For those of us who deal with rusty bolts (penetrating oil compression)

Not Bullnose or even Ford related... but I enjoyed this semi-scientific comparison of penetrating oils and thought others here might benefit:

https://youtu.be/st8dkGzJWtg

That's cool!  A reasonably-scientific test.  

Very interesting, and vastly more-scientific than most YouTubers I've seen.  Unfortunately, it didn't include my favorite penetrants: Liquid Wrench & PB Blaster.  I also expected to see Kroil.

Steve83 wrote

Very interesting, and vastly more-scientific than most YouTubers I've seen.  Unfortunately, it didn't include my favorite penetrants: Liquid Wrench & PB Blaster.  I also expected to see Kroil.

Those are good ones. IMHO of course.

Ever use Mouse Milk? https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Milk-Oil-8-Oz/dp/B0049C7170

We used to use Mopar Heat Valve Solvent or Penetrant, forget the exact name, on aircraft turbocharger waste gates. Spray in on, let it sit and then hit it with an air rivet gun with a 2x4 in between.

Steve83 wrote

Very interesting, and vastly more-scientific than most YouTubers I've seen.  Unfortunately, it didn't include my favorite penetrants: Liquid Wrench & PB Blaster.  I also expected to see Kroil.

My thoughts exactly Steve. Those are the three that come instantly to mind, with liquid wrench being pretty much a household name. I guess he did some other previous test with it, but I would have liked to see them included in this line up. Many of the others I have not even heard of. In the for what it’s worth department, Knock ‘Er Loose, Kroil and PB all have a similar smell and seem to work about the same. They have had all three at my work over the years and they seem to do very well.

Did anyone else find it odd that when mixed together the results were poor? I’m guessing the two duds that were thick/foamy might have had a disproportionate impact on the flow.

Yes, Knock ‘Er Loose, Liquid Wrench, and PB Blaster are my go-to's.  I also have Fluid Film, but it is a preservative rather than a penetrant, so I didn't expect anything from it.  And, mixing it with the others just upped the viscosity of the whole thing enough that nothing worked.

Ford F834 wrote

Did anyone else find it odd that when mixed together the results were poor?

I wasn't really surprised - the way he mixed them (random proportions & order) made me think the "bad" ones would prevent the others from working.  I'm not sure he even got a real "mixture" of them all since he never checked if they stratified, emulsified, or truly dissolved in each other.  His initial sample was too small.  That last "test" was the least-scientific part of the video.

And surface tension/capillarity/adhesion/cohesion (the active characteristics for this test) are very finicky & poorly-understood, which is another reason the blend's poor performance didn't surprise me.  The molecular traits that make one of them work might also make it interfere with another, or vice versa.  The more stuff in the mixture, the worse I'd expect it to perform.

Steve83 wrote

Unfortunately, it didn't include my favorite penetrants...

Unfortunately, it didn't include rust as I know it...lol. Just kidding...the tests were great, and I can appreciate the effort the guy put into that, but they look like nice relatively new nuts and bolts to me.

Usually by the time I need penetrating oil, the threads have either rusted away entirely, or the six points of the hex nut have corroded away making the nut a little rusty lump.

Rembrant wrote

Usually by the time I need penetrating oil, the threads have either rusted away entirely, or the six points of the hex nut have corroded away making the nut a little rusty lump.

Well, for a test to be scientific, it has to be repeatable - which means he needs MANY identically-rusted fasteners that are in good-enough condition to test.

And penetrating oil can't restore Iron that's just GONE - nothing will allow you to unscrew a fastener that has no threads, or drive head.  So that's not what penetrants are for, anyway (despite it being what everyone uses them for).  His test really was the correct use for those oils.  Your use (and mine) is well-beyond what a few drops of oil can do, so our use isn't realistic, no matter how common it is.

However, I would argue that his previous test (which I didn't see) involving multiple applications over several hours IS realistic for fasteners in that condition:





The fact that no one does it is irrelevant - it just means they're lazy, or they waited too late to begin the process.

I agree that it is irrelevant that people don't use the penetrating oils as they should doesn't make the test null.  When I'm trying to get heavily-rusted items loose I hit them with heat and penetrating oil for several days in advance of really hitting them with an impact.  And, just prior to hitting them with an impact I heat them again.

But, this test was very well done.  He demonstrated that even in a fairly-well controlled environment there is a significant difference in the torque to break a nut loose.  So averaging the results, as he did, is the right approach.  And, have a "control" is a good approach as well.  

