Barry A. Waters

Folks,

I need to clean my '86 Carrera's transmission housing, engine and its compartment but am concerned about using something that would lead to corrosion on all of the aluminum surfaces present (the entire engine & transmission castings?). I'm also concerned about the associated plastic & rubber bits.

After several searches through all Rennlist forums on preferred engine compartment cleaning solutions (even the Concours forum) I got VERY few hits.

Simple Green (SG) showed up in a few and led me to expand my search via Google. I found a TON of stuff on other sites (especially a Honda forum) that extrolled the virtues of SG and one thread came complete with several user's very cool before/after engine compartment photos.

The end result was that SG (in ratios from full strength to 1 part SG to 10 parts water) was really floating many folks boats as long as you didn't leave it on longer that 2~3 minutes and made sure you rinsed things down really well (not so much high pressure but gentle/constant flood).

Further nosing around discovered many warnings about SG being potentailly corrosive to aluminum even though it seems to have a Basic PH rating. As stated above, not letting it sit too long and a throrough rinsing seemed to be key to most folk's success.

Then I stumbled upon the 'Holy Grail' of what's good/what's bad for aluminum sites - the aircraft industry sites. Yeah... lots of aluminum there for SURE!

In short, the manufacturers of SG recognised the potential (however large/small?) of the regular SG product to promote corrosion on aluminum surfaces and countered in the best way possible by bringing out a BETTER product.

Enter 'Extreme Simple Green'. According to the aircraft sites it's the greatest thing since sliced bread for safely cleaning/degreasing aluminum components or areas where many such components are present. It also is touted to be completely safe for plastic & rubber items. On top of that it meets some 'high & mighty' Boeing spec and THAT got my attention.

Has anyone here come in contact with this stuff or have experience with it? It doesn't look like you can find it at Walmart for now :-( but I'd love to get my hands on some.

I did find a batch of 4 US Gallons for about $80 on the web but I'm cleaning a 911 engine compartment - not a freaking 767!

I'll probably use a diluted 'regular' SG solution for the pending wash w/copious gentle rinsing but the thought of an even more 'aluminum friendly' product looks really good to me.

Does anyone know anything about this 'Extreme' variant of the SG stuff?

Barry

AOW162435

Barry,
I tend to use SG for any engine, suspension or underbody cleaning on my 993. Once everything is rinsed and then dried, I mist on a generous amount of 303 Protectant. It works for me.

Andreas

Pedro356C

+1 for the 303 products here...

boostfix

I contacted SG directly to find a distributor of Extreme SG in my area. Being in BC Canada it was Acklands-Grainger and I was able to guy a gallon of the stuff for about $20cad. Used it for cleaning the seat rail grease from my carpets - worked great! Have not used it yet for the engine compartment....scheduled job this summer.

Barry A. Waters

Folks,

I used the regular SG today in a 1:1 ratio (note that this is PRETTY STRONG!) with a cold engine and bagged airbox intake, distributor and left hand side fuse/relay box. Using a spray bottle I dispensed about 15 ounces of the solution, left it on 3 minutes and rinsed for about 10 minutes with a gentle 'rain' like setting on the garden hose head (definitely not 10,000 PSI). I followed that with a little carwash soap & water with a rag and even the stubborn places cleaned right up.

Note 1: There ARE a few exposed bellcrank pivots and linkage points (throttle mainly but don't forget the hood latch!) that need to be LIGHTLY 're-lubed' afterwards. This is tomorrow's job for me but don't neglect this - it's important as this IS a 'de-greasing' process, right?

Note 2: Afterwards you also may wish to disconnect the various electrical connectors in the compartment (and there are several) and hit both male and female sides with a good 'electrical contact' cleaner (CRC makes a great Marine/Boating level product that has never failed me). Don't forget the spark plug connections. Again, this is on tomorrow's 'follow-up' project list.

All in all, I'm VERY pleased with the results! Andreas' and Pedro's 303 Protectant suggestion answers another 'worry' I had - restoring the protective coating to the aluminum. Thanks, its on order.

