Packard Forum Index » General

Machinist's Workshop Mag recently published some information on various penetrating oils that I found very
interesting. Some of you might appreciate this. The magazine reports they tested penetrates for break out
torque on rusted nuts.
They are below, as forwarded by an ex-student and professional machinist.
They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrates with the control being the torque required to
remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.
*Penetrating oils ........... Average torque load to loosen*
No Oil used ................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ..................... ... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .................... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...............127 pounds
Kano Kroil .................... 106 pounds
ATF*-Acetone mix............53 pounds
The ATF-Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this
"home brew" released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test.
Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now use it with equally good results.
Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is almost as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.
Steve from Godwin-Singer says that ATF-Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in
a 50-50 mix. *ATF=Automatic Transmission Fluid
This actually works well, power-steering fluid also works as well as trans fluid!
Saw a similar set of test results some years ago. The other interesting modification was the ratio. Slight
variations in the 50 : 50 mix can produce a remarkable difference with different types of corrosion. ie
aluminium corrosion becomes free better with a greater % of Acetone. The other thing to consider are the
nasties contained in ATF. From memory, I think it is very high in lead.
Handle with more care than WD-40 anyway.
Best regards Peter Toet

Thank you, Monsignor PT from Down Under. We've long wanted a "last word" on rust-busting effectiveness. This is wonderful, will share widely.

I have been using ATF-Acetone for several years and it does work well.

I'm surprised PB-Blaster ranked almost the same as WD-40. I have not had good results with Liquid Wrench and went to PB-Blaster. I think I need to finally try the ATF-Acetone mix!

Yes, this "Home Brew" was on the following thread last year:
https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8927&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

Here is what I added then and notice the cost difference

My brother swears by the home brew of 50/50 ATF-Acetone too. I didn't think much about it until heard about an article in the September issue of "Turning Wheels" of the Willys Overland Knight Registry. This same article was also mentioned by Gerald Pershbacher in the February 16 edition of "Old Cars Weekly" under "Club Clips."

Anyway, Machinist Workshop Magazine tested several penetrating oils and found the homebrew to be the best. Results are below:

Penetrating oil Average load Price per fluid ounce
None ............... 516 pounds
WD-40 .............. 238 pounds $0.25
PB Blaster ......... 214 pounds $0.35
Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds $0.21
Kano Kroil ........ 106 pounds $0.75
ATF-Acetone mix.. .. 53 pounds $0.10

Now I believe my brother.