[Noin]

I have recently purchased an engine from a fellow modeler. It needs to be cleaned, mostly on the outside. I am going to take the carb off and clean that along with the backplate. The internals of the engine do not look like they are very dirty but the carb barrel needs to be cleaned for sure.

My question is this, I have used kerosene in the past to clean engines however I was told that it can harm some types of seals. I would like to know if there is a better cleaner that will not pose a risk to any of the engine parts? I did do a search and did not find this topic in the search results.


BTW, no seals (harp, fur or otherwise) were harmed in the cleaning of any engines. lol

[ronm]

Use hot auto glycol antifreeze (prestone type) and imerse the engine in the heated liquid for several hours. An old crock pot works great for this.
After, brush off any remaining guck, and rinse and oil immediately.

Don't re-use crock-pot for cooking! Unless you want to die.

The crockpot cleaning method is quite common and works very well. However it is not a case of just stewing the whole engine. The engine must be disassembled and all plastic parts removed.

This method will remove most of the baked on material/gum inside and outside the engine. If the engine is not disassembled then the removed dirt will float around in the liquid and in the engine. Need I say more?

Ed S

[ronm]

Thanks Ed, I was a bit rushed and missed that step.
I always disassemble my engines completely for cleaning.
Use an old kitchen sifter or sieve to dunk the small parts.

[Kevin McGrath]

If you just want to clean off external crud you can pull the carb and muffler,plug the resultant orifices and throw the whole engine in to stew over night.........the temp does not have to be so hot as to hurt plastic parts and seals nice and warm will do...........

[AJCoholic]

The most common method I use to clean the exterior of an engine is simple...

needed: 1 used toothbrush, a little lacquer thinner, a pair of gloves that resist thinners.

Method: dip bristly end of toothbrush into thinner, rub vigorously on dirty engine.



It works 99% of the time to clean normal gunk and crud. Wont hurt any of the normal seals/gaskets at all, would be cautious on YS engines and any exposed rubber however...

[Ramz-to-tha-Z]

I use the glycol/crock pot method and it works great. If you are going to use this method, I would go to walmart and look there. I found a crock pot, the cheapest one, for 18$ and it works great. Takes a while to warm up but it does the job. Make sure you get the non-environmentally friendsly antifreeze as I have heard that it works much better (although I cannot verify this as i've never used the environmentally friendly stuff)

[Bryan Mailloux]

I woould dis-assemble the engine and if really grimmy I would use the anitfreeze method. If it has a little bit of grim I would buy eagle one magwheel cleaner. It is ment for cleaning aluminum parts and works great.

[Noin]

Ok I have just confiscated my wifes crock pot. I will be sure to mark it with a skull and cross bones...lol. We actually had 2 in the house, I got the crappy one.

I have decided to do a full disassembly and cleaning. Now the next question is what do I oil the newly cleaned engine with? I have these options, Marvel Mystery Oil, Premium Motomaster ATF, or Motomaster Air Tool Oil. Can I use one of the items listed above? Hoping for a reply tonight as I am going to do the cleaning tonight.

Thanks for the replies so far.

[ronm]

I use a combination of the mystery oil and tranny fluid, works great as after-run as well!