Solvent Remove Thick Automotive Grease

[DesertG]

Guys, is there a solvent that I can brush on that will take off 50 year old grease on the suspension of an old car, without needing to be scraped by hand.

Thank you!

 

[NYBODYMAN]

I would say scrape off the majority of the big stuff and then use a parts washer or soak in a tub of hot water and dish soap or purple power or something.

 

[tncatadjuster]

I would use pressure washer first, degreaser of choice, then pressure was again?

 

[dogdog]

Engine degreaser wait then pressure wash

 

[Sturgeon]

I just finished the wheel bearings on my rv and cleaned up my old bearings with paint thinner, and a air hose. When finished they looked better than new. Thinking back on it I think the paint thinner worked better then the Gunk cleaner of old. My lowly opion of degreasers at are current disposal are expensive and not much better than dish soap.

 

[jubilee]

I buy 5 gallons parts washer solvent at AG store and use an air powered siphon gun.
You can buy acetone in gallon can, but it’s expensive.
Or course gasoline is the best cleaner with a siphon gun, but can’t suggest that here.

 

[KenC]

If it what I think it is, not just grease, but lots of imbedded dirt then more grease repeated over and over, the answer is no.

At least none that I've found. Scrape, wire brush, diesel, wait then pressure wash. Repeat. Repeat 'til done to your satisfaction.
That was the protocol I settled on after trying every solvent in my shop, and I've got a lot.

That's what I just did to my 56 pickup spring grease points. And still not perfectly clean.

 

[GrayFlattop]

My standby would be Lacquer thinner. If you are concerned with fire risk or neurotoxicity, you probably wan to try something else...

WD40 can - at times - be a very good cleaning agent.

 

[Firebrick43]

Dry ice blasting takes hardened grease right off.

 

[MovingAlong]

Guys, is there a solvent that I can brush on that will take off 50 year old grease on the suspension of an old car, without needing to be scraped by hand.

Thank you!

I've painted right over the top of 50 yr old grease on tractors and equipment. Ten years later the paint was still holding on just fine. That grease isn't going to fall off with a little brush of solvent.

Why don't you want to scrape it?

 

[Firstram]

Steam genny!

 

[Sumboodie]

I buy 5 gallons parts washer solvent at AG store and use an air powered siphon gun.
You can buy acetone in gallon can, but it’s expensive.
Or course gasoline is the best cleaner with a siphon gun, but can’t suggest that here.

You trying to burn everything down?!!

 

[larry_g]

Have you tried oven cleaner? Years ago I used it on old car parts and it worked quite well the get the underside of old cars cleaned of the oil/dirt caked on stuff. Wear your goggles and gloves as this is caustic stuff.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[nadogail]

A Steam Cleaner or pressure washer would be my first choices.

 

[johninct]

First I brushed on two soup cans of old diesel fuel. Next I used my air/ water/ solvent gun with hot water directly from my hot water heater on my tractor last week. After that I sprayed on a Simple Green+ water mix and then rinsed everything again with hot water from my hot water heater.

 

[Bad Habit]

Pressure washer, Dollar Store oven cleaner, pressure washer. Repeat as necessary

 

[rust in the eye]

Do yourself a favor and just get scraping, trust me. Old grease can get really hard and you'll spend lots of time, make a bigger mess and use lots of solvents trying to avoid scraping. Once the majority has been chiseled off you can get busy with chemicals.

 

[NDJ]

Can you melt it off with careful use of a propane torch (maybe acetylene if available)

 

[Firstram]

Can you melt it off with careful use of a propane torch (maybe acetylene if available)

Only do this if you set up a video camera for the training films!

 

[joe_padavano]

If the parts are steel or cast iron, scrape off what you can then get the cheapest foaming oven cleaner that WalMart sells. Small parts I spray and put in a trash bag overnight. Next day hose them off. Done. Obviously use gloves, and be aware that the alkaline oven cleaner will damage aluminum parts.

 

[earl84]

I bought an old truck and just scraped off the best I could, then used oven cleaner from the dollar store. Works pretty good. I think solvents alone would make a huge mess.

 

[Mark_17]

Lots of people said pressure washer but you want a hot water pressure washer.

They are great at cleaning nasty engine bays and strip GM's waxy frame coating off with ease.

 

[txvwnut]

There is a product called Oil-flo, it will dissolve just about any petroleum based product on the market. We use it at the day job to get asphalt off all of the equipment mainly. I've had good luck with just scraping then following up with brake cleaner and a rag.