Removing Fresh FPIG

STI_MECE

STI_MECE

New member
What tricks do you have guys for removing Fresh FPIG.

I am doing valve covers again and I got new half moons that I put on my old engine and I am transferring them over.

It toook me like 30 minutes per half moon to get it clean.

I used brass brush, elbow grease and brake cleaner. Oddly enough what seemed to work the best was my freaking finger nail lol

I also tried gasket remover and letting it soak, nothing. That stuff definitely seals really well that's for sure!

I haven't don't the other side yet. Help me I'm done lol



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At work we use hot tanks and drop cast into them that has silicone on. When they come out of the tank the silicone comes right off. It's a loctite FIPG. There is also chemical in the hot tank but it degrades the oil and dirt not the silicone. I'd drop your half moons in a pot when your old lady isnt looking and let them boil. Silicone will peel right off in one piece. But may not. Lol. Good luck!
 
STI_MECE said:
What tricks do you have guys for removing Fresh FPIG.

I am doing valve covers again and I got new half moons that I put on my old engine and I am transferring them over.

It toook me like 30 minutes per half moon to get it clean.

I used brass brush, elbow grease and brake cleaner. Oddly enough what seemed to work the best was my freaking finger nail lol

I also tried gasket remover and letting it soak, nothing. That stuff definitely seals really well that's for sure!

I haven't don't the other side yet. Help me I'm done lol

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

it seems to me it comes down to 2 paths

#1 wire wheels, 3m green scrubby pads cut up into little squares , sand paper, plastic scrappers, razor blades, your teeth.

#2 buy new one done.

my fav goto has become an old wood working Stanley chisel. I get it scary sharp and the fip/gasket stuff just peals off like butter. I have mad wood working + sharpening skills so this may not be an option for everybody but it works better than everything I have tried to date.
 
VernySanders said:
I'd drop your half moons in a pot when your old lady isnt looking and let them boil. Silicone will peel right off in one piece. But may not. Lol.
Click to expand...

Lol when she isnt looking...LOL. That's a great way to sleep on the coach.

At least use a junk pot ..;)

Wire brush in a drill or air tool or a 3m abrasive disc would be the ticket. Some use gasoline, I try acetone. :)



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When I dropped the trans pan on my rig, I found a wire wheel either on a regular drill or a wire wheel on a Dremel makes life much easier. For those little half moons, I'd clamp them in a vice with soft or aluminum jaws, and use a Dremel with a wire wheel attachment to speed up the cleaning process.

The hard part of cleaning off FIPG for the valve cover gasket job in my opinion is the surfaces of the head. If the job was done right before, there should be FIPG at all the corners where the camshaft ends are, at each half moon, and at each cam plug collar at the back of the heads. And, if the job was done last by a mechanic or owner who thought it's a good idea to smear FIPG around the diameter of the cam plugs, good luck getting all the old FIPG out of that area at the back of the heads where the cam plug sits into. It was the thought of how hard it would be to get FIPG out of that cam plug area that kept me from following what some guys do and it's really not necessary. That cam plug is a rubberized plug and should make a leak proof seal with the head if it was installed correctly and the collar was torqued to spec.

For the head, I got in their with a scraper tool (I used a plastic putty knife) and painstakingly got it all off the head and tried really hard not to drop the bits of FIPG into my valve train area. I now own a mini scraper with plastic razor blades. It works ok but you have to regularly change out the blades because they get mangled pretty quick. My fear is gouging the head surface with a metal scraping tool.
 
When I worked for Lexus we always removed FIPG mechanically; as in scrapers, razor blades, wire wheels, etc.
 
Are you installing OEM gaskets? If not it might leak again. Toyota FIPG is the only way to go.
You can apply a small film of fipg on the gasket that rests at the bottom to keep a good seal.
 
I might have to try the rubbing alcohol and boiling them next time (hopefully I don't need to do this for a third time for awhile)lol Dremel though is definitely way to go for quick handling

I can clean the heads where the valve cover go easier than the half moons

And talk about doing the job right! I pulled my half moons off my bad engine and I did the valve covers 250 miles ago those puppies were on there! Lol

I highly recommend a really nice brass brush for cleaning the head surface. You can use steel on iron heads but brass on aluminum. Or just buy a bunch of cheap brass brushes or wheels online. I bought a ten pack I think for 8 bucks. I used every single brush for the valve covers.

Then get some Scott glass professional towels and your on your way to a clean surface with no lint.

But yeah. Screw cleaning fresh FPIG off half moons! Lol cleaning those took me longer than it did to do my timing belt lol

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Grab with pliers, hit with wire wheel on die grinder. 3-4 seconds later its nice clean metal.

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A Google search just now revealed 2 chemicals that can decompose or shrink/swell RTV: 1. Hot trichloroethylene (120º F) and 2. concentrated sulfuric acid.
I think I'll stick with physical removal!
 
pluton said:
A Google search just now revealed 2 chemicals that can decompose or shrink/swell RTV: 1. Hot trichloroethylene (120º F) and 2. concentrated sulfuric acid.
I think I'll stick with physical removal!
Click to expand...

Aw cmon, a little TCE never hurt anyone ;)
 
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