Cleaning Crossmember
Thread Starter
Running Guns & Moonshine
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 12,716
Likes: 7,325
From: CT
Cleaning Crossmember
What's a good way to get a crossmember clean?
What is the magic soup to get all the crap off this thing. It has years of driving debris and power steering fluid on it from previously. I am half tempted to drop it since the car is apart up front, then drag it out the back of the garage and hit it with a scrub brush and a hose.
What is the magic soup to get all the crap off this thing. It has years of driving debris and power steering fluid on it from previously. I am half tempted to drop it since the car is apart up front, then drag it out the back of the garage and hit it with a scrub brush and a hose.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 183
Likes: 19
From: St. Louis MO
While working under mine I was chasing oil leaks and wanted the crossmember clean but also wanted to minimize making a mess all over the garage.
I used a large area drip pan on top of an area covered by cardboard. I used a product called Oil Eater and sprayed it on the caked mess. Using disposable blue shop paper towels to rub off the caked-on mess, it turned out really well. This process was used on the front and rear crossmembers along with other items such as the power steering rack. It did not discolor any metals.
A week or two later after several jobs were done, I took it to the car wash and sprayed a bit of Oil Eater on some additional areas from the under neath after driving up on some 2x12s to gain some clearance. I waited a few minutes to soak and finished with some high pressure.
This is not as good as removal from the vehicle but was a noticeable improvement and will aid in oil leak chasing.
Oil eater is better than simple green but probably not as strong as purple power. Most of my products were purchased a few years ago and it seems that chemical compounds in these cleaners get reduced in effectiveness over time by environmental laws. So, your milage may vary.
I used a large area drip pan on top of an area covered by cardboard. I used a product called Oil Eater and sprayed it on the caked mess. Using disposable blue shop paper towels to rub off the caked-on mess, it turned out really well. This process was used on the front and rear crossmembers along with other items such as the power steering rack. It did not discolor any metals.
A week or two later after several jobs were done, I took it to the car wash and sprayed a bit of Oil Eater on some additional areas from the under neath after driving up on some 2x12s to gain some clearance. I waited a few minutes to soak and finished with some high pressure.
This is not as good as removal from the vehicle but was a noticeable improvement and will aid in oil leak chasing.
Oil eater is better than simple green but probably not as strong as purple power. Most of my products were purchased a few years ago and it seems that chemical compounds in these cleaners get reduced in effectiveness over time by environmental laws. So, your milage may vary.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,404
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From: Western NY
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 2,408
Likes: 576
From: FLORIDA
I've always had good success with Foamy GUNK Engine Degreaser.
https://gunk.com/product/gunk-foamy-...-cleaner-feb1/
https://gunk.com/product/gunk-foamy-...-cleaner-feb1/
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 2,963
Likes: 1,703
From: North Coast
What you so is clean it with soap and water to get the oil and grease off. Then you get the aluminum cleaner from NAPA. It is like a aluminum wheel cleaner and will clean the aluminum back to the original color.
My local NAPA keeps a lot of it around since we have many lakes and the Pontoon owners use it to clean their boats.
My local NAPA keeps a lot of it around since we have many lakes and the Pontoon owners use it to clean their boats.
Thread Starter
Running Guns & Moonshine
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 12,716
Likes: 7,325
From: CT
I still have a bottle of it. Not sure why I hadn't thought of it for the crossmember. Now I'm more motivated to drop it though I think I gave away my atv jack which would have been perfect. No biggie.
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
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Lots of good suggestions. Going to keep these ideas on file should I ever need to clean suspension components.
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