Penetrating Oils

Swimmerboy2112

Swimmerboy2112

New member
Stole this from another forum, thought you guys would appreciate the info!


Machinist's Workshop MagT recently published some information on various penetrating oils. The magazine reports they tested penetrates for break out torque on rusted nuts.They are below. They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrates with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.

Penetrating oils ........... Average torque load to loosen

No Oil used ................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ..................... ... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .................... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...............127 pounds
Kano Kroil .................... 106 pounds
ATF*-Acetone mix............53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test.

ATF-Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a 50-50 mix.

*ATF=Automatic Transmission Fluid.
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I'm a big fan of Kroil, been using it faithfully for years but I think i'm gonna give the ATF/Acetone mix a try!
 
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Be careful mixing chemicals. The results may loosed hardware but could produce vapors that you don't want any part of.

I'll stick to manufactured products that are safe to use, even if I have to throw out a few choice words to break a bolt loose.
 
I've tried the ATF/acetone mix on lugnuts that were frozen on by salt spray. In four days of soaking the drivers side twice a day, they never did come free with the mix. PB Blast broke the passengers side free in a day and a half, and when I used it the fifth day on the drivers side they came right off too.

I'll stick with my manufactured stuff too.
 
SV_Dude said:
Be careful mixing chemicals. The results may loosed hardware but could produce vapors that you don't want any part of.

I'll stick to manufactured products that are safe to use, even if I have to throw out a few choice words to break a bolt loose.
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That's a good point, just like mixing bleach and ammonia, that's bad news.

But others have tried this with no ill effects so I am assuming it's safe.
 
Interesting general info.

The reliability is all in the details of how the test was performed.

Wouldn't be easy to do it well, but I'll probably incorporate the rankings of the commercial products as a tie-breaker after filtering by price.
 
Our techs are having great luck with the Freeze and Release products. I can't find the specific one we are currently using, but I have tried a few different ones. I will find out the one my tech found the other day. He used it to free some rusty undercarriage bolts on an F150 that hadn't moved in probably 20 years. It is designed for electric linesmen to use on power line nuts.
 
shadow247 said:
Our techs are having great luck with the Freeze and Release products. I can't find the specific one we are currently using, but I have tried a few different ones. I will find out the one my tech found the other day. He used it to free some rusty undercarriage bolts on an F150 that hadn't moved in probably 20 years. It is designed for electric linesmen to use on power line nuts.
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I'd love to hear more. I've used Liquid Wrench, regular WD40, PB Blast, and Deep Creep, and PB Blaster seems to work the best for me so far. I'm always looking for something better though.
 
go organic

landcruiser said:
1/2 astroglide and 1/2 crisco...
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better...
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we use PB blaster at the shop. it works OK. we had Break Away at the last place, I think it worked better.


my AT-home go to is wd40.
 
02_SE_Runner said:
I use the organic stuff too! lol :naughty:

But anyways, My dad and I never use penetrating oil for some reason, even on 50 year old bolts we always muscle it together with a few cuss words, and a hernia later it breaks free. :cheers:
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I see you're in NV, come to PA and try that, let's see how many bolts you snap off... damn rust.
 
I've had good luck with Liquid Wrench. It's around $5 a can. I'm not into making a mess by mixing atf and acetone.
 
+1 with the Kroil/Kano stuff. God in a can almost.

Another I use frequently is CRC 656, which is found at most boating retailers. It works well, sometimes better than Kroil if I am in a hurry.
 
I just spent the last 4 hours trying to diassemble a rear diff that had rusted to hell. I was about to take a blow torch to the bolts, but a liberal application of Kroil did the trick.

I also use it to clean the bolt carriers on my AR's.
 
I've used these.maybe even others. PB has worked the best. My beef with them is they smeel so aweful. Anyone know something that doesn't smell like an oil rig? What about the 3 in 1 oil with the pointed spout. They have a penetrant version. Seems like it would make less mess, and can use less, more directed/focussed. Less = less smell... but does it work.

liquid wrench
release all
freeze
pb blaster
 
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