Nitro engine cleaning
 

Looking for a recommendation on what chemical most use for cleaning a glow engine that's been dormant awhile.

I'm sure you will get as many different ways to do it as the number of responders. But here is how I do it after some missteps along the way:

DON'T do the oven cleaner method, I ruined the look of my oldest engine a few years ago.

Take out the carb and flood it with WD-40. If the throttle is stuck, use a heat gun (shrink covering heat gun) along with WD-40 to free it up. I then disassemble the carb and soak it in denatured alcohol if it is still dirty.

If the engine is gummed up, I flood it with WD-40 to melt off the gunk. If there is dirt on and in the engine, I soak it in acetone overnight. After that, if you still have brown spots or blotches, that is from dried castor oil. The best thing I found to remove that is to get an old crockpot and fill it with UN-diluted antifreeze. Set the crockpot to the lowest temperature setting, and soak your engine in it for around 24 hours or so.

After the antifreeze or acetone, flush the engine with denatured alcohol and then flood it with Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF). Some people like to use air tool oil or a mixture of air tool oil and ATF. I have done that too. I store my engines flooded with ATF in ziploc baggies.

What he said:rolleyes: +1