Burnt oil on exhaust - how to clean?

[Alex86]

I had an oil leak, it’s ended up leaking onto a section of my exhaust and it’s burnt on there.

Leak fixed, yet I still get smoke from this section and the burnt oil smell.

What’s the best way to clean this crud off???

Pipes are Wildcat, which I presume is mild steel.
Certainly not ceramic or stainless or chrome!

[geopaj]

I had an oil leak, it’s ended up leaking onto a section of my exhaust and it’s burnt on there.

Leak fixed, yet I still get smoke from this section and the burnt oil smell.

What’s the best way to clean this crud off???

Pipes are Wildcat, which I presume is mild steel.
Certainly not ceramic or stainless or chrome!

Go for a long drive so it all burns off??

That’s what I’d do

[Keithyv]

Yep it won’t last long on a hot exhaust. I mean if you really want to get it off then there is degreaser but that’s just swapping one bad smell for another.

[aussieintas]

Wire wheel brush on a drill may get most off........then a long drive getting it real hot.

[Alex86]

Not doing a lot of driving at the moment so driving to burn it off isn’t the best/quickest option right now. I’d like it gone sooner rather than later just to keep track of the leak fix. Originally the burnt oil smell was what I noticed at the beginning; and until this patch is cleaned off I’ll still be getting the smell.

I’ll try more degreaser and maybe the wire brush, see if I can get the majority off that way.

This is the patch I’m trying to clean:

[geopaj]

Not doing a lot of driving at the moment so driving to burn it off isn’t the best/quickest option right now. I’d like it gone sooner rather than later just to keep track of the leak fix. Originally the burnt oil smell was what I noticed at the beginning; and until this patch is cleaned off I’ll still be getting the smell.

I’ll try more degreaser and maybe the wire brush, see if I can get the majority off that way.

This is the patch I’m trying to clean:

If you can get that off with degreaser in an 1 - 1&1/2 hours I’ll be surprised! Personally, I’d spend that same time going for a drive!

Looks like the majority is burned on (like seasoning cast iron cook wear). Maybe some sort of mechanical method (sandpaper, wire wheel with a drill or grinder?).

[Alex86]

Soaked a rag in some degreaser and wrapped it around that section for about 20 mins whilst I had my morning coffee, then got to it with a wire wheel on a cordless drill and some sandpaper where I couldn’t get the wire wheel- that took about 10 mins.

Idled it up to operating temperature and left it idling for another 5 mins or so (another coffee).

So far, no smoke and just burning off the degreaser smell. I’ll take it for a drive to the shops and around the block a couple times to get some extra exhaust heat from high revs into it.


Wildcat had a tack-welded a little brand/model plate onto that section (other side of the pipe, bottom edge of it just visible in the pic).
This plate always annoyed me because it caught a bit of oil splashing out from the sump drain.
Interestingly I’ve been chasing, for quite some time, a little metallic rattle at certain rev ranges. Turns out one of the tack welds has broken. I’d looked at it previously but it seemed fine then.
I’ve now removed the plate.
1) no more oil getting caught behind it.
2) hopefully that solves my little rattle problem!

[Kingmarz]

Personally I think driving it off would have been more fun than getting underneath the truck with a wire wheel.

[xadrian82]

You can also use a good metal polish.