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Tried a new ultrasonic cleaner on injectors versus the old hot tank method
Had a set of 6.7 Powerstroke injectors that were barely flowing, so I ran three through our shop's old chemical hot tank and three in a new Hornady ultrasonic unit. The ultrasonic ones came out spotless and tested within spec, while the hot tank left carbon in the tiny holes. Anyone have a go-to cleaning fluid they swear by for these machines?
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the_daniel3mo ago
Okay, the part about the hot tank leaving carbon in the tiny holes is key. People always talk about the fluid, but they skip the agitation. An ultrasonic cleaner works by those tiny bubbles scrubbing everywhere, even inside holes a chemical soak can't fully reach. The hot tank might soften the gunk, but it can't physically blast it out of a small orifice like cavitation can. So it's less about the magic juice and more about the machine's method of attack. The right fluid helps, but it's useless without that proper mechanical action.
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johnh823mo ago
Exactly, that's the whole point a lot of people miss. I had a set of injectors that a simple soak just wouldn't fix, they were still clogged. Threw them in my cheap ultrasonic with some simple green and warm water, ran a few cycles. The difference was night and day, you could actually see little particles coming out of the holes during the cycle. The fluid just sits there in a tank, but the bubbles do the real work of knocking everything loose from the inside out.
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the_kim1mo ago
Did you try any of those purpose-made ultrasonic cleaning solutions, or just stick with Simple Green? I read a comparison once where the guy said Simple Green can actually leave a film on parts if you don't rinse them right away, so he switched to a blend of distilled water and a little bit of ammonia. @the_daniel makes a good point about the agitation being the real game changer, but the fluid still matters for what gets dissolved and what doesn't. I've also heard some guys use a bit of Dawn dish soap for the same reason it works on grease.
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