b.pdf

Wow! Open mouth insert foot! We looked at ingredients on package. No mention… formula has changed too- as I just went n looked at a tub- when we read it it had lanolin in it… now it doesn’t list lanolin. But nor does it mention the lye.

guess I got a case of hand cleaner gor the home garage!

I feel foolish now, as I thought we did what we needed to do looking at the ingredient list on the tub…

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

apply kerosene with a spray bottle....wipe....apply alcohol with a spray bottle....wipe clean. Rinse and repeat.

Just make sure you put your cigarette out first.....it could get real exciting if you don't.

 

[Stewartb]

Dawn Powerwash has become a staple in my hangar. Excellent degreasing and not corrosive. And it works pretty well on dishes, too.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Wow! Open mouth insert foot! We looked at ingredients on package. No mention… formula has changed too- as I just went n looked at a tub- when we read it it had lanolin in it… now it doesn’t list lanolin. But nor does it mention the lye.

guess I got a case of hand cleaner gor the home garage!

I feel foolish now, as I thought we did what we needed to do looking at the ingredient list on the tub…

That's another problem with the general consumer stuff. They can change ingredients at will, without notification.

Or ship different formulas to different regions.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

apply kerosene with a spray bottle....wipe....apply alcohol with a spray bottle....wipe clean. Rinse and repeat.

Just make sure you put your cigarette out first.....it could get real exciting if you don't.

That's a purty picture. Got the before, too??

 

[bluerooster]

We use 100ll, and diesel mix. Or sometimes WD40. Spray on, let sit for a bit, hose off.

 

[Rob58]

Lot's of good info here - thanks for the discussion in response to my post!

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

… thought we did what we needed to do looking at the ingredient list on the tub…

That’s another thing - a manufacturer does not have to list all ingredients on the package (proprietary formula, blah blah), but they cannot lie about the nasty stuff on the SDS.

Just a quick Google for <product name> SDS is usually good.

 

[3393RP]

Are you sure about that??

I see the ingredient that turns aluminum into swiss cheese.

How do you get this stuff out of the lap joints it inevitably gets into?

SAFETY DATA SHEET
Purple Power Heavy-Duty Crème Hand Cleaner

Ingredient___________CAS#____ Percent
Petroleum Distillates__64742-96-7___30-50
Sodium Hydroxide____1310-73-2___0.1 – 1.0

https://www.clean-rite.com/_files/ugd/14ad0e_40413a79a44f4e2c8207957a16927a4b.pdf

Purple Power products have an extreme alkaline formulation and will corrode and permanently damage unpainted aluminum.

 

[Racerx]

Purple Power products have an extreme alkaline formulation and will corrode and permanently damage unpainted aluminum.

I use lye (sodium hydroxide) to eat the aluminum from chowdered up dye grinder burrs and mill bits. Yeah.... avoid that stuff for your aluminum plane.

 

[Racerx]

apply kerosene with a spray bottle....wipe....apply alcohol with a spray bottle....wipe clean. Rinse and repeat.

Just make sure you put your cigarette out first.....it could get real exciting if you don't.

And don't put the rags in the garbage. Idiot at work put laquer soaked rags in a can after he spilled paint.... we're a welding shop. You can fill in what happened.

 

[Dan Thomas]

I use lye (sodium hydroxide) to eat the aluminum from chowdered up dye grinder burrs and mill bits. Yeah.... avoid that stuff for your aluminum plane.

Lye is good for cleaning stainless carb and cabin heat shrouds. Cleans off the baked-on oil.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Lye is good for cleaning stainless carb and cabin heat shrouds. Cleans off the baked-on oil.

Hence, Easy Off oven cleaner.