penetrating oil bake-off…for amusement purposes…

[Paulbeard]

Can water penetrate and release rusty fasteners?

Amazing what some people believe but it does explain the enduring popularity of MythBusters…

This is part of a series so maybe there is time to get ATF/Acetone or PBlaster in the mix.
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Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[Ahwahnee]

It is hard to compare using real world cases - I'll stick with PBlaster based on what I have experienced but I (unlike this test) allow many days or even weeks for it to work and also use some tapping on the part to encourage penetration.

Never been convinced the ATF/Acetone was for real - the magazine article is often cited but may or may not have really happened.

[Merian]

[Paulbeard]

[Zeitgeist 13]

Link



Link

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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Sodo]

[Paulbeard]

This kind of bake-off might be the perfect place to test it. Why not send it in as a suggestion?
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Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[Sodo]

Just watched the bake-off.
Well done.
PB blaster and Liquid wrench work well, but Ive never done a comparison.
When I know a bolts gonna be real ornery I apply penetrating oil over a few days and have often been surprised when they unscrew.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Butcher]

This is the only tool you need. Well you need the money to buy the tool but hands down, this is the only sure fire way of getting bolts loose. I've never seen fluid seep into a rusted part. It seems that it must break free before the oil seeps in. Fortunately I do not live in a rust prone area.


Link

[E1]

That thing's pretty cool.

How do you mitigate overheating the part, say on a CV? Put on, check, more heat, check?
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[Sodo]

[jlrftype7]

I use WD-40.... I don’t like the smell of Liquid Wrench and Really don’t like the smell of PB Blaster.
It’s worse for the burning off of these sprays once you have to resort to getting out the Oxy-Acy torch if the oil failed.

Never tried the wax as D suggested, and Acetone is another smelly chemical I try to avoid.

Here in the Rust Belt, or at least the edge of it..( ), I have wire brushes to shed rust, my Snap-On Crud Thud to also clean parts before applying Penetrating Oil, a HF needle scaler to clean and shock a joint or bolt, or my Air Hammer if needed.

I’ve seen the Inductive Tools demonstrated, they’re neat but out of my price range. And I can’t talk a manager into buying them as a shop tool.

Some days the rust battle goes my way, and some days it doesn’t....
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[Sodo]

I have found PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench to outperform WD40 bigtime in getting rusty bolts loose.

At least is SEEMS like "bigtime"..... Every bolt is different.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[dobryan]

Never liked the fish oil. Kroil is my go to or PB Blaster if out of Kroil.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[cmayna]

My favorite which is no longer produced is Pentron. Once I run out of it I will probably go back to my backup of AFT and Acetone.

Here's a link to a similar post on another forum:
https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-non-powertrain/580189-penetrating-oil.html
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'90 Westy / automatic.
If I'm not working on the camper or my '50 Chebbie truck, I'm either fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.


Craig

[stuzbot]

Over this side of the pond, I've never found WD40 to be that good. I"ve always had better luck with Plusgas

[And thanks @Butcher for introducing me to another ridiculously expensive tool I'd never heard of before but which I'll now add to the "When I win the lottery...." list]
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Click to view image
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1992 VW LT35 2,4D [SOLD]
1993 VW LT35 2,4D [SOLD]
1992 VW T3 1,6TD Syncro [SOLD]
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[Steve M.]

For the test I'm wondering if a bolt and nut for each brand tightened and over-torqued to same torque using a torque wrench to the point of just before they strip and letting it sit a few hours to take a set into each other(bolt & nut).
Then using a torque wrench with the swinging needle on a scale to see what the breaking torque is on one without any penetrating oil and record the breaking torque of that nut.
Then apply each brand to a nut and let it sit/soak in and record the breaking torque of each brand compared to the nut without the penetrating oil.

It would be nice if you had a year to wait and put the nuts & bolts in a salty environment.


Grand Ma allows said a large hammer and a larger vocabulary would fix anything.
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[Butcher]

No joking. I just have not seen penetrating oil work to break free a fastener. This is just my experience and is not saying it does not work for others.

Once it's broken free, YES, the stuff can get into the threads and YES, the fastener does come out easier. I just do not see that it can penetrate when everything is frozen up. Maybe it's I'm just impatient. In my younger years, time was money.

With the years under my belt, I know when there is a problem. I do not mess around. I try first to make certain it's frozen. Then I apply heat. It used to be a torch, now it's induction. Once the fastener is broken free, I like to use Wurth HHS2000.

If you spray oil on the seized bolt and it does not work, then heat causes the oil to catch fire. Another waste of time. I go for the jugular.

As for the induction trick, I thought is was snake oil until my friend purchased one at his shop and I was able to use it. I'm sold. I purchased one and trust me, I'm cheap. It was that good.

[Zeitgeist 13]

[Merian]

Heat Good


the key to using a penetrant is to be patient - patient over several days or more & you also should go tap on thing every few hours - it WILL penetrate* and help loosen the fastener

whenever I buy an old vehicle, I get under there and spray all the fasteners, it may sit there for year before I try to break it free... but in 50 years I have only snapped off one small stud and have used heat only a couple of times, and maybe not needed then


* "capillary action"
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