Best way to clean sludge from gearbox

[rwordenjr 1890]

Hello, whats best way to clean the sludge from a gearbox? dawn dish soap isnt working so good. 

[Willy iine 18806]

I use motor spray or CRC MAF cleaner.   Agitate with toothbrush also helps.  

I also found Dawn whitens the black ABS gearbox housing on Tamiya cars so I don't use it.. 

[Champ85 609]

My method:

Step 1: Use screwdriver to get huge pieces of goo/grease and wipe on paper towel.

Step 2: Use paper towel to get more of the remaining grease out to minimize the amount of stuff for Step 3 to deal with.

Step 3: Use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner to remove remaining oil/grease/dirt. 

It is plastic safe.  Best price is US $5 per 11 oz. can.  Amazon sometimes sells it for that price, but not always. 

Spray on plastic and metal parts, inside gearcase, on gears, etc.  Use an old plastic tub/food container to collect the drippings/runoff and use an old toothbrush to help remove stubborn grime.  Keep dipping toothbrush into pool of cleaner at bottom of container and clean parts.  Spray again as needed until almost all grime is gone.

IMPORTANT:  WEAR GLOVES!  Preferably black nitrile gloves instead of rubber/latex because the latter deteriorates quickly.  If you don't wear gloves, your skin will peel badly in a few days.  It's not good to get it on your skin.

Step 4: Use dishwashing soap (I use lemon Joy) to clean parts in warm water along with a (different from above) old used toothbrush to perform a final clean.

[Willy iine 18806]

I have that CRC electronics cleaner too, but side by side, MAF sensor cleaner was closer to RC motor spray as there was less residue after it air dried.  I compared 6-7 different products back near 20 years ago.

They say there is no residue for both products, but there is, unfortunately.  For gear cleaning either would work just fine, but for me, I prefer to have the widest range of application so decided to settle on the CRC MAF cleaner from that point forward.

Before VOC compliance, motor spray dried perfectly residue free.. 

[rwordenjr 1890]

6 hours ago, Willy iine said:

I have that CRC electronics cleaner too, but side by side, MAF sensor cleaner was closer to RC motor spray as there was less residue after it air dried.  I compared 6-7 different products back near 20 years ago.

They say there is no residue for both products, but there is, unfortunately.  For gear cleaning either would work just fine, but for me, I prefer to have the widest range of application so decided to settle on the CRC MAF cleaner from that point forward.

Before VOC compliance, motor spray dried perfectly residue free.. 

you just spray the maf on and let it sit for few minutes then wipe off?

[Willy iine 18806]

6 minutes ago, rwordenjr said:

you just spray the maf on and let it sit for few minutes then wipe off?

MAF cleaner evaporates very quickly so you'll want to spray some on, agitate the grease with a tooth brush while the grease is breaking down, reappply until you get most of the gunk off..  Then just blast it and allow to air dry.  

As @Champ85 mentioned, good idea to wipe off the majority with paper towel first.

[Big Jon 684]

I’ve had good luck with full strength Fabuloso cleaner and an ultrasonic cleaner. Just scrape or wipe off as much as you can, toss the parts in for a half hour or so, and they look like new.

And they smell like lavender.