B6 cylinder head cleaning

[htchbck]

Tried a search, but alas, nothing. Apparently I'm the only one here dumb enough to ask this, lol. I have the head taken off my B6 and sitting in my garage (replacing head gasket) and I want to clean it up a bit before I put it back on. Basically just light carbon deposits and some oil caked on the outside. My quesiton is, will something like Greased Lightning or other grease cleaners eat up my valve seals and stuff? If so, is there something else I can use on it that won't screw things up? I just have this gut feeling that hosing the cylinder head with grease stripping stuff may not be the best idea, and I want to make sure before I do something dumb and end up having to rebuild the whole head.

Thanks,
Joseph

[packrat427]

Don't spray that greased Lightning on it .
Try using carb cleaner spray a little , then use a small brush agitate it ,spray some more ,use a little pick or parts brush to scrub,
Then I would spray it down with Brake clean , that will dissolve the rest and will leave it dry with no residue, just try not to spray too much brake cleaner in the valve train area ,you don't want to wash out all your lube in your rockers.and leave too dry :shock: . but I would only do this if you are leaving the head together.
someone else may have their own recipe that works.

[Motoxpress]

One question before we go on sense you have the head off already did you check your valve seals? Mazda engines are notorious for eating them after 100K. You might want to check them before reassembly. They are easier to replace while the head is off and it will save headaches later.
I know this has nothing to do with cleaning but it's a tip just the same.
plus if they do need replacing you can thoroughly clean the head once it's disassembled.

[htchbck]

The valve seals are in decent shape, they were replaced by the mechanic I bought the car from about 70K ago. But I think I'm going to pull it all apart and clean everything and replace the seals and stuff anyway, if for not other reason just for the experience since I've never taken apart a cylinder head before and I still have a running motor in my car, so I won't be without a car if I mess it up. Thanks for the help though.

[PaulLehr]

Ive found Simple Green Automotive works great. Ive used it to clean many many parts on my car and used it to clean the varnish out of the "new" gas tank I put in my car. It doesn't affect rubber parts at all and takes the grease off great. Just follow the directions on the bottle