Snake Oils

[jsdieter]

I would like to see a list of products that do and don't work. Some products like PB Blaster do exactly what they say while products like carb cleaner you pour in the gas tank don't work. I was just wondering if products like Seafoam, Stabil, Marvel Mystery Oil, Z Max, and any of the other hundreds of products at auto parts stores actually do what they say.

[81SPIDERMATT]

1/2 acetone and 1/2 atf (tranny fluid) in a squirt bottle..... will loosen a rusty bolt better than anything i have ever used
and seafoam worked wonders on my old scout
and that is my snake oil knowledge in a nutshell

[narfire]

Guiness works great as an instalation fluid, besides,like it states, "its good for you"
I've been using "Moovit" to loosen the rusty bolts but I think I'll try the acetone and atf mix.
Chris

[ga.spyder]

I read a test on products for freeing rusted fastners.Of all products tested ,the best was the ATF/acetone mixture.

[bradartigue]

Seafoam is great stuff. It is the only one of the pour-in cleaners I've used that actually seems to do anything. Also used it a lot with the SPICA setups on the Alfas, seemed to make them happy as well.

A lot of the other stuff is transmission fluid. Keeps that motor clean on the inside! Destroys seals, makes them swell and then dry rot. I've used stuff like Marvel just before an engine rebuild to loosen up the crap, but keep in mind I didn't care about the seals and gaskets by this point.

I find the cheapest carb cleaner works as well as the most expensive. And FI cleaner is just more expensive carb cleaner.

[81SPIDERMATT]

I read a test on products for freeing rusted fastners.Of all products tested ,the best was the ATF/acetone mixture.

"The April/May 2007 edition of Machinist's Workshop did a test of penetrating oils where they measured the force required to loosen rusty test devices. Buy the issue if you want to see how they did the test. The results reported were interesting. The lower the number of pounds the better. Mighty interesting results for simple acetone and transmission fluid!

Penetrating oil . Average load .. Price per fluid ounce
None ................. 516 pounds .
WD-40 .............. 238 pounds .. $0.25
PB Blaster ......... 214 pounds .. $0.35
Liquid Wrench ... 127 pounds .. $0.21
Kano Kroil ........ 106 pounds .. $0.75
ATF-Acetone mix.. 53 pounds .. $0.10

The ATF-Acetone mix was a 50/50 mix (1 to 1 ratio)."

[jsdieter]

I would have to disagree with the carb cleaners. Gumout carb cleaner is by far the best. My friend and i have fixed like 80 mowers using all kinds of carb cleaners. The store brands just do not work and the Gumout get em running in no time.

[htchevyii]

Sounds like if I put some ATF and acetone in a can I could get rich!