So how the heck do YOU clean your engine in situ?

Laverdalothar said:
There was a video linked in this forum where some cleaned the bike with WD 40 and a brush, afterwards with some brake cleaner spray. I tried that and it really works great!! Thinking it through, it makes a lot of sense: most dirt on the bike is oil- or grease based. This mixes best with something on a similar base, like diesel, oil or spray- Oil like WD 40. Try it, you will be surprised how good it works. I was... ;)
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I'll go with this one.

I wouldn't even think about jet washing or steam cleaning a motorcycle...The electrics,,The bearings....oooh no no no that's just Kriminal...

Brake cleaner evaporates very quickly so is good for nooks and crannies. I have a feeling that I read it can turn into a very very toxic chemical if sprayed onto hot components like exhausts...perfectly ok tho if the bike is cool.

I'd use gunk underneath..in the sump area..and a bucket with water in and a small brush to rinse it off.

joe





NB
Hazards of Chlorinated Brake Cleaner
By Robin Reichert, eHow Contributor

updated November 30, 2010

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Related Searches:

    Health Safety
    Effects Water

        Automotive mechanics need to know about work-related chemical hazards.

        Chlorinated brake cleaner solvents have been used in automotive repair shops across the United States. Exposure to intense heat, caused by hot engine parts or a welding torch, can break down chlorinated solvents--such as brake cleaner--into a number of toxic compounds, according to Broward County Florida Pollution Prevention. The most toxic compounds found in chlorinated solvents include carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethane and chlorobenzene. The National Institutes of Health states that these toxic compounds, alone or in combination, may cause liver, kidney and brain damage.
    Carbon Tetrachloride

        Acute exposure to carbon tetrachloride through inhalation or oral ingestion can cause liver damage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The liver of an exposed person may swell and become tender to the touch. Enzyme levels can change and you may suffer from jaundice, which is yellowing of the skin and eyes that results from the accumulation of toxins in the skin when the liver doesn't function properly. Carbon tetrachloride may also damage the kidneys and result in nephritis, nephrosis and proteinuria. Workers exposed to carbon tetrachloride have experienced nausea, vomiting, headaches, lethargy and general weakness.
    Trichloroethane

        People exposed to trichloroethane reported burning and whitening of exposed skin, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. No human studies are reported, but according to the EPA, animals exposed to trichloroethane suffered injury to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system following inhalation and ingestion of the compound. The California Environmental Protection Agency limits human exposure to trichloroethane to 0.004 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day, based on the compound's damaging effects on the livers of rats. The EPA is confident that lifetime exposures above the recommended daily exposure limits may cause adverse unknown health effects.
    Chlorobenzene

        Workers exposed to chlorobenzene may suffer from body numbness, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Workers have reported nervous system effects such as weakness in body functions. The EPA reports that exposure to high levels of chlorobenzene can cause severe liver, kidney and brain damage. Acute exposure to the chemical can cause unconsciousness and tremors. The effects of chlorobenzene on children can be particularly harsh. Children who ingest chlorobenzene may become unconscious, turn blue and experience muscle spasms. The Centers for Disease Control and EPA both state that long-term exposure to chlorobenzene can cause injury to the central nervous system, which can result in numbness, hypersensitivity to stimulus (hyperesthesia), muscle spasms, headaches and irritation to the upper respiratory tract.


Read more: Hazards of Chlorinated Brake Cleaner | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7426582_hazards-chlorinated-brake-cleaner.html#ixzz1bQGnvnoS
 
may suffer from body numbness, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Workers have reported nervous system effects such as weakness in body functions. The EPA reports that exposure to high levels can cause severe liver, kidney and brain damage. Acute exposure to the chemical can cause unconsciousness and tremors.
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Just like drinking shite lager then eh!

Thanks for the contribution though Joe. I like the idea of WD 40, gunk and some brushes. Keep it on the safe side with my future pension pot eh!
 
Aldi own brand 'chain cleaner'. Brilliant. It's as penetrating as brake cleaner, but evaps slower, so you can dab the still-wet area with paper towel and draw the muck off. Smokers toothbrushes are nice a stiff, and cheap. Hag.
 
DoC! said:
may suffer from body numbness, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Workers have reported nervous system effects such as weakness in body functions. The EPA reports that exposure to high levels can cause severe liver, kidney and brain damage. Acute exposure to the chemical can cause unconsciousness and tremors.
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Just like drinking shite lager then eh!

Thanks for the contribution though Joe. I like the idea of WD 40, gunk and some brushes. Keep it on the safe side with my future pension pot eh!
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Hi DoC!

if you REALLY want a clean motor using brushes on it while still in the frame, I can highly recomend these cleaning brushes....

http://www.machinerycleanery.com/

not inexpensive, but probably the best in the world foryour purpose. I bought a complete set a couple of years ago, they work incredibly well, and last a very long time.

