Ya, I knew a guy once who used laquer thinner to try and clean off tree sap.

i bet he lost a little paint huh?

FWIW, Castrol SuperClean will NOT eat most plastics. But it will take the paint off of plastic. That'* how I discovered it. I used it to strip the paint from my hood vents when I bought them. I'd researched it and found that it would take the paint off without harming the plastic.

I wouldn't use it on an engine bay anway. Your inner fenders are painted. And it will strip them very well.

Castrol super clean is worse than Dexcool...It pits aluminum...it strips paint...Horrible crap IMO.

Use a degreaer or something made for it. Simple Green is good, Simple Green Automotive version is better. There are plenty of good cleaners in the autosection and they don't include Stupid Clean when thinking of general cleaning and engine bay detailing.

Just a tip, I killed my alternator when i got it wet because i got the rear bearing wet and it basically mixed in water and murdered the bearings...just make it easy on yourself and put a plastic bag over your alternator. its a good thing.

[quote="BillBoost37"]Castrol super clean is worse than Dexcool...It pits aluminum...it strips paint...Horrible crap IMO.

[quote]

Castrol SC isn't horrible if you buy it and use it for the right purpose.

Your alternator was on the way south already. Do you know how wet your engine and alternator get when driving on a wet freeway?

Yes and mine does not get wet......the few times I drove 80 mph in a rainstorm. :?

"The Purple Stuff" (Castrol Super Clean and others) does strip paint even inside the engine compartment. But from what I have experienced is that it attacks non-clearcoated paint quickly (though I am sure on CC'd paint the CC takes the damage and not the basecoat). I know on mine the engine bay is NOT CC'd and CSC made quick work of taking half of that paint with it.

For bare aluminum parts, I use Eagle One Aluminum Wheel cleaner (for machined parts) or Etching Mag cleaner (for cast parts), but take great care in where you spray that stuff...the mag cleaner is, afterall, an acid