Hello All,


I have acquired some old glow engines and they are extremely dusty and have never been run before how would it be suggested on cleaning these engines with out wrecking them?

Thanks,
Brad

i read somewere about using an old plant pot and some antifreeze, leaving the engine and its components in it overnight and they should be clean enough, best let someone clarify this as im not 100% certain

another way is with some sort of alcoholic cleaner? to break up the grease and oil (if i remember chemistry class, Alkalis that break up grease and oil)

I too remember that. My memory is that the engine is left overnight in a crock-pot on low or simmer heat. I have not tried it, but I intend to.

James Fuller

there's tons of information about the crock pot method do a search and you will find several threads on the subject,once you use the crock pot its unfit for anything but cleaning engines if you can find one at a thrift store its a handy tool.
I can't say it enough, clearly label it "POISON" after antifreeze has been used in it.

If you're only trying to clean dust off the outside, or free up a stuck piston or carb, the antifreeze method may be overkill. Just a toothbrush and some old fuel will clean up the outside nicely. Pour some fuel into the carb and through the glow plug hole and it will usually free up a sticky situation.

On the subject poison, methanol (the main ingredient in glow fuel) is also bad stuff. Wear latex gloves, don't breathe the fumes and throw out the toothbrush.

Don't worry too much about the outside.

and i hope you havn't been cranking them.lol

It's just a single cylinder..not really much to and RC nitro engine.
it's almost fool proof..there's a pin to align the sleeving...i guess if you can't
see the exhust opening after you put it back together..it's wrong.lol

Take it apart..good old DW40 ...basically you want to prevent scratching the
cylinder's sleeving and piston....if they're ball bearing engines. You want to get
rid of rust on rusty balls.

You don't want those rust particals breaking up..while the enignes are running..lol
They will fly around everywhere and get jam between the sleeving and pistion..rub , rub, rub at 10000 rpm.

same with the carb's barrel..don't scratch that bad boy.
You know how some people say..their engine won't shut down when the barrel is completely closed..
well..I image there's air entering the enigne somehow...maybe through scratch surfaces of the carb's barrel.


yeap the anti freeze stuff is over kill...there's a coating on the engine..and you're going to remove that coating ???[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]
I guess cooking nitro engine is an art or a hobbie.lol

Remove all rubber parts..basically the O ring for the carb and the gasket for the backplate.

Just let all of the metal parts soak in fuel overnite to break up the crud.

If it's just dust, use a soft paint brush and brush it off. Or an air compressor if you have access to one. If it had some kind of oil or such on it and then the dust has combined to form gunk, spray it with carb cleaner or brake cleaner of something fairly mild but will dissolve the gunk, then blow dry it. If it is baked on gunk, (probably not--you said the engines have never been run), then you go to the antifreeze pot method or some other form of more aggressive cleaning. You don't need to use an eight pound hammer to kill a knat. Keep it as simple as possible to do the job at hand.

Also break clean will take the dust off the outside without damaging the motor.

thank you all so much for your help!

Do a search for "Dawn Power Dissolver" and you will see some feedback on that method too.
I haven't used it on an engine but I did on a muffler and it came out looking like new.
Spray on, wait a few minutes, brush off with an old toothbrush. No fumes.

I second the 'dawn power dissolver' idea. I've used it and it works great.

The DAWN Power disolver is good when you do NOT want to break the engine down.

I've washed the outside of several engines with it, flushed with water, WD-40 then glow fuel, and the engine starts right up.

Of course I use a Dubro Carb cover and seal the exhaust areas as well to prevent fuel seeping in, and I also flush the front bearings immediately after cleaning.

Antifreeze is pretty drastic to me. I use this to keep engines I own clean without worrying about fumes or danger to pets.
It's important to inspect the inside of a stored engine for contamination/rust.