Brake cleaner

[Patman]

Does brake cleaner really leave no residue behind?

I used brake cleaner to clean out the end of my Fram sure drain unit yesterday, as well as to clean out my funnel after my oil change. I'm just curious if this stuff really does clean perfectly well and leave no residue behind? (the can claims it does) I don't want to pour new oil through that funnel if it's going to push in any kind of contaminents into my engine.

To be specific, I used the Gunk brand brake cleaner.

[ March 17, 2003, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[TooManyWheels]

And on a similar note, what do those of you who sample through the dipstick use to clean the collecting tubing? Or do you buy new tubing for each sample?

[ March 17, 2003, 09:51 AM: Message edited by: TooManyWheels ]

 

[Steve S]

Patman Leaves no residue means it evaporates and leaves no oil or whatever else to contaminate the brake shoes. spray the funnel Wipe the funnel with a paper towel spray the funnel again wipe with a mew paper towel and inprect paper towel to see if it is clean.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by OneQuartLow:

quote:

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Originally posted by TooManyWheels:
And on a similar note, what do those of you who sample through the dipstick use to clean the collecting tubing? Or do you buy new tubing for each sample?

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I had the same question some months back. New tubing is ~10 cents/ft so cleaning doesn't make sense, especially with the chance of contaminating $15-20 samples.

Pat, I can't say it's completely residue free but allowed to evaporate completely it's about as close as you'll get. Draining a couple ounces of oil first should remove any doubt.

David

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Whenever I'm taking samples with the sure drain system, I will definitely be letting the oil run for a while before putting the bottle under the stream, so I'm not as worried about that piece not being 100% clean as I am with the funnel. I waited a full minute before I took the sample yesterday, since I was doing a full drain anyways. What I found with the Sure drain is that the stream of oil might not come out as fast, but it honestly doesn't shorten the draining time for most people. After ten minutes had gone by, it was down to just dripping. With a conventional setup that point might be after just a couple of minutes, however if you're gonna let the oil drain for a little while anyways, this system is not hurting you in that regard. Most of us on here are not in a hurry to plug up the drain plug after a short drain anyways, we'll let it drain for 15min or more. So in cases like that, the same amount of oil's going to be removed with this setup as with a regular drain plug.

I guess with the funnels I will just make sure to fully wipe them down with a clean rag after spraying them with the cleaner. Or I could go back to my old habit of buying a new funnel for each oil change!!

[ March 17, 2003, 01:07 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[UncleS2]

Patman, here's what I do. It gives me a new funnel for every oil change, I never have to clean a funnel, & never have to buy a new one. No nationwide funnel shortages!

When you change your oil, save one of the newly empty bottles & tightly cap it. Save until next oil change. Then, with a clean sharp pocketknife, boxcutter, etc, cut around the middle of the oil bottle to produce a new funnel. Remove the cap, place in the oil filler hole, & fill away. When through, throw away, save another empty bottle, repeat. Cost? $0 *Canadian*!(Now *That's* cheap!

)
Avoiding funnel shortages? Priceless!

[ March 17, 2003, 02:33 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Hughes ]

 

[Patman]

That's a pretty good idea Stuart, but won't work when using oils with the "wide mouth" bottle, such as how our Mobil 1 comes up here, and the new German 0w30 Castrol too.

 

[OneQuartLow]

Quarts? Who uses quart bottles anymore?

 

[Neil Womack]

I pickup a funnel at the John Deere dealer several years ago. Try a net search for "Clean Funnel"

The funnel has screw on caps for both ends. Now I just cap the funnel and hang it up. Yes I have two one for engine oil and one for transmission fluid / hydraulic oil.

 

[OneQuartLow]

quote:

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Originally posted by TooManyWheels:
And on a similar note, what do those of you who sample through the dipstick use to clean the collecting tubing? Or do you buy new tubing for each sample?

---

I had the same question some months back. New tubing is ~10 cents/ft so cleaning doesn't make sense, especially with the chance of contaminating $15-20 samples.

Pat, I can't say it's completely residue free but allowed to evaporate completely it's about as close as you'll get. Draining a couple ounces of oil first should remove any doubt.

David