If you've ever seen an aluminum engine that's been washed many times with the highly caustic stuff that usually comes to mind when you think 'Engine Cleaner' and left to confront the elements, you'll know why WHAT you use, HOW you use it and HOW you protect it afterwards should be of GREAT concern. Just horrible! White splotches (corrosion) all over the place and you'll never get them out :-( Looks likes measles all over anything aluminum. Not to mention the environmental impact some of this stuff has...

Boostfix - with the 'Extreme' it looks like you're ready to go. Here's a trick I found that helps tremendously if you're doing this in the home garage/driveway setting - get the car up on jackstands so you have adequate access underneath. Then position a semi-rigid plastic kiddie-pool from the local mart (about 10-15 bucks) under the engine/trans to catch all the crap. They're about 4.5 ft. across, fairly flexible and usually come decorated with cartoon images and whatnot - a DEFINITE PLUS!

Once you're done just drag the thing to where you can keep animals away from it and the water will evaporate in a week or so (this requires sunshine of course and NO rain). Afterwards you can easily mop out the remaining crud with paper towels and do the proper disposal thing. Then retain or trash the pool itself - your call.

My main reason for doing the cleaning was to assist in maintenance. Clean components make it easy to spot new leaks and really DO make the trouble-shooting and normal up-keep much easier and enjoyable.

Cheers!

Barry

psychoideas

GREAT post Barry,

I'm sure your research, hints and tips, and methods will be a good reference to fellow Rennlist users. It has been for me.

Trouble is, I don't think we have SG down here. Not that I've looked for it.............but I will be now!!

Good work. Now show us your clean engine

wdonovan

I can't find it in supermarkets but a number of hardware stores carry it (in gallons even).

jeff_c

http://www.skygeek.com/13406.html

One gallon bottle for $19 plus shipping.

ron mcatee

Here in Texas , Simple Green is as plentiful as 409 cleaner. Grocery stores as well as auto supply places have it. Try WalMart, Sam's or Costco.

jeff_c

Home Depot carries it in NY but Extreme Simple Green (aluminum friendly - or so it seems) is not so available anywhere.

Oshin11

I used to work for Raytheon and we used SG to clean satellite testing equipment but as far as I know you had to order it from grainger, an industrial supplier. How bad could the non-extreme version be if you just wash it off with water right after? I am not doing the engine yet, just the undercarriage and wheel wells.

SKM

I contacted Simple Green to locate a local retailer fo rExtreme Simple Green and rec'd the following reply:

Thank you for contacting Simple Green and for your interest in Extreme Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision Cleaner. In your area Extreme Simple Green® can be purchased through Grainger Supply (www.grainger.com). Grainger has a location in Philadelphia. If you’d prefer a direct shipment you could also try Aircraft Spruce (www.aircraftspruce.com), MSC Industrial Direct (www.mscdirect.com) or

RS Hughes (www.rshughes.com).

We also have a retail product that is very similar to the Extreme Simple Green® which is available at select Home Depot’s. The product is called Simple Green Pro HD and is also a non-corrosive cleaner and degreaser that is safe for use on metals and plastics and is similar to the Extreme Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision.

In addition to the enclosed information I have attached a uses & dilutions chart that applies to both the Extreme Simple Green® and the Simple Green Pro HD.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. If you have further questions about this or other Simple Green products or uses, please feel free t contact me directly. My contact information is provided below and my regular business hours are Mon thru Fri from 8 – 5 Pacific Standard Time.

Thank you again for your inquiry.
Sincerely,


Theresa R. Provolt

Technical and Customer Liaison

Simple Green

15922 Pacific Coast Highway

Huntington Harbour, CA 92649

(800)228-0709 ext 6091

djb25

Strange, as I haven't been able to find "regular" simple green anywhere for the last year or two.

I've been buying simple green from sam's club for years now... they have only had the xtreme simple green for over a year now.

- Damion

v8_ranch

I am going to buy some of the SG Pro HD from Home Depot tomorrow and clean mine, as I have the day off. I will post pics of results using the Home Depot version if anyone is interested.

Shane

GeneralTso

I saw "Simple Green Extreme Clean" at Sam's Club yesterday... Is this the same thing as Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner?

If not, talk about confusingly similar names........