I'm wondering if I can use mineral spirits to clean the oil pan.

Also, I've heard that I should use electronic contact cleaner for the pickup tube - is that a good idea? Is brake cleaner better? I have MAF sensor cleaner as well.

Can I clean the power steering reservoir's screen with any of these as well? It's got some oil that's built-up on it that I'd like to remove.

I might have some old gasoline as well, but I don't do anything without checking with everyone first - the problem is that I hear different things from everyone and I'm not at all advanced in any of this to know what I should do, so I'm always hoping to find if there's a general consensus on what's best.

 

Gasoline isn’t a good idea as it is very flammable and therefore dangerous. I use Stoddard solvent, here in Canada it goes by the name Varsol. I’m sure mineral spirits would be okay but I’m not really familiar with it.

 

My mechanic uses gasoline because he says it works best. Of course it is flammable, but so are all those solvents mentioned. Whatever you use, drying well with compressed air or out in the sun is recommended.

 

Stoddard solvent is not flammable, that’s we we use it so heavily in industry. It may eventually burn if you hold a flame to it, but compared to gasoline it’s very safe.

 

Thanks everyone - I'd never heard the term Stoddard solvent, but it appears it's another name for mineral spirits, which I have on-hand and would like to use for this job, unless gasoline is recommended above mineral spirits. I'll be sure to let it dry out for a bit and flush it out a bit with clean oil. I think soaking the pickup pipe's screen in mineral spirits should break down anything heavy on it, as well as the screen on the power steering reservoir. Hopefully it's safe for both of these uses.

 

Simple green works well too. I just get a couple gallons at Home Depot, fill a plastic tote, and soak them for a bit. Everything comes out looking brand new.

 

Am I able to use Simple Green on the engine itself and other areas like where the timing chain goes to clean everything there? I also have brake cleaner and carb/choke cleaner. I figure I could fill up with whatever oil after, drive it a few miles, then dump it if that's something people do. Otherwise, I could just be very careful about cleaning and mostly use elbow grease to get the heavy sludge and crud off, and, maybe something like Simple Green to break down a bit of the junk without worrying about getting everything perfectly degreased. After Simple Green, I could spray it with WD40 if that's recommended, just really unsure what process to take with the areas that are going to allow some degreaser into the motor like the underside of the engine and the front of the motor behind the timing cover, which I'd like to clean up a bit.

 

I have mineral spirits and I'm in the other CA where almost everything is banned (California). I could use that on the pickup, sump, area behind the front cover and behind the sump on the block itself if that'll be a good way to clean this stuff up. It's not a problem for a bit of Simple Green or mineral spirits to get into the oil and engine? I could do another oil change quickly to flush the stuff out more, as well as using some other engine flush if that's a good idea.

 

I use SG on everything car-related, have for years, and haven't had a problem. Don't use carb cleaner, it's way too harsh. Brake cleaner is fine, but less effective in certain applications. My engine was filthy before changing the head gaskets too. There's really no shortcut here if you want to do a good job. Get a bottle of SG, and go to town with a toothbrush.

 

A lot of simple green got into the coolant passages and open camshaft area/valley for me. Once the waterways were all sealed up, I poured about six gallons of distilled water through the system to clean all the SG and any small bits of cleaning debris out, then filled the system for real. And for the engine oil, also once everything was buttoned up, did an oil change before starting it up, drove around town for a week, and then did another and then went back on the normal 5K/6mo cycle.