Technical Oven cleaner wreaks havoc on cast aluminium?

I soaked my disassembled fuel pump with oven cleaner and left it for 6-8 hours like usual but when I came back and cleaned it up, it went from looking nice and bright like this:

to looking dark and worse than before:

The same goes for the outside, it looks awful. What the hell did I get myself into?

EDIT: It doesn't clean off with hot water and soap or even more oven cleaner kept on for a shorter duration (20 minutes)

 

Why did you use oven cleaner?
Is the rubber diaphragm still attached ?
You could alway polish or blast the outer housing now,but the valves and all rubber components will be stuffed if say.

 

Oh yeah it's all stripped down and no rubber was left in it (just those two valves that were a pita to get out) I have a complete rebuild kit anyways. I know not to use it on aluminum now, it worked beautifully on cast iron. Didn't think./know it would dull like this.

 

I know lye has this effect on aluminum. Is lye an ingredient in that cleaner?

 

That part has a finish on it otherwise it would look a lot worse.

 

I use Easy-Off all the time on aluminum transmissions cases, but I don't leave it on any longer than needed; usually less than 30 minutes. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

According to post #7 of this thread below, some have actually used oven cleaner on aluminum parts to give it a faux patina look and it apparently works..

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...agnesium-or-aging-new-aluminum-wheels.720367/

Here is the quote from the Street Rodder article mentioned in above thread:

"Another aging trick used by Chris on some of the aluminum pieces, including the hood and decklid, was where he sprayed Easy-Off oven cleaner on them and let it soak in."

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/1208sr-1932-ford-three-window-coupe/

Decklid mentioned..

 

I wish I had access to a media blaster or a compressor good enough to blast with. It's not going to be easy to polish off. Wouldn't have to mess with oven cleaner if I could blast it in the first place.

That article " overall distressed look" describes the way the pump looks now perfectly. Damn.

 

Sorry man, at least you know now and hopefully others won't make the same mistake. Good luck with it.

 

Leave it like that and start distressing the rest of the car to match.....

 

you could try running it through the dishwasher , cleans alloy up well ,
clothes washing powder also works, use it in a bucket with boiling water , you need the full strength type with Biological bits , don't bother with non bio gentle /baby /ozone friendly tree hugger stuff.

oven cleaner is basically caustic soda , its a natural enemy of aluminium

 

Where are you located? Maybe someone here could help out with it?

 

I think I'd try soda blasting first.

Roger

 

I would go to your local parts store, and get some Eagle One Mag Wheel cleaner and try that. Its nasty stuff and it works wonders on cast aluminum.
Brian

 

As Corncob mentioned, Sodium Hydroxide (lye) is the culprit.
FYI; it's also the active ingredient in Castrol Super Clean (and knockoffs such as Walmarts Purple Power).

Soaking old model car parts in Castrol Super Clean is an old trick that modelers use to strip old paint (and chrome) from models as it will not generally harm styrene plastic.

 

I use oven cleaner to strip anodizing off old ford trim from the 60's ,
as a lot of the trim is anodized aliminium. Gotta watch how long you leave it on for
so it doesn't attack the aluminium, once removed you can polish the aluminium .

 

so, why did you use oven cleaner in the first place - your comment about time

sounds like you have done this process before - you should have known what to expect then - there are different types of oven cleaner, and never leave on for that length of time.

 

Congrats! You found out how to strip anodizing and then left it so long how to etch aluminum. We use it to remove anodizing all the time.

 

Oven cleaner, I only use it on really scrougy aluminum stuff, oil baked on intakes, brake dust eaten wheels. It gives an improved appearance, but not great.

Try oxalic acid, otherwise known as wood bleach (home depot) to strip anodizing from trim.

 

Yup, spray it on, quick scrub with rubber gloves and get it off! It eats aluminum. I used it to strip the anodizing off the headlight doors from my chevy II before I did the metalwork. I literally stood over it and watched it, did it in multiple 5 minute applications instead of all at once, but I am extra cautious about stuff like that.

 

Didn't you read the label? Usually they warn you against using oven cleaner on aluminum.

 

You cleaned it in Acid, not a good idea. You need to neutralize the acid, make a solution of backing soda and water heavy on the soda but not enough to make a paste out of it and give it a good soaking. That will kill the acid. After soaking flush it good with water.

next time of you are just trying to get the grime off if it mix some tide laundry soap (powder) and water, mix it pretty stout you're not doing laundry with it, and soak it down good then take a tooth brush to it or a scrub brush and wash the hell out of it, then rinse good with water.

There really are no short cuts to cleaning a motor or motor parts, there are some ways to make it easier but if you want it clean that is work.

 

Try using a small brass or stainless wire brush and some aerosol carb cleaner like Berryman or Gumout. Scrub lightly while spraying it on and it just might bring back the original finish quickly. Don't press too hard or it leaves scratches. I do this with carbs, manifolds and fuel pumps with pretty good results. It will scratch the coating if you get carried away but it sounds like your part isn't coated at this point. Try a little area that won't be seen first.

 

I've used ex-off oven cleaner to remove aluminum stuck on cyl walls from scoring a piston-honing will take too much of the cyl before it even touches the aluminum.{p.s.-learned this trick from snowmobile racers who seem to score lots of pistons]

 

For small aluminum parts, I use antifreeze in a crock pot set at around 200 degrees. Makes parts look like new. Dedicate pot for this only and make sure you do not use crock pot for any food. Ya, common sense should tell you that.

 

I can hear my wife now "you know, this pot roast you made tastes odd..."

 

Well this is a new one on me. Do you use the older, green, ethylene glycol antifreeze? Full strength or diluted? This actually sounds like a relatively safe cleaning solution. And it shouldn't be harmful to rubber or plastic.

 

its not the glycol in the a/f its the silicates in it which are alkalis which will act like a very weak caustic agent .

 

caustic soda cannot generate Hydrocloric acid vapors ( it can generate Co when mixed with organics , and chlorine gas when mixed with HCl ) , as its a base and is often used to nuetralize acidics ( HCL , So2, HS2 ) in scrubbers and when mixed with HCl reverts back to salt ( sodium chloride ) ,
I been hauling the stuff and working around it for 25 years in 50 % liquid and slurry 70% form and many lower dilutes . mostly for PPG and Olin .
as for handling it read a MSD OR SDS for proper PPE as many types of gloves are not compatable with it and will disolve and reactions with water generates lot of heat and can spatter or boil