General Tech Degreaser - how would you clean this?

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
As far as commercially available products, for cleaning a really grimy transmission like that I have had great results with Gunk's Foaming Engine Degreaser.

Purple Power and aluminum are NOT good bedfellows as Stag has found out. I've seen Purple Power trash a nice anodized dressed engine of a buddy so I avoid that like the plague.
Which is a shame, because PP is easily my favorite off-the-Autozone-shelf degreaser. Simple Green is a close second.
 

Asbjorn

Active Member
Location
Montrose, CO
Purple power all the way. I mean, its a transmission, not a nice aluminum intake or set of shiny wheels...
Soak it down and then soak it down 10 more times. Grab a scraper or a steel brush if its caked on thick in spots but I just did one on Monday that looked just like yours.
Just soaked it for a while without letting it dry. Just kept spraying it on and as soon as it starts to dry hit it again. And then I took it to the car wash. It was sitting on my trailer and dragging out the pressure washer and hoses seemed way more of a pain than just driving 2 blocks to the car wash. $2.50 later it looked great...

I’m with you on this one. Given that it’s just a transmission, I really don’t care if the Purple Power stains the case.
 

Asbjorn

Active Member
Location
Montrose, CO
I’m a purple power fan I keep it on hand in a gallon jug and spray bottle.

That said dawn dish soap (not even joking) and a brush are my go to!

Yep, I have a gallon sitting here at all times too.

I might try the Dawn soap just out of curiosity to see how it does on something like this.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
I had to clean off 2 engines today, 1 can of degreaser per engine and a bottle of Super Clean. (It's not caustic and doesn't have a bad reaction to aluminum.)

There weren't terribly grimy, but both are 200k+ engines. They'll both be getting torn down, so I'm not worried about water getting inside.

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Degreased both engines first, then followed up with Super Clean. Went to local car wash, hot soap first, then their engine degreaser. Then rinse off!

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RockChucker

Well-Known Member
Location
Highland
I had to clean off 2 engines today, 1 can of degreaser per engine and a bottle of Super Clean. (It's not caustic and doesn't have a bad reaction to aluminum.)

There weren't terribly grimy, but both are 200k+ engines. They'll both be getting torn down, so I'm not worried about water getting inside.

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Degreased both engines first, then followed up with Super Clean. Went to local car wash, hot soap first, then their engine degreaser. Then rinse off!

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Ones a Gen 3 and the other looks to be Gen 4. What are they for?
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
Cody's a Scottish Rite Freemason, they don't use lasers. They just get you drunk and throw bricks at ya. And engineer civil wars.
 

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
How do you guys clean an engine bay of a newer vehicle? I often see them looking steam cleaned and shiny. However.. each of my vehicles have multiple 'do not spray' symbols and signs.

My neighbor recently ignored the symbol and hose washed his engine in a Nissan truck.. truck wouldn't start right after, fried the computer :oops:

I'd like to give them a cleaning with each oil change.. but don't have a clue how to do it 🤷‍♂️
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
Put a plastic grocery bag around sensitive parts and have at it. There has to be more to the story of your neighbor. Engine bays are far from water proof so everything must be able to get wet. I wouldn’t blast it with a pressure washer from one inch away, but everything can get wet.
 
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J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
I like to use dawn dish soap in the foam cannon and let it sit for awhile while I keep hitting it to keep it wet. Then I use a wide fan tip on my pressure washer and just rinse it really well while keeping a distance. The large fan keep the pressure down and the water volume. I’ve never had an issue and I actually clean my engine bays 4 times or so a year like this.

In addition to that the for sale detail includes hitting everything in the engine compartment with some type of detail dressing. I like to hit everything before it’s dry then use rags to wipe everything in sight down. Makes it all look like new again.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
I like to use dawn dish soap in the foam cannon and let it sit for awhile while I keep hitting it to keep it wet. Then I use a wide fan tip on my pressure washer and just rinse it really well while keeping a distance. The large fan keep the pressure down and the water volume. I’ve never had an issue and I actually clean my engine bays 4 times or so a year like this.

In addition to that the for sale detail includes hitting everything in the engine compartment with some type of detail dressing. I like to hit everything before it’s dry then use rags to wipe everything in sight down. Makes it all look like new again.
Maxima SC1 is new bike in a can……works well on engine bays also
 

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
Good evening brothers and sisters. I would like to take a minute to preach to you out of the book of Paul.
I was skeptical at first, as I don’t really trust KTM Bro’s, but I put faith into following the teachings as outlined by @anderson750 above.

I bought a can of SC1 when I was picking up some parts at RMATV.

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I have a door handle on my truck that is slightly faded, and has what looks like one big finger print of grease stuck in it. I have tried for YEARS to get it out. I have tried soap, hard pressure washing, and at least 4 different chemicals (turtle wax, armor all, ect) Each chemical would look good for a few minutes, and then dry out and right back to the big finger print and faded plastic.

I forgot to get a before photo, but while camping I sprayed the SC1 on the handle. Looked good, but I expected it to dry out quickly. IT NEVER DID!
I am 4 days in now, and it still looks black and shiny. I did notice that it collects dust more easily, but it wipes or blows right off.

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I had to get all the mud off the camper from the weekend, so it was out and being cleaned. I decided to give it another try. Our camper has very faded fenders and paint. We have washed and cleaned them fairly often, but it always looks bad right after it dries. The fender is plastic, the skirting is painted aluminum.

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I gave them a quick spray and wipe, and they were completely different.

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I then did all the plastics on my truck from mirrors to bumper plastics. and am a happy person.

This is my testimony.
 
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