Bon-ami cleanser

Brett Miller · Oct 17, 2003

There is not a better windshield cleaner than Bon-Ami.

Smoky14 · Oct 17, 2003

If you go to a CAT dealer they have a part number for it. The larger diesel engines turn so slowly that they sometimes fail to seat the rings. The instructions vary with the size of the motor. The CAT stuff works by the way.

Jim · Oct 17, 2003

I doesn’t seem like vertical scratches in the cylinder would work as effectively as scratches that run at an angle to the motion of the piston.

Brett Miller · Oct 17, 2003

I was watching Shade Tree Mechanic a couple years ago and they mentioned using Bon Ami on glass. I tried it and it really cleans off bugs and road grime. On the can it says "Never scratched, never will!"

Mystic · Oct 17, 2003

Maybe on glass, but never in an engine. What about the oxygen sensor and othe sensors? What about your warranty. I will stick to Auto-RX.

DavoNF · Oct 18, 2003

Here is another story, must be true.

quote:

The Universal Cleanser
This one was told to me by the proprietor of a Mackay automotive engineering works, a man well respected in the trade. In the late 1960's he was an apprentice motor mechanic with the local distributors of British and European cars. The first of the six cylinder 109 Land Rovers in the district had been sold by them. The new owners soon brought them back, complaining bitterly about blue smoke and horrendous oil consumption. Cylinder heads were lifted on a couple of them revealing glazed bores and the only remedy the firm could think of was a light de-glazing hone and new rings.
The more of these sixes they sold, the more it began to look like an epidemic. Rover Australia were contacted and it seems that it was an Australia wide epidemic of near-new, smoky, oil guzzling 2.6 litre Land Rovers.
Eventually the solution came in the form of a technical bulletin from Rover HQ. There was something wrong with the bore finish on these engines and if they were treated gently, as owners of new cars tend to do, the rings would never bed in and the bores would glaze. Owners should be instructed to give them plenty of welly in the first few hundred miles.
The official fix for those vehicles already affected was as follows:-
Remove the aircleaner. Start engine and set to a fast 1500 rpm idle.Take a tablespoon full of Bon Ami, a popular household cleanser and slowly tap the powder into the carburettor throat over a period of fifteen minutes. Put everything back in place and take the vehicle for a brisk test drive.
The bulletin was most insistent that it should be Bon Ami cleanser. Ajax or Jif would not do.
My informant swears that this story is 100% true and that the fix did, in fact, work exactly as advertised.

Tall tales and true from the legendary past.

Dave

Doug Hillary · Oct 18, 2003

Hi,
DavoNF - 'tis probably absolutely true. I did my Engineering training with BMC both in NZ and England
The mixture sounds about right but we always had a "change oil limit". We never had one failure but these things were never done by an apprentice!! It was always a last resort after tracking oil consumption, compression, distance covered and use etc.

In the 1950's early sixties we did those things as qualified Engineers and Technicians. And my earlier reference applied to more than side valve Chrysler engines, GMs and Fords were there too

We were not stupid - large bottles of Bon Ami were not poured into intake ducts!

It should also be noted that during this era the best motor mechanics around came from NZ and Australia. Many F1 racing teams were ( some still are ) staffed by Aussie/Kiwi mechanics and Chris Amon, Jack Brabham, Denny Hume etc. were products of that time

They were products of the world's best apprenticeship programmes
I have had the privilege of noting/influencing these things in a practical way - by being on the Aprrenticship Prescriptions Committees etc - and by visiting and researching these matters
around the world on many occasions

Sadly the same cannot be said today. We have a worldwide shortage of competent motor mechanics who know what they are doing in an overall sense. And, as a result of a balanced training programme in the Auto industry. We have a great number of University Graduates who cannot secure and keep a job! Sound familiar? Most can't repair cars either

Bon Ami fixed the problems then - it still does too! We have just lost the "practical plot" a bit

And remember that Juan Manuel Fangio was a bush mechanic - I bet he knew what Bon Ami was!

Regards

sprintman · Oct 18, 2003

I remeber Bon Ami well from the day I joined the Air Force in 1970. I'd hate too think how much BA I used in my 6 yr enlistment but it was a lot. I should have bought shares in the company!!

Ken2 · Oct 19, 2003

A somewhat similar process is currently required on large Sulzer diesel engines when a new ring or new liner is installed. They require use of high sulfur fuel and zero TBN cylinder oil for 24 hours of operation. This acid attack is needed to break in the rings and liner surface. One new engine used low sulfur fuel and high TBN oil--they had to renew all twelve liners and overhaul all the pistons after just three days of running.

