Go about washing my truck when I've got a front seal leak that is essentially covering my truck with oil?????? I cannot get it into the shop for at least a 2-3 weeks. to get it repaired. I've washed my truck now for 3 days in a row. Not that it needed it, but to try to get the oil/dirt stains off the white paint. Today I used "straight" concentrated car wash soap. It helped, but didn't clean completely. HELP!!!

I assume the front crank seal? Eeeewwwww! Hmmm... The only thing I can think off is to use a mild solvent like Xylene/Mineral Spirits to remove the oil. Test in a small area first. Then wash the truck well and then wax the areas that get oily good. This should help in removal of the oil and grime later.

Yeah Mike, I think it's the front crank seal. It's traveling down to the passenger front of the oil pan, down the passenger side of the pan etc. But while driving, any drips etc. get blown into oil mist which is all over the tail gate, rockers yadda, yadda, yadda. I hope it's only the seal and not a cracked front cover. I put this thread here in case there was a product that could be used. I was thinking even Simple Green??????? Is that stuff safe for paint????I could do it myself, but don't have the time or space to do it. My folks will bring up the '99 for me to use in a couple weeks. The shop I use is good.......gonna have them do some other stuff also. Probably have them adjust valve lash, retime my CP3, and I've got an annoying rattle in the front end somewhere that comes and goes. Sounds like a shock mount, but they're tight as far as I can tell. Hope it ain't a ball joint or tie-rod ends, because they've only got 40,000 miles on them. Sway bar end links????? Track bar bushings???? Driving the truck, the steering is tight, and I hardly feel any bump steer in wheel driving down the crappy road around me. Heck, on that trip to Missouri, on good Interstate it was only a finger and thumb on the wheel........that's how good she was driving. We shall see!!!!

I don't think simple green will touch paint. More like soap than any kind of solvent as far as I can tell. If I was worried about paint, thats surely the first thing I would grab..

Well guess what I did????:hyper: In order to really try to clean the tailgate, I would have have to take Q-tips to get in and around the badging. Didn't want to ____ with that, so I debadged the tailgate. Here's what I did............I put some heavy leather gloves on and used fishing line to "saw" the double sided tape off between the truck and the badge. That worked really slick. Then for the tedious part.........cleaning the tape off the tailgate. I took a hair dryer and warmed the tape up and used my fingernails to pick it off. Couldn't think of something that wouldn't scratch or chip the paint. Then to finish cleaning the tape residue off, I used straight gasoline on an old sock. Worked great.I really like the look of the "naked" tailgate. I'm gonna pull the badging off the sides of the truck when my fingernails grow back!!!!!:lmao2:Straight gasoline isn't gonna harm the paint, is it??????? It didn't appear to harm the finish on the tailgate while I was removing the tape residue. I was wondering if I could use that to "clean" the oil stains off the truck. I won't try this until I get the truck fixed though. Until then I'll just keep washing it off with soap.

I don't know about gasoline. We clean our air filters in a bucket of gas to clean them so it is a pretty good solvent. I was thinking of all the people who spill gas out the filler next and never clean it off and that never seems to eat the paint away, but you are scrubbing with it, not dripping it on, so it might have some effects. If it worked fine on the back though, I don't see why you couldn't keep using it. Just try and get as much off with fingernails first. Also!, make sure you wash all that area off with car wash soap or something to get the rest of the gas off, then wax that area, then it should be as good as the rest of the paint on the truck. I debadged mine a couple months ago and love it. That smooth look is just incredible. Plus I get to watch all you guys stare and wonder if it's a cummins or not

WD40 will work to remove the residue. Gasoline will work but a little on the harsh side.

I don't know about gasoline. We clean our air filters in a bucket of gas to clean them so it is a pretty good solvent. I was thinking of all the people who spill gas out the filler next and never clean it off and that never seems to eat the paint away, but you are scrubbing with it, not dripping it on, so it might have some effects. If it worked fine on the back though, I don't see why you couldn't keep using it. Just try and get as much off with fingernails first. Also!, make sure you wash all that area off with car wash soap or something to get the rest of the gas off, then wax that area, then it should be as good as the rest of the paint on the truck.

I debadged mine a couple months ago and love it. That smooth look is just incredible. Plus I get to watch all you guys stare and wonder if it's a cummins or not

ISX, I'm not "scrubbing" with the gasoline soaked sock.......just rubbing on the tape residue to soften it. Then I get after it with fingernails and then soak with gasoline again. It took 2-3 times to get it all off. Doesn't look like if did anything to the paint at all.

