Engine Cleaning 101

[@pmak10]

David, seeing how well LA's Totally Assume Cleaner works for you, I wanted to make sure to purchase the same product that you use in this video. I used 10% of LA's and tested it on a broken back cover that had also turned a dark gray. After only a few seconds the color restored back to original. I decided to try cleaning up an old Fox Eagle 60 engine. It turned out great. Even the bearing came out looking new. It's obvious the problem was the Orange version of the product. Thanks David for your great videos. I love your Passion in this hobby and have learned a great deal watching your videos!

[@petergoodwin2465]

Thanks again David, will try antifreeze as you said in the other comment. These videos are great, bit easier than rebuilding V8s and very interesting. Great to watch .

[@hoytsmith6490]

After watching your videos I ordered a Ultrasonic cleaner. I just inherited a large number of RC planes and many of them have some engines that have gone still over the years. I am going to restore all of them to their former glory and have a fun time in this hobby. I bought a 6 liter cleaner as I have a racecar that will benefit as well.

[@paulwright8532]

Here's an ultra-sonic cleaner tip (mine is a 10 qt unit): fill the cleaner with hot water to about 3/4 full; put the engine part(s) in a double ziplock bag (ultrasound will pinhole a single-layer bag); fill bag with cleanser mix; close bag and immerse in ultra-sonic cleaner; add water to bring to full level - then run the cleaning cycle. Saves on cleaning products. I've used glow fuel in the ziplock bag to free up nitro engines and raw gas to clean gassers - always operating outdoors if using a flammable solvent. Acetone will, of course dissolve a ziplock bag - a no-go. :-)

[@charlesbovalis6591]

Looks pretty good I'd say .. I will definitely purchase one of these units as well. For the carbon build up on the piston, I use scotch brite (the green side) sponge dipped in laquer thinner and go at it .. I end up with perfectly shiny pistons .. but still the ultra sonic will take away some of the manual work I do and then go at it with my method .. Thank you for posting this video.

[@charlesbovalis6591]

WOW - Now that's a much needed video. I always heard that Ultra Sonic is the way to go for cleaning engines and I am glad you made this video. I also heard that one should be cautious and make sure the metal pieces are apart and don't touch during the cleaning process or they will be chipped .. looking at the video now .. Good stuff.

[@pmak10]

Once again, a great video. I went out to Dollar Tree yesterday and purchased LA's Totally Awesome Orang. I also picked up the spray bottle solution with Oxygen. I tried that out on an old Enya 40 and it worked great! After your video I am also going to pick up the ultrasonic cleaner at Harbor Freight. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us. You make us look good to our buds at the field.

[@Ceemysix]

Thanks for today's tips Dave. I have a few engines,to clean up. Now I've got to go out and pick up one,of those,cleaners.

[@01seiser]

In the past, I’ve used LA’s Totally awesome cleaner to clean many engines in my ultrasonic cleaner. A little over a year ago I purchased some of the same product but every time I used it, it would turn my engines black. After experimenting with different % of LA’s vs water, I came to the conclusion that the formula for LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner had changed. I compared my results with others on various forums and found that they had the same experience. So, for my engines, I no longer use LA’s. Too bad, I really liked this product.

[@dmrcflyr2]

That is unfortunate.

[@nwaters2618]

Don't ever stop making videos Dave. I come to your channel for so much knowledge it's crazy. In fact I went out and bought a Harbor Freight cleaner after watching your videos. I haven't messed with LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner. I use the Heavy Duty De-greaser that you buy at Harbor Freight. Have any luck with that stuff?

[@dmrcflyr2]

Well thank you. No I have never used the degreaser but just about anything will work in the ultra sonic. If it works for you keep using it. The LA's is just so cheap and that is why I keep using it.

[@nwaters2618]

David McIntire you should check it out. It's 9.99 for a gallon.

[@David-hm9ic]

@@nwaters2618 Awesome is $3.65 for a half gallon at Family Dollar.

[@bobmcdonald2905]

Thanks David, for showing some of your trade secrets. Awesome Job! Enjoying your videos!!

[@125saito]

Got my HF UC and LA TA Cleaner last week! LOVE IT!!

[@gnelson1959]

Another fine video David, full of useful concise information. But I sadly lament that the LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner is not available here in Australia. Can obtain from US based Ebay sellers however the landed price into Australia equates to USD $36 per 20 fluid oz bottle. Clearly not an economic proposition!

