Does anyone know what this stuff is comprised of?
Seems like it may just be a bottle of Muriatic Acid with a bit of detergent.
Works well to clean & degrease steel but even a very diluted mixture of this stuff will etch the shit out of aluminum. Trashed some good stuff inadvertently.

I agree. It's got the smell of muriatic acid. prolly other stuff

I'm pretty sure it's juat a degreaser. Thats what it's described as. I used some yesterday. You probably got it mixed up with the metal ready which is a ospho like chemical for treating rust, and yes the metal ready will probably etch aluminum. I've used marine clean on lots of aluminum and don't remember any problems. Course I just used it like a soap and rinshed it off before it dried like the instructions said.

request an MSDS (material safety data sheet)

I did not mix up products.
I have used this a lot in the past. Even on some aluminum.
I don't have any Metal Ready.
This was a 20:1 mix, possibly even more diluted.
I was degreasing a few things in a bucket of the solution, put my KB pistons in there for about 5 minutes, just to remove the oil. They are totally oxidized, turned grey. Did an cooling fan too, it did not get damaged. Maybe it's the composition of the pistons that made them so sensitive.
Anyhow, it sure surprised me, and cost me $300.00
I guess that's the cost of trying to be environmentally friendly.

Keep metal prep/cleaner products away from aluminum.

Per the POR products, one is probably a strong acid, the other a strong base.

Ospho is osphoric acid with a little organic zinc as well as the Dupont line of acid metal prep/rust neutralizing products. Not sure which POR product is the acid or which the base.

Some of the other auto metal cleaners smell like concentrated fantastic and are strong bases. They also and warn about aluminum, skin contact, time limits, concrete, and throrough washing.

Neither product is good for aluminum unless you apply for a short time and rinse and clean thoroughly. Aluminum is pretty reactive and an ingrediant in solid rocket fuel.

Dang, that's some sensitive stuff. What alloy?

Cooling fan is mag, not aluminum. Surprised it didn't react worse as it is higher up the periodic table.

It's not muriatic acid.

It's got
1. Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether
2. Potassium Hydroxide

The Potassium Hydroxide is what's most reactive with the aluminum/magnesium and that reaction can produce explosive vapors.

Wow, strong base, in the lye family.

Used to make shampoos and as an industrial cleaner.

Used in oven and grill cleaners, drain opener, ZEP concentrated cleaner degreaser, fruit and vege rinse

Lawn food, aluminum siding cleaner, driveway cleaner, dishwasher detergent, noxzema, oil of olay

and more....

Just because the pistons are dull shouldn't mean they are junk but you might need a neutralizer.

How about a picture or two?

Got macro on your camera?

When I saw what was happening, I immediately put them in a bucket of water & baking soda to neutralize, but the damage was done. You can feel the etch. I don't think the pin bores or ring lands can be salvaged and I don't want to risk further damage by attempting to reuse these.



Maybe I'll take a picture for the Hall of Shame, but I really don't want to prolong the pain & embarrassment.

stay away from that types of stuff, plan old paint thinner is usally enuff for engine parts, if not, move up to spray carb cleaner, none of this will corrode metals, this is what you need. save the caustic or acid etches for when you repaint your steel bed frame.

Cleans out the household plumbing......real well!! (Lye)

if it is lye based cleaner (a base) then baking soda did not nuetrailze it to 7 pH, maybe some, but not to nuetral. both baking soda and lye are high pH.

High pH is 13-14 (Drano, NaOH).

Neutral pH is 7, and

Low pH is 0 and 1 (Hydrochloric acid and stomach acid)

If you go out two pH points on either side of neutral, you have:

on the acid side - normal rainwater (not acid rain) at a pH of 5-5.6

on the base side you have - baking soda at a pH of 9

So it looks like baking soda and rain water are equally reactive and dangerous- but in different ways (acid vs. base)

Let's look at tap water...its a pH of 6.5 (acid) to >8.5 (hard water)

Soapy water- pH of 7-10,

Coffee- pH 5-6.5

and evil beer is an acidy pH of 4.5

The moral of the story? Don't spill beer on your car because:

1. You are going to cry over the spilled beer that missed your mouth, and
2. Yer car's gonna corrode unless you have a box of baking soda handy.