I need the best penetrating oil

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

That's what I use, but none of the online reviews/comparisons seem to corroborate this experience. Still I see people swear by it.



I might grab some once my kroil runs out or is close to running out. It's almost 50% cheaper than Kroil

Kroil has always been as expensive as I found it great to be.

We used to actually have to keep it under lock and key in the maintenance shops where I worked. We found that if anyone left a can out on the work tables of even in the main cabinets, it would be gone every time. Ended up having to lock it inside my supply room that only a few of us had keys to. YET, all of the other products like JB sprays or WD40 etc.... were in no danger of walking off like the Kroil was.

I just recently saw the smaller cans of Kroil @ AutoZone last week selling for $27.99! YIKES. The only good thing is unless you are running a full shop or steady repair work business - the can of Kroil will last you for years for simple home use.

 

[researcher]

NAPA has FreeAll on sale this month for $9.99.. cheaper than the Big A

 

[Snagglefoot]

Well, this thread is almost 20 years old. We keep hearing of all sorts of preferences. There have been many head to head tests done on You Tube over the years, and some of the best work was done by Project Farm. They even had shoot outs with the winners of various test series.

The best products offer a maximum torque reduction of about 25% and the application of acetylene sourced heat is close to that.

Everyone has a favourite and various products are mentioned again and again. There are also homemade concoctions involving ATF and acetone and or kerosene.

But here is the truth. The vast majority of the products and concoctions mentioned are not even in the top three and those who swear by a certain product have absolutely no way of measuring their degree of success other than the bolt might have eventually come out.

If you want a product that is normally in the top three and is not overly priced, that product is Liquid Wrench. Flame suite on.

The other players are time and vibration. So, product, soaking time, and the application of a source of vibration all act together to get that bolt out. Then there are the hybrid techniques of applying heat and product together with the hilarious videos of guys using some of the more flammable products setting fire to the underside of their cars. So carry on because even the bottom tier products still give a reasonable amount of torque reduction or enough to fool a person into thinking they have the “ best” product.

 

[nbpt100]

Well, this thread is almost 20 years old. We keep hearing of all sorts of preferences. There have been many head to head tests done on You Tube over the years, and some of the best work was done by Project Farm. They even had shoot outs with the winners of various test series.

The best products offer a maximum torque reduction of about 25% and the application of acetylene sourced heat is close to that.

Everyone has a favourite and various products are mentioned again and again. There are also homemade concoctions involving ATF and acetone and or kerosene.

But here is the truth. The vast majority of the products and concoctions mentioned are not even in the top three and those who swear by a certain product have absolutely no way of measuring their degree of success other than the bolt might have eventually come out.

If you want a product that is normally in the top three and is not overly priced, that product is Liquid Wrench. Flame suite on.

The other players are time and vibration. So, product, soaking time, and the application of a source of vibration all act together to get that bolt out. Then there are the hybrid techniques of applying heat and product together with the hilarious videos of guys using some of the more flammable products setting fire to the underside of their cars. So carry on because even the bottom tier products still give a reasonable amount of torque reduction or enough to fool a person into thinking they have the “ best” product.

Yes, in 20 years things change. Rusted and stuck fasteners will still be a problem 20 years from now and I hope some products may be better by then. Project Farm has some very good work to point you in a good direction. But, one can argue his testing has low sample sizes and people point out other flaws in his methodology. It is not perfect and this is a hard test to perform. You could argue that the best one in some of his testing is no better or worse than any in the top 5(maybe more). Overall his work is the best I have seen in spite of the flaws people point out. If someone thinks there is a better test floating around on Youtube, please share it. The bottom line is, your success is getting the bolt out cleanly. We develop our biases based on success and failure. I wish everyone always has success.

 

[D1dad]

Kroil is fine but I never found it to be some miracle in a spray can. I’ve been using schaeffers penetrol 90 and is every bit as good, at least for my needs and way less $

 

[crashz]

I pretty much agree with Snagglefoot. Not much has changed, and the "best" penetrant is not much better than the second best. Your favorite flavor not withstanding.

