Does a Syphon Gun Work Better for Degreasing? Mineral Spirits or Degreaser?

It's always a really "nice" surprise when you crack open that used engine to find years of sludge buildup. Your mind instantly goes to how much time it's going to take just to get the parts ready for work. Should you throw it in the parts washer and dirty up all your degreaser or solvent? Should you throw it in a vat of cleaner? Or, can you make magic happen with a simple and cheap syphon gun? While we're not trying to find out the best degreaser/solvent, we are trying to see if we can cut some corners. Let us know your ideas.
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Syphon Gun Sprayer: amzn.to/3MsAikj
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[@boosted2.4_sky]

I could see this being helpful in areas where you can't necessarily get your brush in to get a good scrub Nothing beats good old elbow-grease though I bought one TJ I can see this being handy cleaning the engine of my car while detailing the rest of my car

[@jameskringlee8974]

FORMULA FOR HOMEMADE "ENGINE CLEANER" 40 years ago I had use of a then "big deal" 18 hp pressure washer, sold by an oil field cleanup supplier, in exchange for bringing it back to working order. They also sold an expensive proprietary detergent to mix 1 part detergent 1 part water then gradually and vigorously mix in 5 parts solvent like mineral spirits or kerosene or diesel fuel as a soak down pre-spray for oily dirty equipment prior to the use of the pressure washer. I adapted their "formula" using household detergent and it has been my go to engine cleaner ever since. I used a magic marker to write this on the outside of an empty white plastic 1 gallon mineral spirits container which is my mix / storage bottle. " ENGINE CLEANER" "1 part water 1 part liquid detergent" (tide) then mix in 5 parts paint thinner" I always used tide but I think dawn would work well also. It emulsifies to a spray-able creamy / clingy consistency when you add a "part" at a time of paint thinner, put the cap on the jug and give a good shake with the addition of each "part". Probably emulsifies best using hot tap water and room temp or warmer detergent and solvent. 1 pint max for each "part" for a 1 gallon jug full mix. It could well be improved with some "magic" ingredient in the "detergent" category or even perhaps "painters" real trisodium phosphate (TSP) or ratio adjustment - if so let all know. PS. best not to be "caught" in the kitchen using the wife's favorite new blender to speed the "mix".

[@Shoptoolreviews]

We love to hear peoples "secret" methods. We'll have to try this out. Thanks for watching.

[@vanhap]

By using diesel or kerosene in your "diy cleaning power brew" Does that solvent prevent the bare iron engine block from flash rusting? Man this would be an awesome brew indeed, thx for sharing

[@jameskringlee8974]

@@vanhap I, as a residential house painter in the "oil paint" days, always used low odor mineral spirits because I always had it in my supplies. I do not know what the possible residual oily film left on bare cast iron, when using diesel or kerosene in the mix, would do to reduce flash rusting. I always had to use a phosphoric acid base metal etch pre-treatment on clean bare metal to deal with flash rust. I always wanted to use a light sand blast then self etching primer but never got my sandblaster assembled. The "expensive proprietary detergent" was being sold for oil field equipment cleanup where diesel was the available solvent.

[@thebigdoghimself]

If you want to make metal look like new, there is only one way to do it. A dry ice cleaning machine is the best, especially on aluminum, but it's a HUGE investment.

[@peanutbutterisfu]

I’ve tried everything you either need to use the expensive solevent or a power washer that’s the only way to get parts clean fast. I own a auto repair shop I’ve been a technician for 20 years again I’ve tried everything pretty much anything will clean ur parts it’s just how much time you want to spend scrubbing. The best thing I use is a pressure washer hooked up to hot water I do this to clean an engine after fixing a leak, to clean an engine to find a leak and if I’m doing engine work I will lay the parts down and clean them, or if I’m replacing like valve cover gaskets I’ll power wash the covers. I use to waste money on the cans of foaming degreaser which does work but if you get a 3000 psi power washer and use hot water nothing will get this clean this fast just using water. I have a small ultrasonic parts cleaner that gets parts so clean they look new but the machines are expensive. I put clear kerosene in my parts washer from a gas station most gas stations sell kerosene with red dye in it but I feel like the clear stuff works best plus kerosene is like 6 bucks a gallon so for 30 bucks I have 5 gallons in my parts washer I just can’t justify spending 100 bucks for 5 gallons of solvent that will look terrible after one dirty valve cover. I am going to buy a electric power washer because I hate having to get gas, then have to let the engine warm up it would be easier to get an electric because I’m only using it for maybe one minute I know electric power washers don’t work as well but I think if I get the most powerful electric I get it should work fine to get grease off.