Yes, that's right. I usually try to at least have some time to allow the penetrant to soak, even if it's only an hour. It just works better, other wise it's no different than not using any. My personal favorites have always been PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench. I've had excellent results from Aero Kroil also. I was surprised it tested poorly for him. My personal experience it surpassed PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench, but for my uses, it is too expensive.

Steve83 wrote

So that's not what penetrants are for, anyway (despite it being what everyone uses them for).  His test really was the correct use for those oils.  Your use (and mine) is well-beyond what a few drops of oil can do, so our use isn't realistic, no matter how common it is.

Haha...no, no Steve, I understand what the correct uses are for penetrating oils, and I thought his tests were quite good. As I said, the time and effort he put into that is impressive. I was just showing my southern envy there wishing that I had less rust to deal with than I often do.

grumpin wrote

Steve83 wrote

Very interesting, and vastly more-scientific than most YouTubers I've seen.  Unfortunately, it didn't include my favorite penetrants: Liquid Wrench & PB Blaster.  I also expected to see Kroil.

Those are good ones. IMHO of course.

Ever use Mouse Milk? https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Milk-Oil-8-Oz/dp/B0049C7170

We used to use Mopar Heat Valve Solvent or Penetrant, forget the exact name, on aircraft turbocharger waste gates. Spray in on, let it sit and then hit it with an air rivet gun with a 2x4 in between.

I have not heard of the Mopar Heat Valve Solvent since the late 70's when I worked at a Dodge / Chry / Plym dealer ship in the body shop.

Kroil works great when I used it in HVAC at a hospital and would be my go to if I could find it on the store shelves.
I have PB Blaster on hand but don't think it works to good as it seams to dry out if left to soak in.
Also not happy with Liquid Wrench.
I have some ATF & WD-40 mixed that I was pouring in plug holes on a stuck motor, have not checked if it worked yet?
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

grumpin wrote

Steve83 wrote

Very interesting, and vastly more-scientific than most YouTubers I've seen.  Unfortunately, it didn't include my favorite penetrants: Liquid Wrench & PB Blaster.  I also expected to see Kroil.

Those are good ones. IMHO of course.

Ever use Mouse Milk? https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Milk-Oil-8-Oz/dp/B0049C7170

We used to use Mopar Heat Valve Solvent or Penetrant, forget the exact name, on aircraft turbocharger waste gates. Spray in on, let it sit and then hit it with an air rivet gun with a 2x4 in between.

I have not heard of the Mopar Heat Valve Solvent since the late 70's when I worked at a Dodge / Chry / Plym dealer ship in the body shop.

Kroil works great when I used it in HVAC at a hospital and would be my go to if I could find it on the store shelves.
I have PB Blaster on hand but don't think it works to good as it seams to dry out if left to soak in.
Also not happy with Liquid Wrench.
I have some ATF & WD-40 mixed that I was pouring in plug holes on a stuck motor, have not checked if it worked yet?
Dave ----

I agree on the Kroil. Another that impressed me was Pyroil penetrating oil. I haven't seen it lately either.
http://pyroilchemicals.com/products/pyroil-penetrating-oil

Ford F834,

I stumbled across this video about a year ago when researching how to tame the rust of a "northern" truck. (Ferdinand has spent nearly his entire life around Pittsburgh Pa).

I was quite satisfied with the effort and detail in the video!

Thanks for sharing it here. It has been a help to me and I am sure it will be to others.

Ferdinand wrote

Thanks for sharing it here. It has been a help to me and I am sure it will be to others.

Did this convince you to use any particular product? Just curious (since you are working on a rust belt truck) what you decided to use and how well it did in the real world?

I have to agreee with others here that if I know I will be tackling some tough bolts I start applying penetrating oil well in advance, and may make several applications even days before I go to wrench on it. Liquid wrench has been my usual stand-by, but it does seem to evaporate quickly and maybe isn’t the best for soaking over time. But I live in Arizona, what do I know about “rust”? 🤔

Next time I am in the auto parts store I want to see if they have the Sea Foam deep creep oil.

I used the gas treatment in a small wood chipper, 5hp engine, that sat for years with bad gas. I rebuilt the carb and it started but ran like crap. I added 2 time the sea foam treatment for the tank size and the longer it ran the better it got, that made a believer in sea foam.
Dave ----