WD40 will work to remove the residue. Gasoline will work but a little on the harsh side.

I tried WD40 after I read your post and before I finished "debadging" the truck today. It didn't do squat. Do they sell a different WD40 where you're at??!!

I tried WD40 after I read your post and before I finished "debadging" the truck today. It didn't do squat. Do they sell a different WD40 where you're at??!!

i use wd40 to clean the silicone off my knife and splicing tools. works well for that, but those badges are held on with more than silicone

how about some acetone or paint thinner to remove the 3m double sided tape?

I debadged mine a couple months ago and love it. That smooth look is just incredible. Plus I get to watch all you guys stare and wonder if it's a cummins or not

ohh your the jerk that does that! jk i'm the guy thats has to get behind to see the axle.ohh...not a 1/2ton then i'll ask if you know about this website. but seriously, are we just talking about double sided tape? pry that sucker off

ohh your the jerk that does that! jk i'm the guy thats has to get behind to see the axle.ohh...not a 1/2ton then i'll ask if you know about this website. but seriously, are we just talking about double sided tape? pry that sucker off

ohh your the jerk that does that! jk i'm the guy thats has to get behind to see the axle.ohh...not a 1/2ton then i'll ask if you know about this website. but seriously, are we just talking about double sided tape? pry that sucker off

But funny...

Want me to scribble CTD on the side of it so you know? Maybe the smoke would fill you in

well if i saw your mopar1973man.com window sticker, than there would be no guessing! yes the smoke says it all. but i don't care what you say... a stock 99 only smokes when you cold start...and the tiniest little cloud of grey. i guess it is funny to hear...but a lot of people debadge their 1500s(chevy's mostly) and put 40" tires on!:cookoo:so i tend to look at rear axles when i drivebut seriously (again) those badges are held on by 3m double sided tape?!?

Yeah, just 3M. Mine was thinner stuff than 3M but same basic stuff.

well if i saw your mopar1973man.com window sticker, than there would be no guessing! yes the smoke says it all. but i don't care what you say... a stock 99 only smokes when you cold start...and the tiniest little cloud of grey.

i guess it is funny to hear...but a lot of people debadge their 1500s(chevy's mostly) and put 40" tires on!

so i tend to look at rear axles when i drive

but seriously (again) those badges are held on by 3m double sided tape?!?

Sorry to high jack...

You reminded me of something that got lost...:banghead:

http://forum.mopar1973man.com/showthread.php/984-Stickers/page2?highlight=sticker (Let me know and I'll see about getting them cut!)

Just take a peek under her rear... if the exhaust looks like a rocket launcher, it's a CTD! LOL!

Degreasing with Simple Green ( and most degreasers ) mixed with 1/2 water and a wash brush takes off the oil ( and the wax ), no problem with getting into the recesses.They make plastic scrapers for removing tape mounted stuff, I prefer not to advertise. There are also rubber wheels for erasing the residue. Adding a coat of UV inhibiter will make the paint last longer.

As for the simple green, that and desolv it are the only two chemicals other than wax and soap that will ever touch my vehicles I found out the hard way you need to clean gas dribble from the filler, leave gas residue on paint for 6 month to a year in the sun and heat (75F plus) it will bubble your paint/damage your paint simple green is definately the best degreser you can use on your truck I have a compressed air siphon sprayer that I use along with simple green and a bug brush to get the tar off my truck and it works awesome. Debadging two easy steps go buy an orange oil solvent like desolv it it is what I use and have been using it on boats, snowmobiles, cars and bikes since I was 14, now I'm still young but with 7 years of using this with no problems says something not to mention it is biodegradeable hence more enviromentaly friendly than harsh chemicals... just my two cents it will not damage automotive paint and once your done you'll never know except if its a dark color and you get sun fade around the area of the badge if thats the case a simple rubbing compound will fix her right up also you may want a plastic body filler knife they work wonders. To take them off spray around the badge let soak 5 min if it doesnt pop off taking the tape with it, wipe the residue off with a towl spray the tape let soak about 5 min and your body knife will scrape the remainder off with little to no effort, then just rinse and dry your rig you dont even need to wash tho it is recomended by mfg. the beauty of it is anything new with stickers on it that you want to remove, you will find this to come in handy especilly at the fact its about 3 bucks cheaper per gallon than gas and I've used at least a gallon and a half of this stuff...