Am I about to make a mistake? Taco Degreasing

So I have a bit of a oil seep under my truck. It’s been there for a couples years, never enough to make a drip. But enough for every inspection for it to be called out to me. Little bonus rust protection I suppose. Just caked everywhere. Well I am finally ready to dye it and use a UV light to find the leak. I want to clean up under the truck first and degrease. I am leaning towards just using cheap oven cleaner but I see horror stories all over the web and then other stories that it’s cheap and effective...

Any real life advice from real Tacoma lovers, we are the rare breed.

I think it’s my upper or lower oil pan gasket. I think. 163k miles.

 

Oven cleaner is harsh. It will remove anodized finish from aluminum.

Some commercial degreasers or even a Dawn solution would be good, depending on the severity of the mess.

Mechanical action may be needed in long term 'baked on' areas.

 

It also removes dye pack ink from dollar bills. Don’t ask how I know that. LOL

 

its factory...

 

A dealer I know uses carpet stain remover he gets at the dollar store. Seems to work well.

 

Purple power

 

Simple Green or Purple Power.

 

DO NOT use simple green HD Pro. It is not good for rubber. We use it at my job to decon our boots and it destroys them in about 2 years, but it is the only one without petroleum products.

I have used Spray Nine for me vehicles for a long time for any degreasing work. It also leaves rubber looking a little more rich than before.

 

Orange cleaner is great fir degreasing but i dont know if it affects rubber compnents.

 

Simple green and dish soap.

 

^^^^^^^^^^This. Let it set 10-15 minutes. Rinse with water. You may need to do it a few times.
I usually hit my truck with de-greaser once or twice a year, but Mostly after oil changes.
I think the oven cleaner is way too harsh. People use it in the oven, but the inside of your oven does see moisture like you truck.

 

Call me crazy, but how about using some degreaser, like greezoff? Oven cleaner sounds like the wrong tool for the job.

 

I simple green after every oil change on all my vehicles but for caked on areas, I've had luck in the past with the GUNK engine degreaser on a warm engine, wait 30 mins and use my gas power washer. Close wand distance for under carriage but increase the wand distance for under hood areas.

 

I know this sounds radical, but why not use engine cleaner designed for use on vehicles? You can get the foamy stuff that is more gentle or the heavy duty stuff. A pressure washer works great for caked on grease, just don't bear down on any seals or electrical connections with it. I would never use oven cleaner

 

I still like this stuff, tried and true. Oven cleaner sounds like a really bad idea.

Gunk EB1CA 'Original Engine Brite' Engine Degreaser - 15 oz.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057HXI6Y/ref=psdc_15719011_t3_B000ABIDJE

 

x2 on this product.

 

Don’t use Simple Green straight up. It’ll strip the paint down to bare metal. YMMV.

 

Is there a reason not to use engine de-greaser? Been using it for 30+ years so far....