Home › Forum › Ask A Member › How do you clean your parts? › Re: How do you clean your parts?
I never thought of using diesel. I am not too concerned about flammability as I am careful not to let any type of flame or heat source around the parts cleaning tank. Does it work well on the old grease used on these motors? What is the significance of #1 or other types?
Yes,it works well on old grease, and requires a bit of soaking or working with a brush if the old grease has hardened, but it does dissolve it quite well.
#2 diesel works, but not as well as #1, as it is noticeably "oily" and leaves behind more oily residue, and, being slightly higher viscosity, it dissolves grease slower (I’ve tried it). #2 is also a slightlyyellow color, where #1 is clear. To get #1, you usually need to go to a truck stop. Take a blue or green can to be legal. You can buy Kerosene at hardware stores. I used to have an old pot oil heater in my garage that used #1, so I had it delivered to a 50 gallon drum. If you live near a heating oil supplier that will sell you a small quantity of #1 fuel oil, it is cheaper because there are no road taxes in it. In Minnesota there is a mandate for a percentage of #2 diesel to be biodiesel, and I don’t know what effect this will have on parts cleaning, but #1 diesel is exempt from this requirement. The diesel sold for cars at most gas stations is a blend of #1 and #2,mostly #2.
Note that kerosene and #1 do leave a very slight oily film behind that, after wiping off with a rag, is so slight it is not noticeable, and it dries up, but has to be cleaned off with a grease-neutralizing solvent if you are going to paint. Liquid dish soap and water will take this off for painting, so will carb cleaner. This slight film can also be blown off with compressed air if done before it dries. Of course this is not an issue with internal mechanical parts. Note that cleaning with gasoline also leaves a slight film behind.
Dave