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Rusty bolts? Make your own super rust penetrant!

So you deal with a lot of rusty nuts? Go down to the hardware store and buy some acetone, a quart of Dexron Mercon and a refillable spray bottle. In the spray bottle mix the ATF and acetone in a 1:1 mixture.

Spray away and get your nuts loose!

Independent testing of penetrating oils using a single steel bar with 1/2”x20 nuts torqued to 50 ft/lbs and treated with a 10% salt water solution that was allowed to rust. Listed are the chemicals and required removal torque.

-None ………………… 516 pounds

-WD-40 ……………… 238 pounds

-PB Blaster …………. 214 pounds

-Liquid Wrench ….. 127 pounds

-Kano Kroil ………… 106 pounds

-ATF-Acetone mix….53 pounds

Comments

fhudsonjr:

I've tried PB and Liquid Wrench and it “seemed” that PB was better. Never heard of Kano Kroll. Sounds like a name of a caveman…maybe a friend of Fred Flitstone. Have you tried it?
May 30, 2009 12:01 a.m.

Taiden:

I'd like to try Mouse Milk. I've heard it works great. This ATF/Acetone mixture is crazy. It makes my rusty bolts 'smoke'.
Jun 13, 2009 9:35 a.m.

FindlaySpeedMan:

Sounds pretty good, but acetone tends to evaporate reaaaly fast, even in a sealed container. 100 Cool points for actually testing all that stuff.
Aug 31, 2009 5:29 a.m.

porksboy:

If you spray it on something that has paint nearby will it damage it if it makes contact (Over spray?)
Nov 16, 2009 2:09 p.m.

junpower:

Acetone does evaporate fast but the trick is it;s penetrating powers. The acetone is very thin and will seep the ATF into the threads quickly, almost as fast as it evaporates. Then once in the ATF does its job.
Mar 15, 2010 8:30 a.m.

Dr. Hess:

I used this mix on the windshield wiper arms on Dr.Linda's S2 Europa, after WD-40 and PB Blaster for 2 days proved useless. In a few minutes, the nut thingie spun right off.
Feb 4, 2011 1:15 p.m.