How to cleanup a used engine?
 

One of my club members gave me an OS .91 4-stroke engine to use on my 4*60 and it has a lot of muffler "gooe" on the outside of the muffler and exhaust pipe. Also I would like to glean up the case if possible to make it look as "new" as possible for mounting in my almost finished new aircraft.

TIA

Philip in Austin

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

Dawn power disolver works well for a good surface clean up,FYI the muffler goo comes back pretty fast and actually helps seal the threads on the four strokes I have, when there clean it takes about 2 flights to come back.

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

Big Tim,

I haven't done dishes in a while :), is Dawn "Power Disolver" a regular dishwashing liguid?

TIA

Philip

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

I've heard amazing results from undiluted automotive engine coolant. You'll have to sneak the wife's slow cooker though. Fill the cooker with enough coolant to cover, then 'cook' for eight hours or so.... Everything comes out sparkly clean and shiny... Dunno about rubber parts, but I suspect they'd be fine....if there were any.

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

The dawn power disolver will work but can easily discolor the aluminum and your bare skin. $2.25 at wallyworld
Antifreeze in a crock pot (ON LOW!) will do an excellent job. Antifreeze will not hurt the rubber car parts it is in contact with but I normally soak just the metal parts. It should go without saying not to use the crock pot for food prep ever again.
Fred

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

thanks for the info

i might just bench run the engine and see how it goes from there,

i haven't seen a crock pot in my house since the late 1980s and my wife doesn't cook much

i will post some pics when i can

thanks again

Philip

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

I use a stainless steel brush and either acetone or oven cleaner. I'm leery about anything too "invasive" into the bearings and innards like a dunking in hot anti-freeze unless the engine is a real mess.

A wire wheel on a Dremel can make one look perky in short order, too.

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

Here's a post I did showing where I used [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5929584/anchors_5929584/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#5929584]Dawn Power Dissolver[/link] to clean my muffler.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_59...tm.htm#5929584

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

Go down to the local garage and see if they use GUNK for cleaning carbs with and see if they'll let you use it. It's made for cleaning aluminum. Used to run a small motor shop so used it a lot. Automotive parts store would carry it to but I doubt if you'd want to buy a gallon.:D

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

thanks for the info

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

I was thinking about trying oven cleaner. I have some extra 2-strokes just sitting around, and I noticed that auction shoppers seem to equate "shiny" with "good" for some reason.

I actually like having a nice bit of varnish on my engines as it shows they've been used how God intended them to be. Still, if I'm going to pass them on, I may as well try to get top dollar for them.

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

oven cleaner is likely to discolor the alum and make it much to dark and dull and that won't come off.

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

Dawn power dissolver is fast and easy... especially when used on a warm engine, and then let sit for 4-8 minutes.

However as stated it will discolor aluminum, so make sure you remove any aluminum parts first... e.g. any colored cylinder heads, etc.

RE: How to cleanup a used engine?
 

I used a wire brush on a bench grinder to bring back the "bling" on my ole .40 HB.

Don't do that. It seemed to have abraded a clear anodizing off the aluminum. Now it looks like crap in about 3-4 hours after I polish it, from the oxidation. :eek: