On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:10:21 -0500, "Paul"
wrote:


"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"RoyJ" wrote in message
m...
I ran my trusty Kohler 301 12 hp a bit low on oil, trashed the con rod.
(My bad)It looks like the crank is ok but it has a decent buildup of
galled aluminum on the one side. I could scrape it off but that would
risk scratching the journal. Any bright ideas how to get the aluminum
off without touching the journal? Maybe a few drops of a strong
alkaline like lye???

Lye is good, but not a few drops. You'll need to cover it with solution.

If your patience is slim and if you want to do it at room temperature (a
safe idea), you can use some Pequa drain cleaner. That's a straight 45%
lye solution in water, and it's so concentrated that it's actually
slightly viscous. 45% is dangerous to handle but it does the job. Dilute
50% with water if you're edgy about using a concentrated solution.

I've used 20% with success -- in fact, I've wrecked a few aluminum parts
with it, trying to frost them. d8-) For reference, a 40% solution is 1
kg of lye to 1.5 liters (1.5 kg) of water. That 1 to 1-1/2 ratio is easy
to remember.

My lye tank for small parts is a plastic Tide bottle cut in half. Don't
use it with hot lye.

--
Ed Huntress


CLR (calcium, lime, rust remover) works too.
Paul

It contains some mild organic acids. They probably will have no harmful
effect over a short time, but I wonder how long you can leave a steel
crankshaft in them. Any idea?

--
Ed Huntress


Ed,
I've soaked HSS taps in CLR for upto a week to remove aluminum stuck in the
teeth. The surface of the steel turns black but the cutting edges are still
sharp.
Paul

And lye would do the same in about 5 minutes.
It won'e embrittle the taps either.