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For the life of me I can’t find the thread that everyone talked about what they use in their parts washer for cleaning trans parts. I want to switch to something a little less toxic and better smelling. I’m tired of using varsol. I did pick up 3.5 gallons of simple green because I remember that was a popular choice but some people Added something else to it and I can’t remember what it was. What do you guys use?
Well I ended up putting 2.5 gallons of simple green in there to try it out. I didn’t want mineral spirits or anything like that, trying to get away from the fumes and smell. I got 2.5 gallons for $20 at Home Depot today. I had an extra gallon in case I needed it but I didn’t. I must say, works quite well. I did give anything that had a lot of fluid on it a shot of brake cleaner to get most of the fluid off before cleaning. The input drum I cleaned was pretty nasty and it made short work of it. Nice so far. Only thing I don’t like is it doesn’t dry easily.
I didn’t want mineral spirits or anything like that, trying to get away from the fumes and smell....I did give anything that had a lot of fluid on it a shot of brake cleaner to get most of the fluid off before cleaning.
You can get odorless mineral spirits; it's not truly "odorless", but it's very low odor and is MUCH lower odor than brake cleaner in my experience. I use mineral spirits all the time to clean the white letters on my old BFG tires; works great, dries fast, definitely more potent than Simple Green (though Simple Green is a great product and does have its place).
For dirt and grime stuff, I use the Yellow Degreaser SKU: 42998 at Harbor Freight and cut it in 1/2 with water so it's a 50/50 mix. I also add a heater to bring the temp up and it works amazing. Just need to make sure to clean it off and Neutralize it when your done.
It will eat or discolor aluminum if you let it sit long enough. It will also rust metal if you let it sit. I always rinse when done, Then blow or air dry and coat stuff with like WD40 or rinse again in the PSC1000 to prevent corrosion.
If things are really bad I pre soak and hand wash like in a bucket to get the heavy dirt or heavy grease off first so it doesn't totally contaminate the tank.
When parts are already on the cleanish side, I use the PSC1000 from Tractor Supply.
Are you cleaning internal transmission parts? I thought the only safe way to clean those is with mineral spirits? I've used a 5 gallon bucket with mineral spirits to clean internal transmission parts in the past. Not ideal, but that's all I had.
I did buy a parts washer last year and used the Summit Racing brand parts washer solution diluted with water for an engine overhaul and worked really well for that. I'm not sure if that would be safe for transmissions.🤷
For dirt and grime stuff, I use the Yellow Degreaser SKU: 42998 at Harbor Freight and cut it in 1/2 with water so it's a 50/50 mix. I also add a heater to bring the temp up and it works amazing. Just need to make sure to clean it off and Neutralize it when your done.
It will eat or discolor aluminum if you let it sit long enough. It will also rust metal if you let it sit. I always rinse when done, Then blow or air dry and coat stuff with like WD40 or rinse again in the PSC1000 to prevent corrosion.
If things are really bad I pre soak and hand wash like in a bucket to get the heavy dirt or heavy grease off first so it doesn't totally contaminate the tank.
When parts are already on the cleanish side, I use the PSC1000 from Tractor Supply.
Are you cleaning internal transmission parts? I thought the only safe way to clean those is with mineral spirits? I've used a 5 gallon bucket with mineral spirits to clean internal transmission parts in the past. Not ideal, but that's all I had.
I did buy a parts washer last year and used the Summit Racing brand parts washer solution diluted with water for an engine overhaul and worked really well for that. I'm not sure if that would be safe for transmissions.🤷
Yes, internal trans parts. The common thing I thought was used is varsol. Maybe its similar to mineral sprits. It's quite hot here and my shop is air conditioned but I have to open the door when using chemicals because I'll get high inhaling the stuff...not a good high either lol. When I use varsol my wife says i stink to the high heavens and I kinda like how simple green smells. She shouldn't be complaining about that smell. It seems to work quite well but I have to take a couple extra steps in the process. But I wont stink and my doors can stay closed and I can stay cool. Fair tradeoff I guess. I also have to blow and wipe the parts off and anything i think might rust i'll shoot a little oil on them. Kind of an inconvenience, but whatever. I also spray the heavily transmission fluid soaked parts with brake cleaner to lesson oil contamination. I'll see how it goes for a while. It only cost 20 buck for 2.5 gallons. Far cheaper than a case of brake cleaner and varsol.