Paul LeClair
 
DoC! said:
Hi Paul,
Those brushes look like, to coin a well used phrase of mine 'the dog's bollocks'.
I really like the idea of being able to cut them back to new when the existing brush is knackered.
Thanks
DoC!
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Hi DoC!

the vendor was great to deal with, the product is absolute top notch, and they last and last and last while continuing to do a great job. I expected to get the most use out of the metal bristle brushes, and I do get a lot of use out of them, but I use the nylon bristle bushes a lot more than I expected, they get into all the small nooks and crannies for a really thorough clean. I have used both the metal bristle brushes and the nylon bristle brushes with all kinds of nasty chemicals and solvents, nothing has adversely affected them, and they continue to do a really great job. I am really happy with this vendor and his products.

Paul LeClair
 
Yeah, I bought one of those ages ago.  It's getting a little short now, but it's so damn useful. Must buy more.
 
hi guys

Have anyone seen or used this product before?  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALLOY-BRIGHT-1L-Aluminium-Cleaner-/390349885565?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Car_Care_Cleaning&hash=item5ae2aa907d

I have seen some pics of a guy who cleaned his engine and it looks very good. (the engine was very dirty)...


Let me know, I want to try this stuff
 
Hi Scorch

the acidic etching cleaners typically are some percentage hydrofluoric acid. This is the stuff that passes right through your skin to attack and disolve your bones. Really nasty stuff, so wear proper chemical proof gloves, and at all costs keep it off your skin. Try not to breathe it in, either.

the stuff works by being acidic, it attacks the aluminum itself and removes the oxidation layer, taking the oxidized aluminum back to truly bare aluminum.

water neutralizes the acid, and you have to use LOTS of water to really flush the acidic cleaner off, and flush, and flush, as any residue left behind in crevices will continue to attack the aluminum.

several years ago I used a similar product to the one you listed, readily available where I live in most auto supply shops:

http://www.eagleone.com/pages/products/product.asp?itemid=1001&cat=5006

I used the Eagle One product on a set of really filthy neglected Laverda crankcases that I had scrubbed and scrubbed and got as clean as I could but it was still quite stained and discolored. It worked quite well, actually, but handling the hydrofluoric acid and trying to keep it off my skin especially when I was spraying the cases with high pressure water to neutralize was concerning. Anyways, I wouldn't use it for regular everyday cleaning, particularly as hydrofluoric acid attacks steel aggresively, so you have to watch all your steel fasteners carefully.

the stuff you found on eBay in the UK comes in 1 Liter packages. It is also commercially available in an altered formula that claims to have additives to buffer the acid, and a ton cheaper, find it here

http://www.ukvaletsupplies.co.uk/uk-valet-alloy-bright-plus---heavy-duty-acidic-cleaner---25-l-102-p.asp

Paul LeClair

 
Well.............re. the sandcast cases which get oilstained..

Many years ago I asked a previous technical expert of the ILOC how he kept his RGA crankcases so clean.....y'know, almost white. Lovely.

I take no responsibility for this 'cos I never tried it, but this is what he recommended.

Use some "biological" washing powder - must be "biological" stuff (is this still available?). Make a paste with washing up liquid (no wimpy "green" stuff here I assume) - think "Fairy Liquid" circa 1985

Plaster it on, rub in with a washing up brush, and leave it for a bit - 'til it dries.

Then hose / brush it off and Bingo.....luverly clean sandcast casings.

Like I said, I never tried it, but the advice has somehow lodged in the Lime brain for 30 years :-)

Go on. Someone try it out!

H.
 
I use to do the washing powder and fairy liquid concoction years ago and it does do a great job. Don't know why I stopped doing it, sort of forgot about it.
Thanks for reminding me :D
 
I've used this stuff with good success over the years. I first found it in a welding supply store.Seems the boat biz is bigger than the welding biz these days....

http://www.envirotechcoating.com/Aluma-Brite/
 
I think I used to use Aluma-Brite (or something similar) when I was a callow apprentice back in the late 60s. Yeah, it got aluminium alloy clean and shiny, but didn't do a particularly good job with getting rid of caked baked grease etc. (and this was back in the days of leaky Brit bikes). Actually it was pretty useless with oily surfaces.
I think a general rule is if the stuff smells "metallic" it's probably phosphoric acid as the active ingredient. Dilute phosphoric acid won't dissolve you from the skeleton out, it will remove aluminium oxide from clean aluminium, and it will cause ferrous fasteners threaded into steel to form a corrosion weld far stronger than either parent metal.
Get the oily crud off first with detergent and mechanical agitation, as strong as either or both need to be, then worry about brightening the alloy.
I've embedded a link to a smell url in the box below. Just click in the box and you should be able to smell phosphoric acid.

                                    ┌─┐
                                    └─┘

Ken
 
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