gphil

What is the best method to clean engines? Bucket of gas and a wire brush??? lol No what is the easiest and safest way to spruce up a engine , complete. including the carb. The carb on this one is gummy but moves. A little sticky on the front , prop shaft.Also the needle valve , the friction part, does not touch adjustment wire. Need replaceing or just bent? Ok happy Thanksgiving to all on the forum and hope to hear. gphil

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

I have used the crock pot and antifreeze method for nitro engines. Get an old crock pot and pour in some antifreeze and water mix. Take off the carb and rubber ring and remove the glow plug. Remove the muffler and put it in the pot. Remove the backplate put it in the pot. . The put the engine in the pot, set it to low and make sure it is covered with liquid , put the cover on and let it cook for a day. Remove it and take a brass brush and scrub any gunk still left on it and it should come right off. If it's really bad it might need another day.
When done , drain it then get it oiled up so the bearings don't rust and reassemble it.

gphil

I have always found antifreeze to be tacky.  I guess the boiling or hot takes that away.   The auto shops don't sell some type of alum   cleaner?  Just wondering.  

countilaw

Dawn Power Scrub that you get from Wally World (Walmart) works very well. Take the engine apart and let soak for about 20 minutes then rinse, repeat if necessary. You may need a tootbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies. Rinse in clear water and lubricate and re-assymble. I usually lubricate with Marvel Mystery Oil. $5 a quart at Orielly's Auto Parts.

Frank

52larry52

My Feedback: (1)

gphil, I believe the "Dawn Power Scrub" that countilaw is refering to is "Dawn Power Dissolver". Same product is now also being sold as "Dawn Grill Cleaner". I use to get the DPD at Wal Mart but my local store droped it. Some other Wal Marts still have it. The Dawn Grill Cleaner is the same stuff and my local Home Depot sells it. If your just trying to make the outside look better don't take it apart, just plug the intake and exhaust ports, spray the cleaner on, let it set for 5 mins. or so, scrub with an old toothbrush and rinse with water. Repeat if needed on bad areas and dry it out with compressed air or your shop vac. The gummy carb barrel will lossen up with heat applied from your covering blower gun. Then lube with after run oil. Squirt some after run oil into the intake and piston area to finish it up for storage. Heat from your covering heat gun will also loosen a stuck piston in an engine that wasn't kept lubed and loose while in storage. WD-40 and/or after run oil should be applied as your heating and working the stuck parts. Again lube with after run oil when all done. I clean and rinse my engines in the kitchen sink when my wife isn't looking!! The spray hose works good for rinsing.

gphil

Thanks a lot 52larry52,  slounds like some solid advice.  The engine turns so I it is mainly nasty on the outside.   The carb barrel is gummy so like the heat gun advise.  Still need some Marvel or after run oil.  

biam

X2 Word for word how I do it, also with good results.

red head

If using the DPD be sure to rinse well, if you don't it will sort of hase the alum. engine . I've used this system for a long time with super results. ENJOY !!! RED


To the guy in the old RC Report ( rag ) that wouldn't print this hint , [&o] I TOLD YA SO . lol

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I've used the crock pot method with good results. But what is your reason for wanting to clean the engine?

If you want to make it look good to sell it or display it then cleaning is great. If you want to clean it as a part of regular maintenance or because you think it will run better after being cleaned, then you may be wasting your time. In my experience, a dirty engine runs just as well as a clean engine, sometimes better.

gphil

Well, agree on the last statement.   Comes from flying and the engines were always clean and cleaned.  My auto engines I kept nice too.  Just a habit.  My main concern on the throttle was the sticky shaft.   Engine is going on a new plane and just wanted to have it look nice for a day. lol  So call it vanity and sometimes a messy engine runs just fine no argument.  

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

That's all true. Some guys use all castor oil in their fuel and don't bother to wipe down their airplanes after flying too.

PLANE JIM

My Feedback: (109)

Marvel Mystery oil sucks for afterrun oil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read the directions or google your engine manufacturers website for advice-Petro base products for after run oil is crap-causes bearings to slide in the gel they form instead of rolling-then you have a flat bearing-also screws up any rubber that it may come in contact with for a extended period.

Alot of people think they know more than the engine manufacturer-this is not true in most cases-Marvel Mystery Oil is a great product but not for a glow engine-I have used it and it has caused problems.

sweatybetty

i use chemtool b12 carb and choke cleaner. if just spraying doesnt clean off the gunk then a little scrubbing with an old toothbrush surely will. maybe $3 a can at your local auto parts store.

gphil

I also know that some cleaners can play hell on Alum .  Cause corrosion and just plain make the metal look bad.   

sweatybetty

i havent had any problems with discoloring or corrosion. the stuff is also instant death for yellow jackets and hornets

Roary m

My Feedback: (67)

I have found that using a heat gun before applying the Dawn makes the crud come off a little easier. I usually mount the engine in a wood mount and place in a vice, first putting a cloth in the grips before placing the engine mount. Hope this helps.