The one trick I have not done is the candle wax trick. I have some very stubborn tiny bolts to take out and its my last straw. Two of the four have cracked loose. The other two rounded. So they are in various stages of mangled as I have used undersized sockets and a cold chisel with no luck. Heat (induction stick), Kroil and PB Blaster used extensively.

 

[D1dad]

If pb blaster or similar isn’t working than your down to heat and a cutoff. Kroil is good stuff, but where do they get their pricing from? I got a free can of freeall at a vendor show and TBH, it was better than Kroil. The freeall ran out and I bought a can of penetro.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

I like Kroil for one reason...it doesn't burn easily. One of my favorite solutions to remove stuck things is to heat it up with a torch, a good butane one...not oxy/acetylene then spray or squirt some Kroil on the threads. It smokes a bit but boils and wicks into the threads. Heat again, repeat with the Kroil. Remove the bolt.

Worked this past weekend with 30 year old rusted pulley that was press fit onto a snowblower shaft.

 

[Bob in Utah]

ATF and Acetone ?.

 

[nbpt100]

I like Kroil for one reason...it doesn't burn easily. One of my favorite solutions to remove stuck things is to heat it up with a torch, a good butane one...not oxy/acetylene then spray or squirt some Kroil on the threads. It smokes a bit but boils and wicks into the threads. Heat again, repeat with the Kroil. Remove the bolt.

Worked this past weekend with 30 year old rusted pulley that was press fit onto a snowblower shaft.

I am not sure what you mean by "Burn". In my experience Kroil will flash and start a fire more easily than most other penetration oils I have experience with. The flash point is pretty low at 124 Deg F. Am I misunderstanding something here?

 

[AdmiralYoda]

I am not sure what you mean by "Burn". In my experience Kroil will flash and start a fire more easily than most other penetration oils I have experience with. The flash point is pretty low at 124 Deg F. Am I misunderstanding something here?

It will definitely burn and is plenty flammable but in my experience it smokes more than it combusts. Now...I'm not talking oxy-acetylene, cherry red type of heating. More like the heating when using a good butane torch, something a homeowner or non-professional would use.

Heat up the bolt/nut/whatever with the butane torch and squirt some Kroil in there. It boils (and smokes) and wicks into the threads. Heat and repeat if necessary. Some flames may pop up during the heating process but they are essentially blown out by the high pressure butane flame.

Using a torch I'm basically playing with fire anyways. So I wouldn't do this on a vehicle or anywhere else where trouble could happen. This is the type of thing I'd do on a bench with a vice or out in the backyard on some saw-horses or something. And we are talking drops of Kroil, not a liberal soaking.

**EDIT. And my experience with Kroil is in the small non-aerosol can that you drip/squirt onto where you need it. I imagine an aerosol will have a propellant that is probably flammable and my ignite on a hot surface. Of course, use caution when using fire as a tool!

 

[nbpt100]

OK, my personal experience is soaking with Kroil. Give it time. If it does not work , then add some heat with a MAP gas source. It will flash and catch fire. Much easier than other popular products. i.e. PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, Free All, Sea Foam etc. If you know that will happen and are ready for it, fine. The first time it happened to me it was very startling. I assume it would be for anyone. Use it wisely with heat.

 

[BobNeas]

Kroil. Don't be a cheapskate.

 

[Spring Break '92]

I just used CRC Freeze Off this past week on a couple of different things. It rapidly cools the fastener and introduces penetrant at the same time, and then you let it sit a couple of minutes. IMO, if something is intended to be 'frozen' as in the context of the Freeze Off spray - then letting it sit is counterproductive. What can I say though, I know it worked on removing the bolt out of the seized holding nut on a lower mileage used Honda drive belt tensioner I removed the smooth tensioner pulley off of to replace with a new pulley. I tried it on the bolt for the VTC actuator as well, but ended up using a propane torch and an impact gun. Whether the Freeze Off actually did anything to help remove the bolt out of that particular part, I doubt, but it's possible that the cold-then-hot change helped a bit. Anyone who has ever removed that bolt knows they are just about as difficult to break free as a crank pulley bolt. I actually just about ordered a 17mm weighted socket to remove that bolt just the same as I did for the crank pulley bolt.