Dirty,caked on grease removal

captpar wrote:
Just finished greasing my freightliner chassis ,all the fixtures needing greasing are caked in a greasy crud,chassis is 7 years old. How do I clean them? I would think that spraying a decreaser solution would cause some of that solvent to leach into the grease fittings and rubber fittings and cause possible damage. I really want to tackle this project next and need some ideas.

catpar,
Well Sir, I ran into the same exact problem with mine. My answer, I jacked up the rig, removed the tires and wheels on the front, one side at a time, put on some really tough rubber gloves, got out a couple of putty knifes of different sizes and went to work. I also laid down a couple of thickness of newspaper, taped together so make a disposable drop cloth. I also had a coffee can of paint thinner/solvent and a couple of rags.

The newspaper, like stated, was taped, sheet to sheet to make it cover a larger area. So, the work began. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Then I wire brushed, with a combination of a large and small, wire brush. Then, when that was done, I dipped the rag in the paint thinner/solvent and wiped clean, all that I had scraped and wire brushed.

Yep, it took me the better part of a couple of hours, for each side of the front end. But, When it was all said and done, not only was the entire front suspension, on both sides spic and span but, PAINTED ALSO! And, all I had to do was wrap up the news paper and toss it, and all the scrapings, grease and all, into the round file. My concrete looks like I was never there.
Scott

Are you talking about the grease that builds up on the zerk fittings ? I always wipe them first with a shop towel before greasing, then toss the rag.

I would never aim any kind of high pressure spray at a zerk. Seems like a great way to push water into the fitting. Those kind of sprays are for cleaning dirt and water soluble crud (SALT !) off the outside of a vehicle and the chassis - not to be aimed at zerks, electrical or fuel fittings from close range. And especially not at anything under the hood. Too much sensitive electronics under there these days.

Tim

I throw one of those cheap blue plastic tarps under the rig. Then with a scraper, wire brush, and shop towels srape and wipe off what is necessary. I'm not taking it to a car show. Wear some goggles and one of those paper masks and a sock cap to keep clean a stuff out of your eyes and mouth. Not really a must to clean but if you have some free time go for it.

The old grease is not hurting anything.
Sometimes using a power washer can drive water into where you don't want it.
If you do power wash it, grease it again to hopefully drive water out.
Dont blow grease on to the brake rotors. Another reason to not power wash.
Just my opinion. Some can power wash and know the ins and outs but it may not be for everyone.

BuckBarker wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Take it to a quarter car wash and use the high pressure spray to clean things. Even if you can't find one that will let you pull all of the way in, if you can just get the front end up to the space that may be enough for the hose to reach.

...and where would all that grease go? Right onto the drive so the next guy will step in it. Honestly now, get under there with a putty knife and scrap the crud off followed with Simple Green and a bunch of shop towels.

Yep, you are right. All of the quarter car washer stations around here that have engine cleaner and undercarriage cleaner settings just let everything lay on the ground for the next person. Having crud deposited from engine and undercarriage cleaning is what they were designed for. That's why they have large truck cleaning stations. If you expect to go there and have a picnic lunch you will be disappointed.

Leave it-- forcing high pressure water or using solvents that can degrade the rubber covers will do you much more harm than good.

If you "have to" remove it, use the least solvent possible-- certainly do not force high pressure water into suspension or drive line parts.

Yup. putty knife and other right sized scraping tools first. then throw away towels or shop rags. Finally, more rags and spray can "Brake clean" to cut the rest of the grease.

Nice thing about doing it yourself, you can take the time to do it right, and clean properly when you are done.

This first time will be the worst.

Don't worry about getting cleaner anywhere, it won't hurt, certainly no more than the last guy who pretended to grease it while squirting grease everywhere.

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Take it to a quarter car wash and use the high pressure spray to clean things. Even if you can't find one that will let you pull all of the way in, if you can just get the front end up to the space that may be enough for the hose to reach.

...and where would all that grease go? Right onto the drive so the next guy will step in it. Honestly now, get under there with a putty knife and scrap the crud off followed with Simple Green and a bunch of shop towels.

Take it to a quarter car wash and use the high pressure spray to clean things. Even if you can't find one that will let you pull all of the way in, if you can just get the front end up to the space that may be enough for the hose to reach.