Yikes! The important part of that advice is "under one hour." The main ingredient in all oven cleaners (especially Easy Off) is Sodium Hydroxide (Lye). NaOH reacts aggressively with Aluminum forming Aluminum Hydroxide. This will show up as a white film (that cannot be "cleaned" off, only wire-brushed), or as pitting. I would not recommend getting oven cleaner on any machined surface (e.g., where the pan seats to the transmission) or any polished surface (wheels). Using it on the outside case of a transmission should be fine, as long as you get it off in under an hour. NEVER OVERNIGHT! And just don't do it if you have any concern that it might "drip" into a machined surface. (And if you want to be sure, spray some ordinary vinegar onto the transmission, wait 10 minutes, hose it off. The mild acetic acid in vinegar will neutralize any remaining NaOH, and its pH isn't low (acidic) enough to worry about.)

Here's Easy-Off's own warning to NOT use it on aluminum: http://www.easyoff.us/faq.shtml
Here's the MSDS http://www.rbnainfo.com/MSDS//US/Eas...20EN%20GHS.pdf Note the VERY high pH of 13.3!
Here's the other ingredients: http://www.rbnainfo.com/productpro/P...=PL&template=1 Note the other "main" ingredient is Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether. This is the main ingredient of Purple Power degreaser. It doesn't show up in the Easy-Off MSDS because it has a VERY low health risk. BUT: it is very alkaline. Purple Power also has a near-13 pH, making it risky to use on Aluminum.

If you have a machined aluminum surface, consider using Dawn Dishwashing soap and a little elbow-grease.

 

Thanks Scope103 for the warning, and was unaware of aluminums pitting. It is an aggressive cleaner and just the fumes from Easy Off is something I make sure that I have good ventilation. I suggest using rubber gloves and eye protection. Even then I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and got a splash on me and it burned my skin on my forearm.

I do worry about getting it on rubber seals or other parts that could be weak materials. For parts I do clean with it, I get the part wet with water, spray on the Easy Off and about 5-10 minutes of soaking and then scrub and rinse it off. Good call on not letting it soak over an hour or over night.

We have some Orange Crush that is industrial strength that I can get at my job and it is good for oil and grease but even it wont break up heavy grime without a lot of time involved. Purple Power does work great for a light build up and like it for sensitive parts.

Good catch on the one hour limit but would go less then that as it is a strong cleaner I cleaned a third members housing from start to finish was less then 30 minutes. Thanks for mentioning the vinegar for a neutralizing agent, I had not thought of that.

 

Lye based cleaners are excellent for cleaning and degreasing iron or steel parts.

As others have pointed out, they rapidly corrode most light alloy metals.

I have seen cheap aluminum pots holed just by leaving them full of soap water for a day or two.

Alkalis have little or no corrosive effect on ferrous metal though.

No worries about leaving it on too long.

I have cleaned many gummed up watch and clock springs with hot lye solutions.

The steel itself is absolutely untouched by the alkali.

Gotta be careful to keep it off your hide for sure!!

 

Thanks millball.. I had not thought of that and glad you mentioned it. I will give that a try.

 

I have a thousand tools and need another thousand tools. One I don't have is a kit that is used for pressing in bearings. Here is what I do when doing the Race on a bearing change. Once I get the old race out, I run it across the grinder to "shrink" the outside diameter of it. Not showing in the picture but on the bottom side of the Race, it has a wide flat face or a lip that will evenly distribute force across the new race or seal.



I also used the old race to help press the seal in.

 

A football to push out dents?

I am going home tonight to try this. Hopefully my brother won't get butthurt over me using his football as dent removal tool. lol

 

Terry,
as a guy who grew up with "every tool under the sun" as dad was a diesel mechanic for 30 years, I am now an hour away so little tips and tricks like these are awesome! Thanks for assembling this!
Woody

 

For everyone who likes these cool tips and tricks, it seems the internet majority now refers to them as "life hacks".

So spend some time searching Google for "life hacks" and learn a bunch of new tricks. Of course if you find a good one, share it here!

(This msg is primarily for geezers like me who may not spend as much time on them interwebs)

 

Hello ramonortiz55.. The football and soccer ball work great for pushing some big dents out. I have an air hose with an adapter to an air gun that can really apply the pressure.

Hello woodyth.. I have 10 times the amount of tools then what my dad had and still need another thousand tools. Some wasn't not even around such as ratcheting wrenches. Other would consume to much floor space so some of the simpler things work just as good.

Thanks tj884Rdlx... I will look into life hacks. I am sure there is a lot of other ideas out there that will get the job done.

 

The video below shows a cheap tool for finding vacuum leaks.

I got this from dropzone and is another tool I will eventually own, Link to order it [YOUTUBE]

 

Thanks for the tips too Terry!!!

 

I use my kid's bubble solution when I check for exhaust leaks. Works a lot better than just dish soap and water like most folks use. I also built an air fitting to fit my tail pipe out of some pvc pieces and an air fitting. I just turn my regulator down to keep from causing any damage to anything. I have pics of the parts on a thread called "cheap and effective leak detector" if your interested.

 

Try Scott's liquid hand cleaner with grit. It's green and a bit thick. While I like Dawn, Scotts doesn't pull the oils out of your hands. It actually leaves them soft.

 

I just found this Asian Vehicle Hardware Assortment on Amazon. A guy on another site was using it while installing an exhaust. I hope it saves lots of fiddly trips to Tractor Supply. $18.42 for 170 pieces:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Simple green is also a great degreaser you can get it in a gallon jug concentrated and it works good, rinse off really good of course. Then use a squirt of brakleen to finish it off mainly on gasket surfaces.

Great thread! My fav is that sander powered parts cleaner. Those hook style sanders are junk once you over heat the pad I got one at a garage sale like that! Replaced it with a clamp style I really like uses 1/4 sheet of normal sandpaper so cheaper to operate too! Now I gotta see if I still have my old one hopefully didn't chuck it!

Nice find Nervo19 that's a great value if you consider sae bolts are roughly 25 cents each and these are Japanese spec too so same size socket as factory, sucks trying to remember which bolts you replaced with sae and which were factory!

 

Great info, thanks

 

Use different types and thicknesses of wire fencing along with expanded metal to create a sweet snake skin effect for your camo designs. I wish I had a pic of the paint job I first saw it on. Buddy of mine did it on a K5 Blazer. Using different methods he even gave it a tiger stripped effect.

I've been known to use my sprinkler under my rig after muddin'. Park the truck, place it under and let her rip for 20 min or so, then move it to the next section. Just be sure you start at the rear so you give the engine plenty of time to cool off. Will get most of the hard to reach areas.

If you have a hard to reach oil filter or it was put on way to tight? drive a screw driver into the side of it and all the way through. Now use the handle of the screwdriver to twist it off.

If you are hanging electrical conduit, use a piece of sponge cut to the right diameter, then run a long cotter pin through it with a plastic washer on the other end, spread the tines on the other side. Tie a piece of light string to the eye then shove that thing right into the conduit. use an air hose to shoot air in there and the "mouse" will come out the other side with the string. use the string to pull your wires through. Well known trick in the electrical community and they do sell kits for this very thing. Greenlee sells a full kit for $1400+ just the mice sell for $20 or more. Kitchen sponge what....50cts?

If you are making a stencil for paint, use that stencil to make a spare by painting it onto new posterboard, let it dry then use exacto knife to cut out the image.

Can't think of any more right now.