i put them in a crock pot full of antifreeze on low for a few hours. keep them in until the junk is off. might need to use a tooth brush or something to knock the crud off, but usually comes off real easy.
if it's stained afterwards, you can soak them in lemon juice. that's what the motorbike shops do to make carbs look new again

i put them in a crock pot full of antifreeze on low for a few hours. keep them in until the junk is off. might need to use a tooth brush or something to knock the crud off, but usually comes off real easy.
if it's stained afterwards, you can soak them in lemon juice. that's what the motorbike shops do to make carbs look new again

Yes, antifreeze will do it.  I have only used the old, green colored Prestone.  I do not know if the newer formulations of coolants will work as well as the Prestone.  I have not tried them.

How bad is the crud, and what engine is it?  The crockpot method removes anodizing, paint, and can melt some plastic parts.  It'll also turn modern OS engines a murky gray color, Super Tigres too. It doesn't seem to phase most Foxes, they come out looking like new if the crud comes off.  Beyond the potential problems, I really don't like trying to get all the antifreeze out of the engine.  You just about have to take the engine apart and rinse it out, dry the parts, and flush it with air tool oil to get it all out.  If I don't intend to completely tear down the engine, I only do the crockpot if I can get the engine on the test stand the same day and blow out any residue by running a tank or two of fuel through it.

Carb cleaner, laquer thinner, or acetone work pretty well for castor that's not too badly burned onto the surface.  Generally I'll just leave the crud as long as I can unless it becomes a functional problem, or I have a reason to overhaul the engine.  Otherwise, it's not hurting anything, so why care?

Yes, antifreeze will do it.  I have only used the old, green colored Prestone.  I do not know if the newer formulations of coolants will work as well as the Prestone.  I have not tried them.

if you choose the antifreeze method, i age with Jim. the green stuff, ethylene glycol, works the best. the new stuff, propylene glycol, is not very effective. the chemical was changed for several reasons, but mostly the propylene glycol is less poisonous 

I've read that Dawn Power Dissolve and Dawn Grill Cleaner are the same product, packaged differently. When I couldn't find my Power Dissolve last week, I visited WalMart, Lowe's and Home Depot and couldn't find it at any of them. Then I came home and found mine on my workbench, hiding behing some planes... Time to clean off the workbench.

The Power Dissolve worked pretty well cleaning up the head of a McCoy 35. Leaving it on too long has blackened the head somewhat, though.


Bob in NEPA

I like the crockpot/antifreeze method but you must be careful, AND NOT IN THE HOUSE. However, Big Art boils engines in Calgon dishwashing detergent and water, swears by it. I've never tried it but it for sure is more healthy, ethylene glycol fumes are nasty and I expect the same goes for propylene glycol.

Dawn power dissolver and an old toothbrush works very well.

Before you brush on the D.P.D. stick pieces of paper towel in the exhaust and venturi.

Brush it on and let it set for 10-15 minutes.

Wash and brush it off in the sink.

Then after removing the paper towel pieces, shoot some oil in the exhaust and venturi.

Rotate the engine a few times.

You can dry the engine with 1. compressed air or
                                        2. spray it with WD-40, and wrap it in a paper towel to dry.  

When it starts to look funky, but isn't too nasty, use a toothbrush with some fuel after a flight at the field.  A few minutes of brushing on the warm engine will remove an amazing amount of funk.  Best of all there is no need to remove it from the airplane!

Of course this does nothing for the insides, and with a barn find this technique is useless.  Don't expect miracles if the coating is baked to hard black.

Phil

  That's just it, the antifreeze/crockpot solution can make those look like they just came from the factory.

   Brett

I have used a small crockpot on LOW for engines, mainly old Fox engines that were black with baked on castor.  I used the green antifreeze.  Took the backplates off, left them for about two days.  They came out looking factory new.  Do it in an outbuilding or ventilated garage if possible.

      I use Dawn Power Dissolver regularly with great results and haven't run into any of the problems Randy has described.
   
      However, I wait no loner than 10 -15 minutes before brushing and rinsing the gunk off. Perhaps waiting longer leads to trouble. I usually dismantle the engine and clean and rinse the innards.

       Ace Hardware here in the Northeast carries it and will order it if out of stock.

Ara

I really would consider Hoppes.

Rememeber it's designed to clean carbon based material from rifles/hanguns etc. It's reuseable and does not require heat to make it work.

I didn't think it would work at first, but was suprized at how well it does work. I cleaned some very black Fox .35 heads with it. Overnight soak and the stuff pretty much fell away.

Ron

I really would consider Hoppes.

Rememeber it's designed to clean carbon based material from rifles/hanguns etc. It's reuseable and does not require heat to make it work.

I didn't think it would work at first, but was suprized at how well it does work. I cleaned some very black Fox .35 heads with it. Overnight soak and the stuff pretty much fell away.

Ron

Hi Ron,

How big of a container of Hoppes did you buy?

Hi Ron,

How big of a container of Hoppes did you buy?

De,

I only bought a small 8oz bottle as I was testing it and only soaking heads. I have seen 1/2 gal jugs though.

I had heard about Hoppes through the grapevine and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It actually worked well.

Ron

       There may be a foam cleaner out there that works.

       Davis Diesel, of glow to diesel conversion heads fame, used to sell a foam spray cleaner that worked quite well. Gil Greenberg, aka Northeast Hobby (engine test stands and dynamometers) did some detctive work and found the manufacturer but wouldn't devulge their identity to me. He sold the cans @$10 each.

       Today I found a 'Hoppe's Foam Cleaner' at Walmart that "...cleans lead,copper and carbon...", the same claim on the Hoppe's #9 label.

       Could be the same stuff Gil and Davis sold. I was too cheap buy some.

Ara