Cleaning diesel soot out of muffler

[mark2]

Ok - not quite Land Rover tech but may still be relevant.

I have a Kubota diesel ride on mower which has a heavily sooted muffler, to the point where the holes in the baffles are quite restricted. Rather than replace it for big $$$, I'd like to try cleaning it out. There is no way to dissasemble it apart from cutting it apart and rewelding. Are there any effective solvents which I could fill it with and let soak to dissovle the soot? Alternatively would heating it with the oxy burn out the soot? Any other suggestions?

[rick130]

You can use something like turps and soak it, I use that for cleaning the spark arrestor in the tractor, (it's a take apart muffler though) but believe it or not, mix up a strong solution of washing powder in a bucket and soak the muffler in it overnight or for a few days then flush all the crap out.

I've done this numerous times with two stroke chainsaw mufflers and it works a treat.

[Bigbjorn]

Ok - not quite Land Rover tech but may still be relevant.

I have a Kubota diesel ride on mower which has a heavily sooted muffler, to the point where the holes in the baffles are quite restricted. Rather than replace it for big $$$, I'd like to try cleaning it out. There is no way to disassemble it apart from cutting it apart and rewelding. Are there any effective solvents which I could fill it with and let soak to dissovle the soot? Alternatively would heating it with the oxy burn out the soot? Any other suggestions?

We used to flame out Donaldson mufflers (5") on the Detroit 8V92T's with two oxy-acetylene pre-heating torches. Warm right up with one blowing down the inlet and then blow oxygen in with the other. Probably not according to OH&S and EPA these days but works a treat and blows big heaps of smoke and sparks so be careful where you do it.

If you can find a bulk supply of carbon tetrachloride you could soak the muffler in that. Its use has been mostly forbidden for decades. It is carcinigeous(spelling?) and bloody dangerous.

[vnx205]

Try asking this bloke.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/144983-truck-awesomeness.html#post1634521
It looks as if he should have the same problem. :D

[Grappler]

I used gentle heat from an oxy whilst blowing compressed air through a choked up motor cycle muffler and that cleaned it. It was very smokey, so probably not EC nowadays

[rick130]

[snip]

If you can find a bulk supply of carbon tetrachloride you could soak the muffler in that. Its use has been mostly forbidden for decades. It is carcinigeous(spelling?) and bloody dangerous.

Geez Brian, where would you even attempt to find that stuff these days ? :lol2:

Dear old Dad has some nasty carbon tet stories, thankfully it was gone by the time I started work.
We just cut Mill Board (asbestos sheet) with circular saws to line air conditioning heater boxes instead :(

[Bigbjorn]

Geez Brian, where would you even attempt to find that stuff these days ? :lol2:

Dear old Dad has some nasty carbon tet stories, thankfully it was gone by the time I started work.
We just cut Mill Board (asbestos sheet) with circular saws to line air conditioning heater boxes instead :(

It was in common use as a cleaning liquid and fire extinguisher when I was an apprentice and young fitter. It would dissolve carbon deposits inside cylinders without removing the heads. Dry cleaners swore by it as a spot remover and later died like flies from liver cancers. It was used in big electrical fuses on power lines. We didn't know, or weren't told about the dangers. I worked in ship repair then and asbestos cladding on steam pipes was flung around by the bucket by laggers. Laggers, whether 17 or 70 were always "dirty old laggers" as they were always coverd in the stuff. How any of us survived is a medical miracle. Ceetet was a terrific solvent though.

[Tank]

It was in common use as a cleaning liquid and fire extinguisher when I was an apprentice and young fitter. It would dissolve carbon deposits inside cylinders without removing the heads. Dry cleaners swore by it as a spot remover and later died like flies from liver cancers. It was used in big electrical fuses on power lines. We didn't know, or weren't told about the dangers. I worked in ship repair then and asbestos cladding on steam pipes was flung around by the bucket by laggers. Laggers, whether 17 or 70 were always "dirty old laggers" as they were always coverd in the stuff. How any of us survived is a medical miracle. Ceetet was a terrific solvent though.
It can take 30 to 40 years to catch up, I worked in shipyards and I knew painters and dockers that died (from Asbetos) within a few years and others that lived for over 30 years before they succumbed, dangerous ****, Regards Frank.

[Bigbjorn]

It can take 30 to 40 years to catch up, I worked in shipyards and I knew painters and dockers that died (from Asbetos) within a few years and others that lived for over 30 years before they succumbed, dangerous ****, Regards Frank.

Yeah, a mate of mine, a boilie who worked in the ED yards got about $300,000 settlement for mesothelioma. He says he would rather be poor. He is living a death sentence of steadily worsening quality of life.

[Davehoos]

I used a product called kill soot in the fire place.oxidises the carbon to increase burn of rate.

a few years ago it came as loose powder,last time it came as pre measured to throw in when the fire was hot.
I once threw some in the engine pipe and heated with oxy.then started the engine-it burns like magneseium so it was scarey.

a safer way would be introduce fuel air mix[like LPG] into the engine pipe with the engine running.using a read valve setup like the thermal reactor pumps on most pre ULP cars[modern cars are now using electric pumps for air injection to heat up the exhauste with unburnt fuel.a mate uses petrol injected into the exhaust to spool up the turbo.we find this system gives a clean pipe..

the oxy tends to heat small areas of the exhaust.im told LPG is better.

I often had to do the charade after ethonal fuel introduction.with the engine running on a hoist you work your way allong the pipes and have the exhaust vented to the extraction system.

cans of stuff you can buy,but not certian how safe keytone or thinners are.

[rick130]

[snip]

cans of stuff you can buy,but not certian how safe keytone or thinners are.

MEK (methylethylketone) is a brilliant solvent but geez it knocks you around.

[Blknight.aus]

or heat the thing up on a fire (you need to get it to about 550 degrees and then feed it buckets of air from a compressor.

if youve got a ready source of flowing water ( a bilge pump with a hessian strainer box in a 44 will do) immersing the thing in water and flowing the water against the normal direction of flow can clean them up unless the carbon has been compacted in which case you need to go back to the heat and burn or chemical cleaning methods.

[Davehoos]

mate of mine bought a I30 TD.
when research the purcase he found they get a soot issue in sydney type
traffic.

he asked at a dealer that told him that newsletters told that a procure was being worked on.