Before refitting the looms back onto my Syncro I want to get them cleaned up, as they're covered in twenty years' worth of oil and crud now. This will sound bizarre, but a friend of mine who has restored a few cars suggested chucking the loom into a couple of pillow cases and sticking it in the washing machine. Then, let it dry out thoroughly in the airing cupboard. He did this to a loom himself and said that it just came out like a brand new loom. I'd be worried about corrosion but, if it's properly dried out quickly, perhaps it'd be fine? Thoughts? Trev
I've done a throttle body in the dishwasher and that came out nice. I'd say its worth a try. Hardest bit would be figuring out how to work the washing machine. Maybe you could just jet wash it?
It sounds mad enough that it just might work!! I'd be worried about water getting into the cores of the cable as it would be submersed, but if you could dry it quickly and thoroughly I can't see why it wouldn't! Let us know when your washing machine eats your loom and floods the kitchen!!!
Try it with something small like just an indicator loom or something like that, not much to loose if it all goes wrong.
I used to work on heavy plant and we had a giant dishwasher in the workshop... it was the most amazing machine - I did an complete engine rebuild on a 6 cylinder 18 litre Komatsu dozer, you open the door and pull out a big round cage thing that rotated (not very fast mind!) and loaded it up with the block, crank and all the bits and pieces, looms included and hey presto in about an hour it all comes out brand new! It had detergent in it and was heated too like a giant steam cleaner so the parts came out pretty much dry. That didn't any of the wiring any damage at all so long as it was in a wire basket and couldn't drop out of the main cage. Made life so much easier! but then we were doing lots of major overhauls so was justified! Can't see much difference between that and a domestic machine just on a slightly different scale!
Perhaps look into using some kind of engine degreaser as the "washing powder" to lesson the possibilitys of corrosion... Comma Hyper Clean wil make the water go milky and may help
I clean loads of things in the washing machine. For little things my ex girlfriend made me some tie bags out of net curtains material which are great for cleaning everything from Lego to car components. Ian..
