Hot Tank / Acid Bath

I have the tranny and t-case out of Lulu so I can install a new clutch assembly. While it's all apart, I also want to clean everything up and re-seal the tcase.

There's 34 years worth of grease and grime on everything, and I'd rather not splatter it all over myself by trying to clean it up with carb cleaner and a brush. Would it hurt anything to take the tranny, tcase, and bellhousing and have them dipped in a hot tank (or whatever you call the process they use to clean engine blocks and heads)?

The only thing I could think it might hurt would be the gaskets and seals in the t-case, but I plan to replace those anyway.

Any reason I shouldn't have this done?

 

Do it AFTER it's disassembled. Most shops won't do it with assembled parts. That stuff is gonna get inside and when you take it apart you're gonna have real nasty chemicals all over the place. Hot tanks can only be used on ferrous metals, steel, iron, etc. If your bellhousing is aluminum then it needs to go into a cold tank, which is like a big tank of carburetor cleaner. Most hot tanks will dissolve aluminum. Most engine machine shops should have both and will usually provide this service for a minimal cost, especially during slow times providing everything is disassembled and ready to go. Too bad yer on the wrong side of the country, I'd do it for you for free! Nickmil.

 

Well dang. I don't want to disassemble everything. I planned to replace the gaskets/seals in the t-case one at a time, without pulling everything apart at once. And I sure don't want to take the tranny apart...

Is there a different process/chemical I could have it dipped into that wouldn't require disassembly? What about dipping it all in the cold bath?

Yeah - too bad... R)

 

Go get some engine degreaser and soak it down.
Let it sit for a few hours and hose it off.

 

I've never had much luck with engine degreaser. Maybe I've been buying the wrong stuff ('Gunk' brand with the orange lid from my FLAPS). I just don't think it would get down in the small areas where the dirt/grease have formed that nice gooey stuff. Yuck.

Billy - can you do that with it assembled? Would rinsing it with a hose not cause the gears to rust?

 

Try Simple Green.
Or Castrol Purple Stuff or whatever they call it now.

 

Roll up yer sleeves, and get-r-done.......

Note to Nick: there's a lot of folk on the "wrong" side of the country, and I don't think it prudent to be luring them out here with offers of free parts washing! Remember what happened last time when McCall invited folks to "come play, but please don't stay"? How crowded is it up 'round there by now, Nick? HHMMM?

 

Now ya'll know we have had this topic come up before.
We are on the right coast, ya'll got what was left over. R)

 

Scrape as much of it off as you can with a putty knife first then use something like Castrol Super Clean, Greased Lightning, etc and soak it down. Soak it several times and hose it off. May have to repeat scrubbing with a scotch-brite pad. Afterward put some WD-40 in the tranny and transfer case after draining out the water and shift through the gears and turn the shafts and whatnot to keep them from rusting.
Putting it in a cold tank complete is also a bad idea. Again, a cold tank is basically carb cleaner, Crysalic acid, and very nasty stuff. Many transmission shops have a hot water parts washing cabinet that the whole assembly could be put in. Might look around your area. You will still need to drain the water out and put in something to disperse the water and chemicals like WD-40 though. I tried Greased Lightning recently and have had pretty good results at home. Can be purchased at Home Despot (Depot). Nickmil.

 

Uhm, didn't mean to sound so anti-social there, Tim. You wanna bring yer Jeep here for a free parts washing, we'll let you in, I'm sure. But, close the gate behind ya, OK?

 

Good point. Problem is once they get here they never leave......R)
Nickmil.

 

Naww, we were just smart enough to leave!:twisted:
Nickmil.

 

Umm yea thats it. R)

 

You try useing hot water off the water heater? Works great.

 

I did that. worked great, jet stream on the hose and off came everything after a little soak in degreaser.

 

You guys are gonna make me get dirty, aren't you...

R)

Okay - I guess I'll try the scraping, greased lightening, hot water method. If that doesn't get all of it, I'll haul it down to the self-service car wash and spray it off.

Re: water removal afterwards - Drain everything out, then spray the internals with WD-40. Will that be enough? I intend to paint the outside, so I don't want to dip then in WD or anything, I'd never get paint to stick...

 

I clean stuff with hot water sometimes. If the water is hot enough, and the metal gets hot enough the water evaporates off of it before it has a chance to stain/ rust. I clean lots of guns/ gun parts like that and have never rusted one yet.

 

I used Castrol Super Clean on a T-177 trans case. Made the aluminum case look like new. Scraped off all the chunky stuff off with a putty knife first.