Hot take: I quit using ultrasonic cleaners for injectors and went back to bench cleaning by hand

Spent 2 years running everything through a $1,200 ultrasonic tank at the shop in Denver, but I kept getting internal galling on return lines after reassembly. Switched back to hand brushing with mineral spirits and compressed air this spring, and my customer comebacks dropped from 4 in 6 months to zero. Am I the only one who thinks these machines cause more problems than they solve on high-mileage units?

2 comments

2 Comments

harperb462d ago

Gotta push back a little on the internal galling thing. You're probably not getting galling from the ultrasonic cleaner itself. Galling happens when metal rubs against metal with no lube, usually from overtightening or using the wrong thread locker on the return line fittings. The ultrasonic might be shaking loose some gunk that then gets stuck in the threads, but the machine isn't causing the actual galling. More likely it's just exposing a pre-existing issue in how those high-mileage units were torqued or prepped before. Hand cleaning is totally fine for most jobs, just don't blame the ultrasonic for something the assembly torque was doing wrong.

walker.alex2d ago

Funny enough, this reminds me of a buddy who swore his ultrasonic was ruining his carburetors. Turned out he was using tap water full of minerals and it was basically sandblasting the insides. Cleaner was fine, water was the problem. Ever seen that kind of thing with hard water buildup?