Cleaning an Intake Manifold

[vinceg101]

Any suggestions on the best most effective way to clean the inside of the Intake Manifold?

Right now I've got it soaking in a 55 gallon trash can with a lot of concentrated degreaser and water. I was using this to clean Oil Pans so I just dropped it in to see how well that does first. I suppose I'll hit with the stiff bottle brushes once it dissolves the carbon.

I'm trying to stay away from brake cleaner; I've been using gasoline to final clean the Oil Pans and would like to hang onto at least some brain cells (I've got so few left).

[RonW]

Dishwasher? If you're married I never said that and you never heard it.

[craigb93]

Urn Cleaner for commercial coffee urns and pots with hot water is what many shops used to use.

[vinceg101]

Dishwasher? If you're married I never said that and you never heard it.

Given that I would be the one who would have to replace said dishwasher, consider it never heard. (Not a bad idea though, right up there with using an oven for sweating bowling balls and powder coating).

Urn Cleaner for commercial coffee urns and pots with hot water is what many shops used to use.

Never would have thought of that one. I'll see if I can find some locally at the commercial kitchen supply houses.

[OcCoupe]

(I've got so few left).

LIAR!!! You lie!

[OcCoupe]

Mix some oxiclean with some LA,s totally awesome. Make it gritty and use a bristled brush. Rinse repeat.

[wkohler]

It's a proven combination as at Oktoberfest, they made Mike remove the intake manifold to judge the inside. He got a 1/4 pt deduction on #4 but the judges were impressed.

Why not just have it hot tanked at a machine shop? The whole thing will look nicer.

[Mike W.]

Dishwasher? If you're married I never said that and you never heard it.

Given that I would be the one who would have to replace said dishwasher, consider it never heard. (Not a bad idea though, right up there with using an oven for sweating bowling balls and powder coating).

As a bowler and a wrench I need more appliances for the garage.

[wkohler]

My bowling ball split right down the middle a couple years ago. Haven't bowled since. I thought about mixing up some filler and filling the split as its a $300 ball.

[OcCoupe]

My bowling ball split right down the middle a couple years ago. Haven't bowled since. I thought about mixing up some filler and filling the split as its a $300 ball.

Gorilla glue, that stuff is totally rad! Like you should use that or something.

[wkohler]

The split is nearly 1" wide. You can see the core of the ball.

[Mike in Seattle]

Any suggestions on the best most effective way to clean the inside of the Intake Manifold?

Soak your manifold in this stuff and it will come out clean, bright and looking like new inside and out. It will strip carbon, cosmoline, even paint and powdercoating off of your metal parts. It is not the cheapest stuff, but will last for years for cleaning all your parts.

http://www.berrymanproducts.com/product ... s-cleaner/

[vinceg101]

My bowling ball split right down the middle a couple years ago. Haven't bowled since. I thought about mixing up some filler and filling the split as its a $300 ball.

Even it was a small split or groove, the ball is ruined; even a minor change in the exterior coverstock surface radically changes the balls' performance.

After some more research, it turns out RonW and craigb are onto the something. Instead of people using the Urnex Urn cleaner (a tad expensive considering how much I'm going to need), people use dishwasher detergent in hot water or hot vinegar to clean stainless steel carafes. Evidently it's almost the same ingredients in both and works almost entirely by itself without any hand-work. Of course that is for coffee stains on a smooth stainless steel and the manifold is 25 years of carbon on rough cast aluminum, so I'm bound to be scrubbing anyway.

I'll look into the Berryman, they make a California compliant formula and sell it the local O'Reilly's. You're right though, it isn't cheap: a gallon is $25. But I have a lot of parts that could probably benefit from this stuff.

[Mike W.]

The problem with Parts dip, aside from the stink if it's in an attached garage, is it lasts longer than the can does, so the can starts slowly weeping. And how do you get rid of that stuff without a superfund site?

It does work well, I used it for years, but no longer.

[wkohler]

My bowling ball split right down the middle a couple years ago. Haven't bowled since. I thought about mixing up some filler and filling the split as its a $300 ball.

Even it was a small split or groove, the ball is ruined; even a minor change in the exterior coverstock surface radically changes the balls' performance.

Yeah, I know. The ball was ruined when I bought it as for some reason they drilled it basically on the pin, so my ball with my super special over-reactive coating acted no differently than a house ball.

Either way, I was soured by the experience. I also have no time to sleep let alone bowl.

I really think I was on to something with the hot tank at a machine shop.

[craigb93]

The urn cleaner was what they used at NAPA shops for their aluminum hot tank.
A radiator repair shop can probably do the same thing.

[craigb93]

Urnex - $10

http://www.amazon.com/20PK-EQUIPMENT-CL ... B0017159RA

[vinceg101]

I really think I was on to something with the hot tank at a machine shop.

Yeah, but then I have to track one down that's not clear across the city, find one willing to do this, take the time out of my day during the week, etc.
In the end, it may be easier and cheaper to do the work myself.

The urn cleaner was what they used at NAPA shops for their aluminum hot tank.
A radiator repair shop can probably do the same thing.

I might try the radiator shop, there is one nearby. But I didn't have any luck there with the fuel tank welding so I'm not holding my breath.
For the amount of Urnex I might need, robbing the Cascade packets from the giant tub of them in the Kitchen will be far less expensive.
But then again, I have a pile of engine parts, valve covers, brackets, etc. that need cleaning, so maybe the Berryman's might be the way to go.

I don't know; still researching. Thanks for all the input so far.

[Coldswede]

Go to Walmart paint dept and get a small tub of triSodium Phosphate. It used to be what was in dish washing machine powder. It is strong stuff and it will remove almost anything including your skin if you let it soak.

[wkohler]

Or you could go to a real store and get that too. Paint departments at Home Depot and Lowe's have that also. TSP, but as someone who has done painting before, you know that.

The stuff at Wal-Mart probably has lead and melamine in it.

[vinceg101]

Believe me, I know TSP. Lost much skin one summer cleaning and painting houses. You have to look pretty hard for the real TSP here in California; they've replaced it with some sort of substitute which mimics it, but lacks all the raw power the real stuff. I actually might have a box of it on a shelf somewhere; forgot about that stuff.

Not to digress, but I won't step foot in a Wal-Mart if I can help it. [I know, I know, it's kind of hard for me to take the moral high ground when I frequent HF. But I've been opposed to W-M's business and development practices long before I ever stepped foot in a HF.]

[wkohler]

At MyE28.com, staying on-topic is digression.

[Coldswede]

Or you could go to a real store and get that too. Paint departments at Home Depot and Lowe's have that also. TSP, but as someone who has done painting before, you know that.

The stuff at Wal-Mart probably has lead and melamine in it.

My bad here, in my mind Mal Mart and Home Depot are nearly the same place.

I did in fact mean Home Depot

[Brian in TN]

Castrol Super Clean iz da shiznit on allyerluminum.

[Bavarianaddict06]

just take it to your local machine shop and have them hot tank it. shouldnt be more then 20 dollars. and itl save you the trouble

[wkohler]

That's a stupid idea. Geez.

[Bavarianaddict06]

That's a stupid idea. Geez.

how?