06 What are some of the useful chemicals to have around?
Description
This article is from the VW Technical FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Jan Vandenbrande others.
06 What are some of the useful chemicals to have around?
A: Cleaners:
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Brake Cleaner:
(Spray) Make sure it's not too harmful for rubber/plastic and keep it away
from paint. Also keep it away from any eye-ware that you may be waring.
Carb Cleaner:
Probably a bit dated by now, but the one that was most impressive
was Fire Dragon (Spray), however most others work fine as well.
If you have an oxy sensor and cat, make sure the stuff you get
is compaitible
I also used ChemClean to dunk the entire carb (see below)
Keep it away from any eye-ware that you may be waring.
FI/Valve Cleaner:
What ever you get make sure it does NOT harm catalytic conv or the
oxysensor.
The following are recommended and seem to work faily well. They are
added to a tank of gas, or fed directly into the FI system.
Lubro Molly: there are two products, an injector cleaner
and a valve cleaner. You can run the valve cleaner straight
through your injection system by hooking it to one of the
vaccum hoses and sucking it straight into the valves. Produces
lots of smoke but really helped my friends old 924. These are
expensive at $12-14 for both.
RedLine SL1: works very well and relatively cheap: $3.50 for the 12oz
bottle. My current favorite.
Chevron Techron: get the real thing, not the ProGuard stuff.
Not too expensive at $5.99/20oz bottle. (Imparts, others) Chevron
however, warns you not to use it too often between oil changes...
(I think no more than 5 treatments)
44K (BG Products): VW also recommends this more concentrated to be
used every 4k miles (= VW Part #208 (?)).
VW AutoBahn injector cleaner (rumored to be the same as Chevron Techron
for a lower price, for once).
Chevron ProGuard: only if none of the above is available. I used it
a few times, but couldn't tell a difference. I think it contains
Techron, but if you can get the real thing...
Note that ProGuard is a weaker version of Techron.
General:
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"Simple Green": General purpose cleaner (great and safe), engine cleaner
It's a non-oil soap (i.e., surfactant) based product that smells like
mint toothpaste. However, it does eat away wax.
"Chem Clean":
A can or bucket of chemicals that degreases bearings CVJs, or carbs REAL
fast (that stuff is amazing). It is however murder on skin and nails
and anything plastic and runner.
Hand Cleaner:
With pumice. Just buy a big vat. They are great, much better than
dishwash liquid or regular soap.
Lubricants:
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Penetrant oil:
E.g., "Liquid Wrench". Eventually loosens stuck parts.
WD40 :
General purpose light "lubricant"/penetrant. WD-40 should NOT
be used for permanent lubrication.
Anti-Seize:
See below.
Case of engine Oil
Lithium Grease:
Spray can for hard to reach places
Molybdenum Grease:
For bearings (NOT CVJs!)
Talcum Powder:
For rubber components
Silicone Spray:
Good for lubricating metal & non-metal components.
Rumored to dry out rubber though.
Paint/Body:
-----------
Body Paint:
For touch ups/scratches.
Primer:
I prefer cold galvanizing primer
Naval Jelly:
Rust remover (Phosphoric acid, i.e., coka cola).
Others:
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Brake quiet:
Sticky stuff to put on the pad *backing* to eliminate squeals.
Glues:
Depending on what you need to glue, use Epoxy, rubber cement,
RTV/Silicone Rubber, etc.
ThreadLocker:
See below.
Distilled water:
Battery & for coolant mixing
There is more, but buy some only as you need them because they may dry out.
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