Whats the best way to clean up gunked up oil and grease residue?

[sambudo]

my 68 L6, 4spd tran is extremely caked with oil and dirt. I have an excessive oil leak, and can't tell where its coming from. is it oil pan, or main seal? Cant tell do to all the gunk.

what do you all recommend to use to clean up this w/o having it professionally steam cleaned?

What to use to spray on then pressure wash off. Please share your thoughts. Thank you.

[cool68]

for extreme stuff like you are talking about will need to use a putty knife, and wire brush to knock off as possible. Use gloves, eye protection, long sleeve shirt with a old tarp or something on ground to catch junk. then go to NAPA auto parts, or someplace, to get commercial undiluted non-aerosol Gunk grease cutting liquid. there, or at garden supply store, get a hand pump pressure container to pour cleaner into. soak trans, scrub with brush and spray again. then if you can, use hot water to wash down. repeat process. no fast and easy way to do this. I never have found a commercial place willing to do this, only if it was a semi. leaks usually from pan gasket.
if you pull pan replace filter along with all fluid.

[evan396]

You can go to wall mart and buy a can of engine degreaser(gunk) then wash it off with a garden hose or a local car wash with a high pressure hose.that should get most of it off .

[70LonghornCST]

If washing it off, you might want to take care as to cover any electrical components such as distributer, alternator, and voltage regulator, maybe even the carb, to avoid getting water into any unwanted areas.

[cdowns]

i too like to start by scrapping// somethig with uneven and small nooks and crannies i find and old butter knife works well/// once you get it down to metal i like to spray it with a thick coat of over cleaner and let set for 15 minutes and then do the power washing

[leddzepp]

POR marine clean is the best degreaser I have used.

[adricar1]

i will second that on marine clean, excellent stuff.

[hugger6933]

A complete frame -off restorationJim

[special-K]

Diesel works great. I had to drain about 25 gallons of old from my Suburban when I junked it,so I'm set for a good while. Can't beat it for it's price per gallon. When you get down to all the crevices,nooks,and crannies,use Brakleen.

[BruthaMan]

For mild grease build up, most of the degreasers mentioned worked pretty well.

For what you are talking about, forty years of grease/dirt/grease/dirt/grease/dirt build up, like on suspension parts...I don't know of any magic spray on potion that will get that off.

On stuff like that, I don't even spray degreaser until I've scraped the majority of the caked up stuff off.

[cdowns]

keep in mind


marine clean $22 a gallon gunk engine degreaser $5 kerosene $4 a gallon OVEN cleaner from the dollar store $1.50 a can// chose wisely

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by sambudo

my 68 L6, 4spd tran is extremely caked with oil and dirt. I have an excessive oil leak, and can't tell where its coming from. is it oil pan, or main seal? Cant tell do to all the gunk.

what do you all recommend to use to clean up this w/o having it professionally steam cleaned?

What to use to spray on then pressure wash off. Please share your thoughts. Thank you.

I use Super Orange Bilge Cleaner.
Spray it on with a pump up sprayer, let it set for 15 min and wash it off with a hose. Tool king has it for 39.95/quart but Walmart and Home Depot sell for 8.95/qt.

[dads longhorn]

Good question for me right now too. The top of the engine gets sprayed clean when the truck gets detailed. BUT, the underside hasn't seen a cleaning ever. I started by using a dull kitchen knife and a chopstick. There are rubber boots under there that you don't want to hurt. 40 years worth of zirk grease dry, goop crusted on, oh my. Spent two hours so far and barely made a dent. Theyre right, eye protection, long sleeves, etc. but I know I'm doing something good for the truck so it's ok. Laying under the truck on a sunny 45 degree day, tunes going yeah. I'll revisit this thread when I've scrapped off the hard stuff and am ready for chemicals. Thanks for the advice

[dads longhorn]

Good question for me right now too. The top of the engine gets sprayed clean when the truck gets detailed. BUT, the underside hasn't seen a cleaning ever. I started by using a dull kitchen knife and a chopstick. There are rubber boots under there that you don't want to hurt. 40 years worth of zirk grease dry, goop crusted on, oh my. Spent two hours so far and barely made a dent. Theyre right, eye protection, long sleeves, etc. but I know I'm doing something good for the truck so it's ok. Laying under the truck on a sunny 45 degree day, tunes going yeah. I'll revisit this thread when I've scrapped off the hard stuff and am ready for chemicals. Thanks for the advice

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by cdowns

keep in mind


marine clean $22 a gallon gunk engine degreaser $5 kerosene $4 a gallon OVEN cleaner from the dollar store $1.50 a can// chose wisely

The other stuff doesnt even compare to marine clean, you get what you pay for in this instance. I suspect it is bilge cleaner, if you want cheaper might want to try the stuff the other guy posted above. Or if you don't want to spend any money and have a lot of time on your hands a butter knife and scraping works great too.

[TBONE1964]

I would suggest you try good old fashion water pressure before you spend a dime on a chemical. You will be surprised on how much of that grime you can blow off with a pressure washer alone. After you spend a few dollars in quarters or use a pressure washer would I suggest you then use the marine clean and be done with it.

[65truckowner]

Oven cleaner works great. I used it on a 3 speed transmission from a 66 chevy truck. I sprayed it down then went and worked on something else then came back and sprayed it again. At the end of the day I hosed it off. Be careful it is strong stuff.

[kaycee]

Simple green and a power washer