[@jasonogle6602]

I clean my parts with a big electric pressure washer. Love it

[@joshuafarwell9761]

@@jasonogle6602 my neighbors would love it if i switched to an electric one lol

[@abel4776]

Have you tried a Vapor Blaster? How about a Dry Ice Blaster?

[@salvadormonella8953]

This might not work as well as agitation in this application, but you know the adage of using the right tool for the job. For cleaning engine bays, there are definitely places you cannot reasonably get an agitation brush into a space. Other places have so many intricate pieces that using an agitation brush would be impractical, if not impossible. I can think of a hundred engine bay components, from wiring looms through to plastic pieces covered by ignition coils that would work fine with a pneumatic gun, but would not be a candidate in any way for an agitation brush. And then there's the reach. This tool gives you another 14" or so of extra reach down into a tight engine bay. There is no substitution for physical scrubbing. In my opinion, that's the most reliable, but most aggressive cleaning method. I have tried cleaning stainless BBQ grates from baked on debris with any number of chemicals, ranging from mild to extremely harsh, and when all else fails, as a last resort, I break out the angle grinder with the wire wheel. That'll get the crud off for sure, but it's a last resort. The engine bay of my car is fiberglass. I am not going to use some physical scrubbing brush. It'd get the gunk off for sure, while simultaneously destroying the fiberglass. BUT, it wouldn't have crud on it. One man's clean is another man's destroyed.

[@dougdier3104]

I have a steam cleaner style pressure washer with a down stream chemical line, that thing kicks ass on any built up grease or sludge. Fast too

[@Shoptoolreviews]

Those Steam Jennys are legit and a great way to clean crud. Thanks for watching.

[@100GTAGUY]

@@Shoptoolreviews combined with a quick degrease using a siphon gun, those steamers kick some major tuckus in seconds when the soil is somewhat broken down. And it seems the wand you have is the exact same one they have at Harbor freight, just painted gray and branded as central pneumatic. Probably mass produced by the same manufacturer.

[@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259]

Thanks for the comparison.

[@justinvanburen8259]

Thank you for another great video!!

[@davidgriffin14]

I have tried all these. Mean Green seems to work the best for me. And it's cheap too.

[@MrSupernova111]

Pretty cool!

[@oliverroedel1111]

diesel is the best to clean, I mix it with some universal household cleaner and it works good

[@peters6070]

Try fume-free oven cleaner. The blue can. Spray on. Let sit for 15 min or longer depending on amount of grime. Starts working immediately. Then hose off, or use just water in the siphon gun. Much better than the purple stuff.

[@JOMaMa..]

Oven cleaner ruins aluminum components particularly Teflon coated pistons

[@james10739]

I'm not sure what the fume free is but it seems to work a lot less well than regular but I do use it in aluminum but I don't leave it long and definitely don't leave it long on sealing surfaces

[@danburch9989]

I looked up fume free oven cleaner and the instructons say to NOT spray onto aluminum or painted surfaces.

[@buildurtruckurway9118]

i honestly have always just found a way to get a big bucket and fill it with boiling water and a powerful dish soap. let the part soak for an hr clean it up in the parts bin and do it again. the boiling water with degreaser o big dollar store bottles of knockoff mr clean. it really strips the grease and carbon build up off once i hit it with the pressure washer its near new looking.

[@joehealey9173]

Hot water with dawn dish soap (plus elbow grease and a scrub brush) works very well.

[@bps.1]

i want to add to this video ,so i been using super clean full strenth on all my engine jobs ,it doers a very good job ,now if your engine parts look like that u have to use a presure washer first the break loose all the heavy sludge ,theirs no degreasser in the world that will clean those the first not even gas ,ask me how i know ,but after the big stuff is out of the way use the super clean as a clean up full strength and rinse with water this all i use

[@theamazinggoldfish8713]

Can you use mineral spirits to remove stickers from the car?

[@hugoortiz05]

does mineral spirits work as good as wd40 and compressed air to keep cast iron parts from flash rusting?

[@100GTAGUY]

Never had an issue using MS to clean parts down in Florida where stuff starts rusting the second the oil film is broken. Though it is still worth doing a quick oil wipe down after cleaning and inspecting.

