Hey all

Instead of using cleaners like Gunk, use BIODIESEL. It is an excellaent biosolvant. My wife uses it for hard to clean stuff says it great, claims it makes her hands softer too. Biodiesel degrades w/ in 28 days. That is one of the characteristics that make Biodiesel such an environmentally friendly product. :sun_smile

Now as far as the stuf you clean off your engine ...... No comment

Gary T

You do it in somebody elses yard :D

If your well taps an aquifer, testing the well water does not tell you what's happening to the ground water. The ground water flows (eventually) into the nearest body of surface water. This has turned into a real problem for marine life (that's fisheries, sports fishing, and the shellfish industry for people who only think in those terms) in these bodies of water.

Tedious, perhaps, but I use paper towels doused with white gas to clean the engine. I know, burning the paper towels is also a problem (for god's sake, wait until the gas has evaporated) but not as bad as another hit on the shellfish and fisheries.

I will definitely be more enviro friendly
 

I feel like I am the one responsible for this discussion.
I will commit to be more enviro friendly the next time I do this. Sorry for my enviromental mistake this once.

I am all for being responsible with your environmental pollutants and would like to brain a few people that I have seen dumping oil and such. But if you ever go to a tank wash where they clean the tanks for the tanker trucks or to a refinery or paper mill you will realize that cleaning your engine is a tiny drop in the bucket of swill that this country produces. Before you dump anything in your own yard keep in mind that you may need to grow your own vegetables there someday.

Someone in another thread mentioned that it may be possible to go to a rental place and use their steam cleaner on premises. Couldn't hurt to ask.

I heard a good idea for environmentally safe engine degreasing the other day that sounded really good.

What you do is put a very large drip tray, or even a sheet of plastic with the edges raised up by 2X4s, under the engine. Then you go about your cleaning, block off the intake, spray on a biodegradable degreaser (I like non-phosphorus water-based degreasers), then scrub scrub scrub. When you've scrubbed, rinse with a low-pressure source, and then repeat if necessary (if you've never cleaned the engine, expect do one or two passes on the dirtiest parts). Each time you rinse, water and grease and crap goes into the tray. When you are done, leave the tray alone for a few days until the water evaporates. What you are left with is dirt, grease, and oil, which can be scraped up easily and can be legally added to your used crankcase oil and taken to recyclers.

The idea is the same as what we use to dispose of greywater at Burning Man, large trays or pools made from tarps that greywater goes into. It evaporates cleanly, leaving a film of soap on the tarp, the tarp can then be folded in half, rolled up, and carted away, to be used again next year without contaminating the soil.

So anyway, just thought I'd share. It sounds like a pretty easy way to do engine cleaning at home without contaminating your residence or water table.

peace,
sam