[@lawrencenicolin409]

Use any ethylene-glycol based anti-freeze and dilute to 50% with boiling hot water...........that's it.....no joke, no bull-shit: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXS3gn5vlrCjqJI

[@Colorado68]

Dave, love your videos and have learned a lot, thank you. Just tried this method to clean an engine. Used 1/3 LA totally awesome cleaner and 2/3 water in the ultrasonic. 80C for 25 min. All the aluminum parts came out dark grey, almost black. Not sure what I did wrong. Maybe too long in the cleaner or too high of temp?? All the parts came out cleaned really well, just not shiny aluminum.

[@dmrcflyr2]

Watch this video to make sure you had the right version. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3a1dp57abV1fsU Yes too much time in the cleaner and too high of a heat can result in this. I have used this method on over 60 engines and never had one discolor. Clearly you did something wrong. That color can never be removed either unless you soda/sand blast the case.

[@Colorado68]

@@dmrcflyr2 Yep ,I screwed up with too high of temp. Had the right (yellow) LATAC. Researched other info on temp with aluminum, a dishwasher will turn aluminum gray. The FA82A is going inside a cowl, so no biggie, its basically a new engine now after the rebuild. Cleaned really well.Thanks and appreciate the great videos!

[@dmrcflyr2]

I think I use no higher than 100F

[@JB-br4zs]

i used an ultra sonic cleaner to clean a os 10 a few years ago at a machine shop i worked at. had a mild acid, engine can out a few minutes later slightly grey on the aluminum parts but 100% squeaky clean

[@dmrcflyr2]

What I use does not discolor parts.

[@Kasontiktok]

WELL i know what iam getting this weak at harbor freight lol thank you for takeing your time david

[@bernieblackburn3034]

Made a big difference! Nice ✨️ job!

[@glaucopimenta]

Amazing and creative idea, David! Congrats from Brazil! Thanks

[@David-hm9ic]

The little ultrasonic cleaner I was using was intended for technical pen tips and I wore it our cleaning engines. The new one is allegedly 6 liters in capacity so I've been placing the engine parts and Awesome solution in a food storage (AKA Ziplock) bag. The bag is placed in plain water in the US cleaner. This allows the cleaning of up to 3 engines at once or using Evaporust on steel parts and Awesome on aluminum parts simultaneously. Awesome still works on really dirty engines at a 1:4 or 1:5 dilution. If the parts are moderately dirty like mufflers that don't have baked on crud and aren't going into the ultrasonic cleaner I use a 1:1 or 1:2 dilution at room temperature. I think it takes a little longer to clean parts in the plastic bags but it takes far less solution and I don't have to clean the inside of the US cleaner very often.

[@ringofthebrave]

I'll try my first engine cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner. Usually I was ok with a Little dirt as long as it was not compromitting technical function or I was going glass bead blasting which is alot of work preparing the engine parts and some engines did not come new with the glass bead blasted surface. It's time to find the right chemical cleaner and look for a bigger ultrasonic cleaner.

[@Grahame59]

Wish we could get the LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner here in the UK. We have nothing that works as well as this.

[@deweylee2449]

Thanks David. Appreciate it.

[@fag201080]

Hi david, unfortunately here in colombia you can't get LA'S TOTALLY AWESOME, I use a degreaser in my ultrasonic cleaner with water/degreaser ratio 5/1 but the engine turned dark gray, maybe you know of a product that you can recommend me to return it to its original state? thanks in advance for your videos .... Greetings from Colombia

[@kitchendevil123]

need to get me one of them,great vid as always.thanks David

[@traileater]

Hi I have used this with great results so far. But I just did a thunder tiger pro 46 and it turned the aluminum an ugly grey color. Any ideas how I can bring the original finish back? This is the only engine this has happened to.

[@bleak0218]

Hi, did You find out how to bring it back? I also ruined my engine finish with oven cleaner...

[@traileater]

Im sure vapor blasting or soda blasting will work, i havent tried it yet though. Do not blast with sand, no matter how fine it is

[@deweylee2449]

Hey David. Loved the video on the cleaner and the L A s awsome cleaner. i was just wonder if you could be more specific on the L As awsome cleaner that your using. there is several different ones. Maybe show the bottle on the camera. So far my first attemp was with purple stuff and i have now turned my Magnum 91 black. Now i am nervous about what to use. Please help me out here. Thankyou again for your vids.

[@dmrcflyr2]

www.lastotallyawesome.com/shop/all-purpose/awesome-all-purpose-concentrated-cleaner-128oz/

[@traileater]

@@dmrcflyr2 Hi I have used this with great results so far. But I just did a thunder tiger pro 46 and it turned the aluminum an ugly grey color. Any ideas how I can bring the original finish back? This is the only engine this has happened to. thanks

[@thebug4046]

awesome video!