[@bmxkelowna]

Need to try some oven cleaner.

[@Shoptoolreviews]

We've done that before, but with mediocre success as well. Not a bad idea though. Thanks for watching.

[@vintagespeed]

here in the People's Republik Komifornia, i use diesel fuel in my solvent tank, and it does a pretty decent job of cleaning greasy parts. i think it might work well with that sprayer. thanks

[@lulop022882]

I have a ton of kerosene..You think that would work?

[@fearofchicke]

@@lulop022882 yes

[@erinericsson]

It's actually spelled Commiefornia. And it's funny that those of you who hate California, a great majority of you never leave to a bootlicking red state. Where the real Gov North Korean ass kissers live. I mean if red states are better, why do people like you keep living in blue states? Lmao

[@TsunauticusIV]

Aerosolizing chemicals in the shop… seems legit. Lol. Just wear protection. Don’t breath that stuff in.

[@sociopathmercenary]

That stuff is no joke. Maybe inside a parts washer but out in the open like that. Not me.

[@sociopathmercenary]

Lol I just noticed he is using a parts washer. Let me clarify that statement... Inside an ENCLOSED parts washer. 😁

[@Shoptoolreviews]

You are correct, we probably should have explained our situation a little better... along with precautions. First, we are outside, and we have huge fan pushing everything away (the best it can). We were masked up, and shielded. We did remove the mask when recording due to the mic sounding very muffled. We were still shielded. The parts washer is more of a catch-all in this situation, collecting the grease and contaminants. Thanks for watching.

[@TsunauticusIV]

@@Shoptoolreviews I just watched my grandfathers and my father do crazy things in the shop. Not realizing the hazards at the time… I would just sit there and watch and think it was all good. I distinctly remember getting high from fumes in the shop when they went ham on items during cleanup. I just get anxious now when I see that kind of stuff because I lost one grandfather and my father to breathing issues. Granted both served in war and could have gotten their issues there. My dad served in Vietnam and was exposed to agent orange on a regular basis. That didn’t help matters. But… I’m just paranoid about the things I inhale and the things I expose myself to in the shop. Guess I’d rather be like you guys and take the time to be cautious rather than to risk shortening, or complicating, my quality of life.

[@DiHandley]

Nah perfectly safe. I do it all the time. I used to have lung cancer…now I don’t have any lungs. It’s a miracle! 😂😉

[@james10739]

The problem I assume is you probably want to use the same cleaner or solvent more than once so unless you are putting enough in your parts cleaner I don't think it will be that effective

[@V8SKULLS]

The purple power is so bad for soaking aluminum, it eats it away

[@kesu90]

Turns dark in minutes! Gifts be quick to scrub and rinse.

[@MorrisonDavid94]

Use paint thinner

[@nick1977eddy]

The odorless mineral spirits isn’t worth a dime

[@bsirvine]

Most aqueous solvents have a lot of sodium hydroxide (lye) in them. They most def eat aluminum.

[@nathanbrown6091]

It looks super messy. And you probably shouldn’t breath in all that mist

[@arnulfotlaxcaltecatlaca1224]

Can you just soak them

[@oliverroedel1111]

cleaning parts costs TIME, no miracle way exist. you trreat it with whatever, let it sit, brush it, treat it.....

[@thebigdoghimself]

Dude, you need some serious PPE if your going to be putting that garbage into the sir like that.

[@Tom-Travels]

"Siphon Gun." LOL. It's actually call the Venturi Effect. There are actually 4 factors in cleaning anything. Time, Temperature, Chemical Action and Mechanical Action. Usually the more of any or all of these 4 factors will increase cleaning effectiveness and efficiency.

[@Shoptoolreviews]

You are correct. We mention the venturi effect in the video. Thanks for watching.

[@boosted2.4_sky]

He said Venturi Effect....🤷‍♂️ So........ thanks though....

[@PrivilegedPat]

@@boosted2.4_sky right? Was in the first 30 seconds lol

[@juanfranco1008]

Try using gasoline

[@Nyall]

You wearing a mask with all those chemicals you're putting in the air?

[@Shoptoolreviews]

We're outside, with a huge fan pushing everything away. Face shield, but the mask wasn't working well with the mic. Definitely recommend wearing a mask when doing this. Thanks for watching.

[@oasisofspirit1991]

How about using, " S100 "?

[@timothywhieldon1971]

dude... stop yelling....