I just got my entire passenger side axle replaced after the inner CV boot disintegrated and spattered grease all over everything for a week. Mechanic said it looked like the hot catalytic converter dried out the boot and ruined it, all others are fine. The grease, big globs of it, is still everywhere. I'd like to get it off, esp. the cat, because I can't run the A/c without having the cabin air set to recirculate, the smell is so bad. Can I just hose it down with that engine degreaser? will the degreaser ruin other rubber parts, or the new CV boots? Also, the inner boot on the new axle itself has some grease on it, where the mechanic inevitably got it all over his hands from the surrounding parts. Will that cause any damage/deterioration?

 

This was expensive, everyone cross their fingers for me that the bubbles from time to time in my radiator overflow tank aren't a sign of a HG about to go. If they are, this car's going to 'disappear' into a lake!

 

Thanks,

Andrew

98 Forester

95K

The rubber seals used throughout the vehicle are oil resistant. I use Gunk Engine Bright which is mostly kerosene. Spray it on cold, let it sit and scrub a bit, and wash off. I haven't noticed any deleterious effects.

Now the car will smell like Engine Bright for a few days.

the car smells like a kerosene heater for a few days after, even when I rinse the heck out of it.

You could try a degreaser like Purple Power, used full strength. Its smell will probably vanish quicker than the kerosene smell of engine-brite.

Andrew, all my sube boxer engines have always bubbled slightly in the overflow tank. Be vary of lots of smaller bubbles.

 

If you are worried, I would suggest a complete, drain, flush, and refilling of your coolant system. I just did this to my Impreza, and it seems to have decreased the bubbling substantially.

 

I think that as the coolant mix gets older, the boiling point gets lower and as the fluid is pushed out during normal operation, it "boils" as it leaves the pressurised coolant system and hits the atmospheric pressure in the expansion system.