Came across this post from the Car Talk forum. FWIW.

"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 tranny fluid!

Penetrating oil ....... Average load ... Price/fl oz
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)."

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1988 California version 260E (W124)
Anthracite Grey/Palomino
Owned since new and still going strong and smooth
MBCA member

Past Mercedes-Benz:
1986 190E Baby Benz
1967 230 Inherited from mom when she downsized
1959 220S Introduced me to the joys of keepin' 'em goin'

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world--those who understand binary and those who don't

I'm sure they did not do them on the same rusty test bolts.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Now I wonder if I could get that in an aerosol can? And inevitably lose that "straw". (I see WD-40 didn't test particularly well but that new attached flip up "straw" thing is pure genius!)

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Back before the dawn of recorded time I worked in an exhaust shop.

We used a 50/50 blend of brake fluid and ATF for the rusted manifold studs and what not. It worked great but it sure was stinky when we first started the engines.

For a real treat, blend a little brake fluid and bleach. Do this outside, at your ex's house, in a metal container and not on anything flammable. Just small quantities.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65297

Get yourself something like this (or one of the nicer, all-metal ones from a better source). I have been meaning to do so for some time... I hadn't heard of the homemade blend. I was just going to try to get my hands on some Kroil through work.

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

A pure beeswax candle is useful for this. Heat the bolt, touch the beeswax to the metal and the capillary action will pull the beeswax into the threads and will loosen bettr than mose penetrating oils.

Works VERY well on Aluminum and certain alloys that freeze up from same metal gallig due to over torque.

I use Aero Kroil a lot and find it works far better than everything else except the beeswax.

If you can't buy direct from Kanolabs.com, you can get AeroKroil via Amazon.com.

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Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman