seg1959

Hi all,

I am just curious about this:

I remember my father, 30-odd years ago, whenever he was working on our cars' engines, he used to clean up all the parts using diesel - he would soak them overnight in diesel fuel and then clean them using a diesel bath (a bucket with fresh diesel fuel) and a brush. This used to get rid of most carbon deposits etc. and leave the parts nice and shiny.

Reading the various guides in this forum, I see that what is recommended for cleaning parts (e.g. the ISV) is carb cleaner, WD40, ... but never diesel.

Is there any problem with using diesel to clean engine parts? or is it just too smelly?

Thanks for any info on this,

seg

andrew964

The parts degreaser you can buy from motor factors in 25l drums is very similar to diesel in viscosity and smell, yet is water soluble so if spilt can be washed down the drain whereas diesel will just get you into trouble if your caught oh and the degreaser / parts wash is about the same cost (£25 per 25l drum)

Carb cleaner is very good for cleaning off petrol residue without damaging anything else whilst being able to evapourate off when finished with (rather than diesel / parts cleaner that will leave a residue)

james944

We use diesel all the time to clean bicycle parts. It's useful because it's so oily. If you soak parts in diesel and then just rinse them, the fuel leaves a little oil on everything and parts are overall easier to clean later and you don't have to worry about any steel parts (most are aluminum) rusting. I'm not sure though, if this is desirable for engine parts which see a tear-down much less frequently. Over a longer timescale it may attract dirt and you'll have a nasty abrasive mess. Beyond that, it's flammable but so are carb cleaner and the like...

Does anyone use diesel regularly for cleaning? I'm curious now too.

james944

No offense intended at all, but please don't put any of this stuff down the drain. Even if your solvent is water soluble and bio-degradable, you've still just used it to clean an ecological disaster off your car (oil, metal particles, etc...) and it's not good to have those floating down the drainage system. I know a lot off this washes off the roads too, but we should still do what we can.

Bituman

Obviously diesel (aka No. 2 fuel oil) makes a great degreaser. I could debate that the residue left by diesel is frequently a bad thing and that it needs to be removed by another solvent like acetone, which could cause other problems. The problem I have with diesel as a parts cleaner is the potential human health and safety effects. There are a wide range of commercial degreasers that work pretty well. These can also have human health problems, but those can often be mitigated by measures such as fans for fume removal and nitrile gloves to prevent skin contact. Generally they are considered "less bad" compared to diesel. For tough jobs I use a product called Neugenic 4175. It has a relatively high flash point, can be diluted, and its residue can be removed by soap and water.

I am tech manager of an asphalt company (that's bitumen for those across the water!) and we use Neugenic to remove asphalt residue, which is one of the toughest petroleum based residues to remove. FYI, when I got into the asphalt business 30 years ago people actually used things like 1,1,1 trichloroethane or benzene to remove asphalt residues. It's a wonder we are still alive!!! And I well remember my father using gasoline as a parts cleaner. Did that ever work great!

There are other fairly good degreasers like terpenes (probably what's in your parts washer), citrus based products, etc. and it is probably a good idea to have some balance to what you use. But in any case, no diesel for me and I agree with James about not putting anything down the drain, biodegradeable or not. James, I use "Citra-solv" on my bicycle chains followed by water rinse, blow dry, then lube. Anyway, that's my 0.02 USD worth and probably more of my opinion than you wanted. Slow night in Phoenix as you probably guessed.

Bob

seg1959

Thanks for your replies - makes sense when you think about it.
And hey, Bituman, a long time ago I also remember you could buy a Benzene based product advertised as "the home dry cleaner" - you used it as a last minute emergency cleaner to clean stains off your shirt, before you put it on for that important evening out... (and if your cigarette lighter run out fuel, it could be used for that to). Ah, how times change... :-)

seg

Bituman

I never used it, but I bet it worked great. I also remember getting many mouthfulls of gasoline while siphoning it out of my dad's truck. So you have to take with a grain of salt my worries about human health effects of diesel. Anyway, cheers!

Bob

MisterRisky

Please don't flame... but I have used both gasoline and diesel, but not on a regular basis. I typically use the water soluble cleaners, but every once in a while I get frustrated because nothing will cut the crud and I put a small amount of gas or diesel in the smallest container possible and use that. And I then dump the residue right in the Chesapeake Bay! No No, just kidding on that last part. I usually blend it in with my burnt oil and let it get diluted with all the other crap in the auto parts oil recycling barrel.

Indycam

"the home dry cleaner"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha

"the sole ingredient in the home cleaning fluid Energine, which has been discontinued. You can purchase this type of naphtha at any hardware store."

Henrik964

Is this just ordinary diesel You by from the pump at the gas station?

Rocket Rob

I use "parts solvent" that is mostly naptha with some additives to make it less flammable. It works really well.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/parts-w...gallon-3893915

No affiliations.

altarchsa

I've used diesel and kerosene for 50 years when cleaning engine and other parts. I got the habit from my Dad who did all the mechanic work on his equipment in his oilfield business. Works great for me.

It doesn't irritate the hands as badly nor does it evaporate as quickly as most other petroleum products, but it does leave an oily film so you may want to do a final cleaning with another product to remove it from "exposed to air" parts.

Harry Apps

Probably "Dabitoff" which I recall was actually trichloroethane. I tend to use White Spirit (WS) for manual cleaning which is less harmful and relatively "organic". If desperate, I may use kerosene (heating oil) to soak then WS to finish.

elbeee964

"Here, son - wash the grease off those wheel bearings in a bucket of gas -- Don't Spin 'Em.
Then dry 'em, and pack 'em with new grease out of this can, wiped off the palm of your hand, like this..."

"...Call me when they're ready to go back on the car."

Such was a youngster's instructions & 'solvent' in S. Calif., 1960's.
Gas was 29 cents / gal.

g-50cab

I used diesel fuel when I rebuilt the 1987 cabriolet motor - 2 gallons in a home depot cement mixing tub - soak over night and scrub with a nylon brush got rid of just about anything. The local recycling place would accept it too when I was done. (they would not accept used gasoline).

The only downside was that it stunk up the garage