[@hixnada8278]

Dave - your videos motivated me to clean up an old OS 1.20 Surpass II w/ pump. I bought the same ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight, and same LA's Totally Awesome cleaner. I filled with LA's to the MIN line, and warm tap water to the FULL line and put the parts in. It did a great job, but now all parts area dark gray color. Any idea what happened, or how to get the engine back to its original color?

[@dmrcflyr2]

Heat was too high or parts in too long. No there is nothing short of bead blasting the case to get it close to original. Using THAT particular HF ultra sonic cleaner and the correct LA's I never experienced a discolored engine. So something you did was not as I showed, used, or did. I cleaned over 100 engines using this method and never once did I have one that discolored. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3a1dp57abV1fsU

[@theburningred01]

Thanks for this video! Was wondering do you reassemble the engine parts straight from the u.sonic cleaner or do you wash the parts down with something to get the la cleaner off?

[@dmrcflyr2]

I mention this many times in other videos, but perhaps not this one. Yes of course I rinse the parts in alcohol and either used compressed air to dry or towel. I then put a light coating of oil on ALL parts.

[@jjrotogeek]

Excellent. I’m getting one lol

[@gkahn9737]

Hi david, i was wondering if another brand of degreaser would work as well, because here in Brazil we dont have the la's degreaser. Greetings from Brazil.

[@dmrcflyr2]

No, I cannot tell you another degreaser to use.

[@gkahn9737]

@@dmrcflyr2 Thanks for answering David, sorry for these stupid questions, im have terrible english and am new to the rc world. But here is another one, putting the bearings in the ultra washer couldn't damage them? Greetings from Brazil.

[@dmrcflyr2]

Not a stupid question at all. Actually a very good one because lately LA’s has been reported to discolor engines. While I have only had that happen to me once, once is enough. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3XOlpWYetB4Z5I

[@gkahn9737]

@dmrcflyr2 Thanks for the warning David, but you didn't answer my previous question.

[@dmrcflyr2]

Bearings get replaced not cleaned.

[@johnhess351]

I know this is a very olf video, but. I am still using LA's TA Cleaner even though you told us they had changed their formula. Do you know of a different good cleaning solution? Simple Green?

[@dmrcflyr2]

No I don't

[@JB-br4zs]

gallon can of chem dip carb cleaner and a fw hours soak would be squaky clean too and no disassembly.

[@dmrcflyr2]

I would never do that to an engine. The proper way to clean an engine is to completely disassemble them.

[@tomepixel]

Looks like I will be heading to dollar tree and Harbor tools . Thanks

[@pmak10]

I used the same mixture. My first try at this discolored the carb I was cleaning. It also etched the aluminum and was frothing. There have been tests conducted with aluminum foil and the foil has been discolored and actually damaged after only a few minutes. I noticed that you were using a different looking bottle of LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner. I wonder if there is a difference in the product. Really nervous about using it with the ultrasonic cleaner again. This is what I used: www.dollartree.com/LA-s-Totally-Awesome-Orange-All-Purpose-Degreaser-Refill-64-oz-/p300084/index.pro

[@dmrcflyr2]

Your link does not work. Obviously I do not have that issue as seen in my results. I do not use the ORANGE version.

[@chaley9093]

Dave , Do you know of a way with an ultrasonic or crockpot on how to remove the etching (black) from my use of improper chemical on the aluminum parts of an RC Nitro engine?

[@dmrcflyr2]

No, I do not.

[@ricad58]

Apparently, you can use a copper cleaner (polish) to bring them back to life, worth a try.

[@traileater]

Yay I found some of this cleaner at dollar tree in canada, was hoping not to use the nasty antifreez

[@jackandamber]

This ruined my OS 90 FSR!!!! It turned my engine black. Do NOT use LA’s Totally Assume cleaner. Im going to sand blast it and see if I can remove the blackness. I should have read the comments here about people having the same problem.

[@dmrcflyr2]

Apparently the formulation has been changed. At the time of this video I was using this all the time and it never darkened an engine. I have not been cleaning engines in nearly two years now. So they changed something.

[@bleak0218]

Hi, was sand blasting successful to make the surface shiny again?...

[@evanleebodies]

Anyone know of a UK equivalent of "Totally Awesome Cleaner"?

[@younghove01]

Literally Awesome Cleaner? Hehe

[@tomepixel]

My dern pc plays the vid 2 secs, stop 2 secs and resumes , driving me nuts , haven't figured how to Improve it .

[@JoshWeaverRC]

tomepixel. Turn down the resolution. Of course remember to turn it back up when needed.

[@dmrcflyr2]

This is the cleaner I use, www.lastotallyawesome.com/shop/all-purpose/awesome-all-purpose-concentrated-cleaner-128oz/