Alright I am rebuilding my engine and I am curious what I shoudl use to clean the engine parts... To remove the build up and all on my rotors and and housings... Should I use steel wool or what? I don't want to damage the parts though... Duh... LOL

 

Did you search? Lots of these posts....


However, in my experience (having just done this), here's the proceedure:

remove your spark plug wires and cover anything you don't want water in.... you won't be able to start the car until its dry.

buy a 20 dollar hose that is rated for temps of 140ish (any hardware store and some napa's will have them).

Hook the hose to your water heater drain and get a nifty nossle that doesn't have a metal handle (it will get f-ing hot)..

Go to town on your engine bay at high pressure... the hot water will get the grease off better than any degreaser and won't leave a dangerous residue or degrade the quality of your plastics like most degreasers will.

Let your engine COMPLETELY DRY before attempting to start. Failure to do so may result in electrical problems... When its dry, put your plugs back on and fire her up.

 

to clean the rotors, seals and springs use a cold parts cleaner. you can get the gallon size at autozone. As for the other parts use mineral spirits and a green scratch pad, brass brush tooth brush etc. Check out the rebuild videos from rotary aviation, they are cheap and tell you everything you need to know.

 

Okay... this is a good reason to not watch TV and respond to peoples posts. I read your post.. then in my head... thought you were cleaning an engine bay.

So.... I'm tarded and stuff

Wackaloo is on the right track! Sorry.....

 

mineral spirits and Carb cleaner

 

If you want it really clean, clean it with carb cleaner etc then blast it with glass(be carefull) or plastic ...

 

A parts washer works very well to get the grease and oil off, but the hard carbon is difficult to dissolve.

Oven cleaner works very well in this case but don't get it on any bearings you intedn to reuse.

Zep Purple is great for soaking and really cleans things up with little effort.

 

I used a lot of Dishsoap, razorblades, and old toothbrushes with the bristles cut to be half as long. (or hard bristled toothbrushes, if you can find them)

 

what, of the things posted, would be best for cleaning the water pump and themo housing internals of any build up and the gasket surfaces?

 

Carb cleaner and a wire brush.

 

gracias

 

For cleaning engine bay pieces, I've fallen in love with a die grinder with the tip on it that has all the little rubber "fingers." They work insanely well for cleaning parts with very little effort. I was able to completely clean all the old gasket material off my intake manifolds using them. Besides this, gasket scraper, wire brush, carb cleaner, and parts cleaner all work very well too.

 

Are you talking about those twist-lock things you get at napa? Roloc or whatever... I used those for removing tar/paint from my interior... great things, but you really have to watch them on a die grinder.. they tend to "burn" through metal since they are grit-impregnated.

 

I used purple power on the iron bits and mineral spirits on the aluminum.