Yes, internal trans parts. The common thing I thought was used is varsol. Maybe its similar to mineral sprits. It's quite hot here and my shop is air conditioned but I have to open the door when using chemicals because I'll get high inhaling the stuff...not a good high either lol. When I use varsol my wife says i stink to the high heavens and I kinda like how simple green smells. She shouldn't be complaining about that smell. It seems to work quite well but I have to take a couple extra steps in the process. But I wont stink and my doors can stay closed and I can stay cool. Fair tradeoff I guess. I also have to blow and wipe the parts off and anything i think might rust i'll shoot a little oil on them. Kind of an inconvenience, but whatever. I also spray the heavily transmission fluid soaked parts with brake cleaner to lesson oil contamination. I'll see how it goes for a while. It only cost 20 buck for 2.5 gallons. Far cheaper than a case of brake cleaner and varsol.
Understand. Have you tried using an organic respirator when cleaning the parts? The charcoal canisters should trap most all vapors. But I don't know if that's still going to stink up your shop, probably.
I usually don't have an issue with mineral spirits, but I know folks have different sensitives to different chemicals. Also, try the odorless spirits as mentioned previously.
I can't remember where I read brake cleaner (?) shouldn't be used on internal transmission parts? I wish I could remember where I read that? I have used brake cleaner to clean valve bodies and pumps, maybe for other smaller internal parts too. But my general cleaning media is mineral spirits.
Small parts, valve bodies and get washed by hand in a solvent tank with mineral spirits from tractor supply. I use 2 bottles of this to 20 gallons of solvent to combat the smell.
When I needed to clean some engine parts (pistons, rods, valve covers & heads) for my LS swap I used a Permatex industrial cleaner & de-greaser that was soap based. It cleaned the carbon build up and oils very well but i think it has been discontinued or replaced. It had very little smell and did not dry my hands like solvent does. I did think about using it on a more regular basis because it worked so well but it would have been very expensive for a 35-40 gal soak tank. https://www.counterman.com/new-perma...dable-formula/
For the life of me I can’t find the thread that everyone talked about what they use in their parts washer for cleaning trans parts. I want to switch to something a little less toxic and better smelling. I’m tired of using varsol. I did pick up 3.5 gallons of simple green because I remember that was a popular choice but some people Added something else to it and I can’t remember what it was. What do you guys use?
I have been using this set up for a year now have changed it once, Its water, gallon oF simple green and 1/4 gallon of rustlick. I also added a heater element to keep it warm works really well , very pleased over mineral spirits , Just wash parts and then blow off , no rust no issues no residue, oil floats to top when cold a shop vac you can just suck the oil right off the top from time to time.
Bear in mind you cant of course put frictions or bands in it , But all else all good, The rustlick does not say anything about aluminum corrosion resistance but seems to work for it also.
Way better than min spirits and the smell and hand stay so much cleaner and less dry .
__________________ Frank formerly of Performabuilt, Now just me, What can I build for you today? Call or message me. Click sig pic for my facebook
Last edited by FranksCustomTrans; 07-20-2024 at 10:36 AM.
Understand. Have you tried using an organic respirator when cleaning the parts? The charcoal canisters should trap most all vapors. But I don't know if that's still going to stink up your shop, probably.
I usually don't have an issue with mineral spirits, but I know folks have different sensitives to different chemicals. Also, try the odorless spirits as mentioned previously.
I can't remember where I read brake cleaner (?) shouldn't be used on internal transmission parts? I wish I could remember where I read that? I have used brake cleaner to clean valve bodies and pumps, maybe for other smaller internal parts too. But my general cleaning media is mineral spirits.
Non chlorinated is ok to use, starting fluid used to be my go to but it's gotten so expensive "thanks meth heads" But do not use chlorinated brake cleaner will corrode aluminum.
__________________ Frank formerly of Performabuilt, Now just me, What can I build for you today? Call or message me. Click sig pic for my facebook
07-19-2024, 06:17 PM
Non toxic parts washer solvent? 
