$3/gal engine cleaner

[Ara Dedekian]

     Here's a product sold by the yellow signed dollar stores called LA's Totally Awesome. It cleans engines better than Dawn Power Dissolver in that it slowly dissolves the baked on carbon. I haven't tried Frank McCunes recommended, 'Strike' over in the Products section and I haven't found a $5 crock pot in Goodwill yet.

     LA's works well on the brown goo. The exhaust pipe cleaned up in less than a minute with a quick application and scrubbing with a toothbrush. The 'before' engine was cleaned with Power Dissolver which had no effect on the carbon. It was then soaked overnight in LA's, which softened the carbon, and then worked on considerably to get the carbon off. That included scraping and, unthinkable to a collector, wire wheeling. Hey, I was willing to sacrifice the old Fox.

     I tried it in an ultrasonic cleaner which attacked the brown stuff immediately but had no effect on the carbon.

     But this stuff is nasty. 2-butoxy ethanol sounds ominous. Getting some on your skin causes a mild sting. The good news is, it doesn't etch aluminum.

     How does a crock pot work? Does it remove the carbon without scrubbing? Maybe LA's could be a poor man's alternative to antifreeze?


     Ara

     PS. The old Fox runs great after all the abuse.

[Ara Dedekian]

     More photos

[BillP]

That looks like good stuff for being an off the shelf product. I stopped using that type a long time ago after going to the crock pot. It does remove blackened castor and carbon if you leave it cooking long enough but I use a tooth brush to help shorten the time. I think Sea Foam sprayed or brushed on will do a good job if you don't want to do a crock pot. 

[peabody]

I believe that it is the same as 409.....hydrofluoric acid based. It etched glass

[Steve Helmick]

I can vouch for the LA's Totally Awesome...the Police never found a trace of that blood stain on the basement floor.  Steve

[Ara Dedekian]

         Scored a new crock pot from the dump and immediately tried it out with LA's Totally Awesome. And well, IT'S TOTALLY AWESOME! (That shouldn't have come as a surprise because of the testimonial right on the label; 'AS SEEN ON TV'!)

         Used my last crud engine so I can't compare LA's with Antifreeze in the crock pot. LA's does the job in about 20-25 minutes as opposed to the reported overnight soak in antifreeze. The engine and muffler were left in about two hours, and it did mar the surface of the aluminum.

         The photo shows the crud brushed off the case after 15 minutes with the carbonized head taking longer. The growth (?) on the muffler wiped off. I'd say a 1/2 hour soak with this stuff is pushing it.

         All three dollar stores, Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Store carry it.

         Ara

[Ara Dedekian]

        More Photos


        Ara

[BillP]

After a close look at your pics it looks like the LA stuff is destructive to metal...what does the inside of the engine look like? Seems like cooking overnight in a crock pot is a better choice. If the engine isn't blackened from castor they will come clean in a couple hours if you're in a hurry.

[Dave Moritz]

Good discussion here. I went out and nabbed a bottle of the LA Totally Awesome from the dollar store per Ara's suggestion. Good stuff. I was hoping for something a bit stronger (more caustic) as I'm not very patient with cleaners. This will do the job for light use, particularly after an engine has a few flights and starts to show some brownish buildup. Repeated applications with a toothbrush did the job much better than cold antifreeze. Didn't try any long soaks with it.

Thanks, Ara!

Mo...

[BillP]

Good discussion here. I went out and nabbed a bottle of the LA Totally Awesome from the dollar store per Ara's suggestion. Good stuff. I was hoping for something a bit stronger (more caustic) as I'm not very patient with cleaners. This will do the job for light use, particularly after an engine has a few flights and starts to show some brownish buildup. Repeated applications with a toothbrush did the job much better than cold antifreeze. Didn't try any long soaks with it.

Thanks, Ara!

Mo...

Cold antifreeze doesn't clean, it has to be hot. Don't ask me why but I soaked an engine for weeks in cold antifreeze and it came out the same as it went in. Once the heat was turned on it started cleaning...and every engine I put in the crock pot is blackened from castor. I also pulled an engine out of the crock pot and set it on my work bench without rinsing to see if the bearings rusted or anything else corroded. I can't remember how long I left it on the bench but it was either weeks or months...regardless, the antifreeze protected it and nothing rusted. I use straight antifreeze so can't say what happens with water added.

[Dan McEntee]

   This stuff has been around a long time. I think at least twenty years or so. I remember the TV commercials, and the first place I actually saw it and bought any was at a model swap meet in Belleville, IL. It showed up at the cheap discount stores soon after, and some independent auto parts stores. I still have several bottles that look like the photo in the original post. I stopped at the nearest Dollar Tree store near me on the way home from Buder Park today ( it was actually nice flying weather, no rain, no 30 MPH winds, and no flooding! Might have been only the third time this year!) and what they had there was by that same name, but was in a newer, bright orange spray bottle. I picked up a couple of bottles just to compare, and of course use along the way.
 
  A little history on "miracle" engine cleaners as I remember it;
   
  1) When I was getting started in stunt and has Fox .35's to clean up, the suggestion was to use Dave Gierke's Engine Cleaner that came in a small can and was applied with a brush. At the same time, it was noted that Sunbeam had a product that was the same thing for cleaning pots, pans and skillets. They boith soon became unavailable, like all things that are popular and work well!

  2) Not long after the above transpired, there came along Z-Best Engine Cleaner. It was in the same type of can as the Gierke stuff. Thick, gel like substance that you brushed on, let soak, then brushed/washed off. The way this stuff smelled, I often wondered if it was the same thing as paint stripper? If I was to experiment with this, I would use aircraft paint stripper because that does not bother aluminum.

  3) As I recall it, the Crack Pot method and Dawn Power-Dissolver kind of came ion the scene about the same time. You could get the Dawn product just about anywhere and reminded me of the Totally Awesome stuff. Power-Dissolver has faded from the scene now, but you can still buy Crock Pots and anti-freeze.

  4) That brings us to today and the re-emergence of Totally Awesome. I'll have to see if any of the other stores here locally still have it in the "As Seen on TV" bottles. Makes me wonder if this stuff is stacked up in warehouses from when it was first produced, because I haven't seen it on TV in just about forever.

   Just my two pennies worth,
   Dan McEntee