Ken

Robbie Alexander · Oct 19, 2003

Originally posted by Doug Hillary:
[QB] *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Sadly the same cannot be said today. We have a worldwide shortage of competent motor mechanics who know what they are doing in an overall sense. And, as a result of a balanced training programme in the Auto industry. We have a great number of University Graduates who cannot secure and keep a job! Sound familiar? Most can't repair cars either
*-*-*-*
On the money! Most can not even do an alignment
They can't tell if the o2 is bad when the check engine light is not on, or the CAT bad unless the computer shows it or they cut it off the car and look inside

Doug Hillary · Oct 19, 2003

Hi,
Robbie Alexander - yes the problem is a real one

On diagnostics, it used to be an integral part of apprentice training. Today it is primarily an electrical diagnosis issue only. Practical problem solving ? - whats that??
This leaves the real "diagnosis" a mystery for most
Modern electronic diagnostic methods are truely amazing - but simply a tool to the end product

The end result of a general lack in practical diagnostic skills is huge customer repair bills for the "try a new part" philosphy amongst repairers. I see it even amongst the major engine makers let alone the car makers.
I know that most modern mechanics cannot even set up a crown wheel & pinion! "Replace it" is the cry. Ask many of them to diagnose a noise and it suddenly becomes "coffee break" time

Cynical? probably!

Regards

crashz · Oct 19, 2003

Off topic, but I completely agree with you Doug.

"If the diagnostic computer says everything is normal, than your car is fine".

This it the extent of the formal training that most Ford dealership techs get. Gone are that days when mechanics had competions in diagnosing and repairing vehicles in acertain time limit. My father use to do that. Won a few too!

JohnnyO · Oct 20, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Scali62:
I wonder , who was the first one to think of this & try it ?

I thought the same thing when I read about "toad licking" to get high.

mark pruett · Oct 23, 2003

I imagine that while not necessarily a good thing, adding Bon-Ami probably wasn't as bad as it sounds- feldspar is right between the hardness of soft and hard steel, and just below that of glass.

web page

JohnBrowning · Oct 23, 2003

I see engineers that are not compatent to change a flat tire on a car designing parts for them daily! To make it even worse few are automtive history buffs or "gear heads".

I think that engineering has lost site of the importance of hands on training and doing. Today most engineers are thinkers not doer's.

novadude · Oct 24, 2003

quote:

I see engineers that are not compatent to change a flat tire on a car designing parts for them daily! To make it even worse few are automtive history buffs or "gear heads".

I'd like to think I am an exception. I am a relatively young (31 yr old) engineer and "gearhead", however, I have been tearing into cars since I was 12. I have a '65 Nova that I have stripped to a bare shell and restored / modified, and do ALL of my own repairs / maintenance.

I agree with you though... I see it all the time with fellow engineers. These guys do mechanical design work for a living, but they have never done any kind of "hands on" work. I had to laugh when I overheard a guy at my old job (1 month ago) complain that he paid a garage $350 for an alternator on a Malibu. This idiot had the title of "principal engineer", but won't even tackle a simple alternator swap. Too funny!

crashz · Oct 24, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by JohnBrowning:

I think that engineering has lost site of the importance of hands on training and doing. Today most engineers are thinkers not doer's.

You're absolutely right. I'm an engineer for a pump manufacture and 95% of my role has nothing to do with engineering. I play accountant and lawyer and a few other roles that nobody else wants to do. I couldn't tell you the last time I did a machine drawing. Or did any process design.
No I usually quote prices and availbilty, diagnose problems over the phone, push huge piles of useless forms around and get disgruntled and come here to this site to regain my sanity.

TallPaul · Mar 8, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyO:

Bon Ami IS the only cleanser you can use on glass. Great on windshields, scrub with a soft cloth and Bon Ami, hose it off, and top it with Rain-X. Works wonders. I'd never put it in a engine though.

I have a bag of "#0000 Super Fine" steel wool. Says "cleans glass without cleaners" an shows someone wiping a house window with a pad.

But I don't think #0000 steel wool would be good to shove down the carburator throat.

This #0000 steel wool is so fine that I pulled a piece out loose and set fire to it. Burned like a sparkler. Really fun.

mike142 · Mar 8, 2005

Bon Ami in the crankcase. Like saw dust in the dif
"I don't think so Tim"

JohnBrowning · Mar 8, 2005

TallPall, You can take a chunk of steel wool and touch it to a fresh 9 volt creating a short to start it on fire!

Bon-ami cleanser

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