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

I disassemble the engine and run it through the crock pot. While it is great to have the exterior clean, getting the varnish off the skirt of the piston tends to improve the idle. But before I reassemble after the crock pot/antifreeze, I run the parts through an ultra-sonic cleaner with dish soap. When the parts come out of the cleaner, rinse with fresh water, dry them as good as you can, then place into an oven at 200-250 degrees to dry out the water quickly. As they come out of the oven, oil all the steel parts then reassemble the engine.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

One club I used to belong to bought a crock pot and we used Glycol anti freeze. Some of the new safe AFs don't work at all. Having the pot club owned and operated was great. Most people don't have enough dirty engines to bother with it so it worked out for everyone wanting to clean an engine. The Dawn is great for just using in your shop once in a while. When I reassemble an engine I do use Marvel oil but I never use after run oil at all. I just run the fuel out of my engines at the end of the day, it burns out the alcohol and leaves behind a film of oil that is in the fuel. Because I run YS engines you can't use any petroleum products in them at all so I got out of the habit of using ARO. None of my engines ever sit long enough to gum up anyway. For a single engine just use the Dawn. It's worth mentioning at a club meeting about getting a crock pot and a gallon of Glycol AF so everyone can use it if they like. It makes an old engine look brand new sometimes. Another reason to keep your eyes open when looking at used engines, what you see may not be what you get.

83scamp

I began flying again this year after about a 10 year hiatus, and most of my engines were gummed up pretty bad.  I always ran all castor fuel, and didn't worry about after run, that was a mistake.  I took a more aggressive approach to cleaning all my engines.  All of mine took a laquer thinner bath.  It disolves all the carbon & varnish fast!!  Not the most friendly chemical to use, and you should wear gloves using it, but if you need to clean a bunch of engines quickly, it does the trick.  Plus it won't eat the aluminum if you let it sit over night.  I will warn you though, don't let anything rubber sit in it....[X(]

dakoris73

Hello there;

I've heard of the crockpot method of cleaning up engines, but I was told to use older glow fuel instead of the anti-freeze. Is there a difference in using older glow fuel instead of the anti-freeze? Also, with this method, do you remove all the rings before you "simmer" the engine or just leave them intact?

I have an older 25 size glow engine that won't turn at all - most likely siezed as its been sitting for a few years, and was told that the crockpot method would work wonders getting this engine back to life. I've never done anything like this, but very interested in learning more about engine re-vitalizing, and hoping that someone can help me figure this one out.

Thanks,
Mikey

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

When I do a ring engine, I pull the piston out of the sleeve, but leave the ring on the piston.

On engines that are gummed up completely, remove the carb and muffler. Mount a wood prop or piece of wood of about the same size and place the engine into your oven at about 250 F. After it is warmed up hold it with a pair of leather gloves and gently try to move the prop. If it moves, add oil to the crank and sleeve and gently work the engine till free. The main thing that you are trying not to do is cause the ball bearing balls to skid instead of rolling. Balls that skid get flat spots, and the bearing smoothness will suffer. This is why you need to heat the engine.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have seen people stating they just soak there engines in old fuel for a few days to loosen them up and clean them but had never used it myself so I ran a test using glow fuel against straight 91% alcohol to see if there was a difference. To my surprise there was a pretty big difference. It took several days of soaking but the glow fuel really did work. Not as well or as fast as the crock pot and glycol anti freeze but it worked. The nitro I suspect is the main reason. I have never tried the glow fuel in a crock pot though. In a crock pot you use almost a whole gallon and I have better uses for my glow fuel. That also means I don't know if it would help by heating up the glow fuel. I just tested it at room temp.
The crock pot and antifreeze gets the engines looking like new though and removes all the gum from the castor oil inside and out with a little scrubbing. I just never wanted to keep a pot full of the stuff around my home. I have always had dogs, cats and a lot of wild life around the house and the glycol is like candy to them but poison. The club kept the pot locked up in the shed for anyone to use.
I'm also not someone that bothers to clean my engines just because of outside burnt on gunk. I used to pot only when I was given really old engines that were frozen up beyond oven or heat gun loosening.
Beware buying nice looking used engines. Always check out the piston through the port and roll them over with and without the glow plug in them to feel and hear the bearings before you buy. Crock potting them can make them look like new but they can be completely worn out and useless. We have a swap meet or two this weekend and I'm sure I will spot a lot of good looking total junk.
I also used a sonic cleaner and glow fuel on parts, it works very well. The cleaner I have is too small for complete engines though, I ripped off my wifes ring cleaner and haven't gotten caught with it yet. Been a couple years now so I think I got away with the theft!!