Topic: cleaning up grease and oil

[gmonkey]

Sounds like a basic question but what do you use to clean up large gunked on amounts of grease and oil?  As in bearing grease and gobs of oil accumulated under the sprocket cover?  Simple green just isn't cutting it even if I soak parts in it.  Brake cleaner does a decent job but it's getting expensive buying cans of the stuff.  What works well?

[Hinomaru]

I've had good results with oil based solvents such as: Kerosene, Diesel fuel and Mineral spirits. Oil based Aviation fuels such as JP-4 and JP-5 will also dissolve caked on grease and oil deposits. Don't be tempted to use gasoline under any circumstance!

[seaweb11]

A big flat screw driver and then a toothbrush dipped in "VARSOL"   always cleans up what you don't want on your bike
Just put some newspaper or rags under to catch the poo and you are good to go

[Rio_CB750]

Go to the dollar store and buy a lifetime supply of plastic putty knives, the kind you see for painting.  plastic = less hard than steel, so no scrapes.

I have put them on my grinder to shape the ends for the job at hand (in between tight stuff like what you describe).  Then, it makes the solvent work much better, less stuff to pull off.

[gmonkey]

Why not gasoline, too flammable?  Varsol sounds hard to find nowadays, is it similar to mineral spirits or acetone or something?

The thing I'm not looking forward to cleaning is bearing grease off the steering stem and plain old grease off the swingarm pivot components.  I got the swingarm parts from a breaker so they have dirt in them.  Those will need something pretty strong since I don't want to rub the grit in in the process of cleaning.

[xenoscr]

I cleaned the area under my front sprocket cover with Simple Green, toothbrush, and paper towel. I sprayed Simple Green generously then worked it with the toothbrush. Once it's a greyish slurry of sludge use a paper towel to wipe it off. If there's still some gunk left, repeat. I've not run into any petroleum based substance that Simple Green, a brush of some sort and paper towels can't degrease. The Simple Green by itself won't do much, you gotta use some elbow grease. It's also non-toxic so I don't have to worry about chemical burns etc.

XeNoSCR

[Hinomaru]

Why not gasoline, too flammable?   Varsol sounds hard to find nowadays, is it similar to mineral spirits or acetone or something?

The thing I'm not looking forward to cleaning is bearing grease off the steering stem and plain old grease off the swingarm pivot components.  I got the swingarm parts from a breaker so they have dirt in them.  Those will need something pretty strong since I don't want to rub the grit in in the process of cleaning.

Not only is gasoline a highly flammable substance which makes it unsafe, its also toxic and contains carcinogens which is a serious health hazard.

More info here:  http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/chem_profiles/gasoline/health_gas.html

[seaweb11]

Why not gasoline, too flammable?  Varsol sounds hard to find nowadays, is it similar to mineral spirits or acetone or something?

The thing I'm not looking forward to cleaning is bearing grease off the steering stem and plain old grease off the swingarm pivot components.  I got the swingarm parts from a breaker so they have dirt in them.  Those will need something pretty strong since I don't want to rub the grit in in the process of cleaning.

Gas bad, go boom!

Varsol can be found in any paint store. It's paint thinner!  Cheap and easy to use. Not completely non toxic, but what is that works well

You can have it all over your hands with no problems. That's how you clean paint off your hands!
I always have an old coffee can 1/4 full with a tooth brush c/w lid in my shop. You can use it on painted surfaces that have cured as well as powder coated parts.
Cuts grease like butta

Acetone is not your friend in this instance, it will mess up your powder coat and any painted surfaces.

Spend $8.00 and get back to me with your thoughts.

[CBXJOHN]

My favorite, as mentioned, is Diesel Fuel or Kerosene, plastic or wood scrapers, then I paint on straight LESTOIL pine cleaner and rinse with hot (best) or cold water.

When I was a 17 I rebuilt the cast iron tranny in my '53 jeep. I used lestoil to clean it, there was absolutely NO oil residue left, the case began to lightly rust within hours. It's my FAVORITE degreaser, and it smells nice too!

John

[traveler]

I clenaed my area up using brake cleaner, and a screwdriver and chop stick with a rag wrapped around them.  Took a full bottle of brake cleaner and at least an hour of scrubbing.

~Joe

[srook]

Lacquer Thinner - Available at Home Depot or any Chain Auto Parts Store.  Buy the big can of it.
Scott

[co425]

+1 kerosene. Won't eat your paint either like gas or acetone. If you don't care about the paint acetone is the ticket.

[ekpent]

I second the suggestion for Mineral Spirits and Laquer Thinner 

[gmonkey]

Thanks for the info.

Not too worried about effects on paint.  More worried about effect on rubber seals and plastic bits like the output shaft seal and the one next to it and the plastic components of the swing arm pivot.  Will mineral spirits, acetone and brake cleaner do damage to those?  Like I said, I need something that is strong away to just wash away grime without scrubbing so I don't scratch up the swingarm bearing bits.

[seaweb11]

 

[gmonkey]

" "?  If I'm asking the same question it's because it's not getting answered specifically.  Everyone suggests things that work great with elbow grease.  I don't want to scrub so I don't work grit into the surface.  Whether any of this stuff would affect rubber is also not mentioned.  I don't want to sound ungrateful for the information, I just need something slightly different.

[Bob750]

How about the foaming engine degreaser, Engine Brite?

[captaincrash80]

Tried Engine Bright on the '72 motor I'm rebuilding, took off some stuff but you'll have to do some scrubbing still. Also the foam doesn't last very long 

[traveler]

If you can get that area cleaned up without doing SOME scrubbing...you must be a magician.

Use the brake cleaner and a rag.

~Joe

[xenoscr]

" "?  If I'm asking the same question it's because it's not getting answered specifically.  Everyone suggests things that work great with elbow grease.  I don't want to scrub so I don't work grit into the surface.  Whether any of this stuff would affect rubber is also not mentioned.  I don't want to sound ungrateful for the information, I just need something slightly different.

As long as the tools you use are softer than the metal your engine is made of, any damage a little elbow grease could do should be minimal at best. Besides you said your cleaning the area under the sprocket cover, correct? As far as I know there's nothing that you can spray on that'll make the gunk wash away.

XeNoSCR

[seaweb11]

You could put Varsol in a spray bottle

[Bob750]

Maybe a modified Roomba (Check with the Steampunk people for that) with a little Scrubbing Bubbles thrown in?

[gmonkey]

It's not the area under the sprocket cover I'm worried about.  That's simple green and tooth brushes as far as I'm concerned.  Brake spray and engine brite work nicely too.

It's the swingarm pivot components.  The swingarm was sitting on dirt and has sand and grime on either side of the pivot.  If I start pulling things out now I'm afraid I'm going to scrape up the collar or the bushings so I want to gently hose the grease and mud mix out of there before I start pulling things out so I don't do any more damage.

I'll check on that varsol stuff and see if I can dip the ends of the pivot joint into it or something.

[Brown Bomber]

WD40 cuts grease, tar and oil, gets rid of oxidation on aluminum, won't hurt paint, rinses off easily, you don't need to worry about starting fires with it, cheaper than most cleaning products, and don't smell bad.

[dave500]

scrape all the heavy stuff first,then kerosine,then hose off ,then heavy duty degreaser,petrol gets absorbed throught he skin,ive had my hands in kerosine for years and its probably not much better,although it dosent burn your skin.