Cleaing the engine bay - yellow wax?

[P3rks 11]

I'm trying to give my Corrado engine bay a good clean and removing 20 years of crap.

 

I'm really struggling removing the original yellow protective wax. I've scraped all the large thick chunks out but I'm left with a dull white/yellow film everywhere. It's just impossible to remove.

 

 

I've tried a pressure washer, steam cleaner, kettle, gunk, AG tar remover, AG engine cleaner, AP cleaner, detergent and a heat gun. No cleaning product is touching it. The steam cleaner doesn't really touch it, the kettle melts the wax but it just spreads thin and sets hard very quickly. The heat gun melts it, but as the kettle it just thins out and sets again. Some parts where it's really thin such as the turrets the kettle/heat gun doesn't work but scrubbing it with my nail chips it away.

 

Any advice what top try next that won;t ruin the paint work?

[jscVR6 0]

I've had the same trouble with mine, everything in the engine bay is covered in it. The only thing i've found so far that touches it is carb cleaner, but it still takes ages to remove.

[C5 OEM 0]

Just keep going mate,did exactly the same and it did work but takes a few applications to get it clean...

 

[Dox 22]

I've read that handcleaner works well. I'd also give white spirit a try.

 

A warmer day would help too I'd imagine? Heat gun to soften it?

[P3rks 11]

Just keep going mate,did exactly the same and it did work but takes a few applications to get it clean...

 

Very nice C5 OEM, What was your method of cleaning?

 

 

I've read that handcleaner works well. I'd also give white spirit a try.

 

A warmer day would help too I'd imagine? Heat gun to soften it?

 

Well, I've tried white spirit but I'm a little unsure if it's safe on paintwork. It's leaving a cloudy finish. But it is dissolving the wax. I've been told petrol or diesel might work?

[Jamie 1]

Are you using an industrial sort of steam cleaner or one of the small hand held ones? Autosmart do a product designed specifically for this but for the life of me I can't remember what it's called (sorry not a lot of help I know :) ) but you do need a proper steam cleaner to get the best from it. G101 works well on the leftovers as well.

[C5 OEM 0]

I used a wall paper steam cleaner with autosmart g101 and also a kettle....!

[P3rks 11]

Slowly getting there...

 

 

It seems boiling water - lots of it, a pressure washer, white spirits, Gunk, IPA solution then a polish seems to be doing the trick.. Oh, and a lot of elbow grease.. What a horrible job.

[Yandards 0]

White spirit or diesel works well but you need a lot of clean rags to remove the gunk.

[Jim Bowen 1]

I ended up getting as most of it off as i could, then just melted the rest with a heat gun and let it reform without the cracks, then i added more wax for protection rather than ditch it all.

[P3rks 11]

Right,

 

I've done 90% of the bay.

 

Heating it up is the way to go, boiling water melts it and flushes it away whilst a 5-10 second blast with a heat gun also melts it, so it can be wiped away.

 

So..

 

Boiling water / heat gun removed the large deposits if wax, then I used engine degreaser / white spirit, then IPA solution, all with a lot of old rags and a lot of elbow grease. That got me ready for a polish.

 

BUT! For the life if me, I can't remove this stuff on the near side turret.

 

 

It's rock hard, harder than the paint underneath it and all the other wax Ive encounted. The other turret was similar, but no way near as hard or as thick and white spirit and a scrub removed that side no problem.

 

I've tried everything, heat doesn't touch it really, the heat gun needs to be left on for so long its melting the wax on the underside of the arch, its smoking the paintwork around the effected area; but all it does is ever so slightly soften this stuff - to the point I get 5 seconds of scrub time with a rag before the rag wants to set on fire. I've spent a good few hours on this section and I've removed less than a half squre inch. It's just not a feasible solution.

 

No product is touching it, not in the slightest.

 

I've tried picking at it with my nails (which worked on the other turret), a plastic scraper, a Brillo pad, scourer, various acidic wheel cleaners and heavy duty wheel brushes. In fact the only thing which really made a dent was using a metal screwdriver or a Stanley blade to pick it off, but its ruining the paint underneath - so that's not feasible either.

 

I'm actually wondering whether this stuff is the protective wax I've encountered elsewhere or whether it's a reminiscence of an old adhesive? Maybe something like what held the bonnet insulation on and its melted, dripped down and re-set super strong - because I had the exact same stuff on my inlet manifold too.

 

I think the next things to try are paint thinners and strippers, but that scares me. Another option is 1500-2000grit sandpaper then buffing the surface afterwards.

 

Any ideas guys? It's rotting my brain now, this'll be the 5th day on it! Grrrr!

[Supercharged 2]

You tried polish? often works on thin layers of stuff... especially good at removing sticky stuff

 

Try 3M fast Cut Plus or something similar like G3

[P3rks 11]

Tried Farecla G3 and also Memzerna Fast Gloss FG400.

 

Didn't touch it.

 

Things tried so far:

 

Brake cleaner, injector/carb cleaner, hyper clean degreaser, WD40, GT85, machine cleaner, engine degreaser. Gunk, tar remover, various grades of polish and car shampoo, citrus cleaner, APC cleaner, wheel cleaners (some acidic, some PH neutral), white spirits, methylated spirits, heat gun, boiling water, detergent, petrol, diesel, glass cleaner, glass polish and IPA solution.

 

Nothing touches it. It's literally harder than paint.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Thats what made me give up and decide to keep the wax instead :lol:

 

Although some just peeled off, i ended up very much like yours above

[P3rks 11]

I never give up.

 

I'm going to try paint thinners, adhesive remover and acetone.

 

Wish me luck! :awesome:

[aide 0]

i spent many school holidays in a cleaning bay removing this stuff from vw's with a steam cleaner, back in the day all new VAG's were supplied covered in the stuff, it was thinner on the bodywork but still there, we never removed it from anywhere where it wasn't outwardly visible.

 

we used a big ass steam cleaner, and i mean real big that was an effort to push around, it was a petrol powered cleaner that pumped a mixture of piping hot water with a detergent additive. the force was such that the jet basically peeled the wax back, took some effort to operate.

 

maybe a modern steam cleaner could peel it in a similar fashion, but not your b&q/ halford karcher jobs.

[P3rks 11]

Well, I managed to get it off, well, to a stage I'm happy with.

 

I used cellulose thinner. :shocked!:

 

I tested a small area first to make sure it was safe enough then just liberally applied it. It softens the wax just enough so it can be scrubbed away; it doesn't melt it, literally softens the bond with the paint. You have to use loads of the stuff because it evaporates quickly and work in small area's at a time, plus you have to really scrub it to remove it. It caused a few scuffs due to the constant rubbing and build up of the wax; it's dulled the lacquer but nothing a really good polish can't fix - plus, even before a polish it looks miles better so I'm happy.

 

You have to be careful though as some parts of the bay is obviously un-lacquered, such as where the sealant lines are (where the turret joins the chassis for example) and also in the nooks and crannies (behind the turrets etc). The thinner just removes the paint there very quickly, luckily I've only gone through in area's where a touch up will be more or less invisible, to be honest; it's more or less inevitable and I thought the outcome would be much worse.

 

Here is where I am so far:

 

Weather permitting I will be touching up, polishing, glazing and waxing the bay so I'll show some finished results then.