Best penetrating oil?

silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
I ran across this on my Suzuki Samurai site and thought I'd share it. (Especially for those of us with rusty old bikes.)


"For all of you that are
mechanically inclined.... .

Penetrating Oils Compared

A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue
looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of
removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen
the bolt once treated.

If the study was scientifically accurate,
it turns out a home brew works
best!

Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil ..... Average
load

None ............ ......... . 516 pounds
WD-40 ............ ....... 238 pounds
PB Blaster ............ .. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............ . 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds

The
Automatic Transmission fluid (ATF)-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50
-
50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone.

Note the "home brew" was
better than any commercial product in this
one particular test. A local
machinist group mixed up a batch and all now
use it with equally good results.
Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as
good as "Kroil" for about 20% of
the price."

Has anybody here tried this? Looks like WD-40 is slightly better than spit.
SB
 
How scientific is it? Did they tighten them to a certain spec, then let them rust on evenly in a lab?

Very subjective....I have used WD 40 and it works GREAT.
PB is the shizziola. ATF alone works pretty well too, never tried adding acetone.

Time is the main factor....once applied, let the parts sit for a minimum of 1/2 hour.

I have my own home brew called "Poison Oil" which works super.
 
Good stuff silver!

While I jus' use PB, the techs at the marina here have long used a "secret" mix, given what salt water exposure will do to aluminum & steel - they gotta do sumfin' heh

The secret is out - it's just the ATF-acetone mix that's on yer list :p



Actually come to think on it - they got some concoction they use for lubrication too (mostly the skid-steer)... Ima gonna hafta find out what that gunk is lol (but FYI marine grade bearing grease is the best stuff evva!).
 
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A little heat and hammering with a small ball peen in the right place make the (any) oil work better too.
 
My "secret formula"? ATF, Hoppe's Gun Nitro, and a little paintbrush to apply it with. No waste!

I use one bottle of Hoppes, and a pint of ATF, any kind. I put it in a coffee can.

Have you ever used a can of PB B'laster and not sprayed it's low pressure spray everywhere you didn't need it?
 
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Silver Bear,
You reminded me of something I'd learned...well let's just say, a long time ago. When I was in my late teens I worked for a Chevy dealership in Miami Florida. Lots of salt air to really play havoc with threaded parts. The front end guy there showed me a mix he used; ATF and mineral spirits. It would free up the rustiest bolts and nuts in minutes. On real bad ones he'd apply just a little heat and tap with a small hammer. Always seemed to work. I'd forgotten all about that until your post. Thanks.
Tom
 
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