Recipe for flushing the clutch.

hudsonsplasher1

Hi everyone, looking for a good recipe for flushing the clutch. 
Thanks in advance.
Gene.

railknight

Back in the 1970's, A.E. Adams, who was a former technical service editor for the WTN, discussed the proper procedure for draining and cleaning the clutch of Hudson cars.  The one pint solvent he mentions to be injected into the clutch (after draining old clutch fluid) is made up of "(20% carbon tetrachloride and 80% commercial acetone.  Obtainable from drug or chemical supply houses)".  So, there you have it.  Just go down the block to your neighborhood chemical or drug supply house for these chemicals.  
Seriously, I think the acetone that Mr. Adams mentioned is no longer made or available to the public and apparently there's a substitute that may not have the same cleaning properties.  Perhaps someone knows of other solvents that could do the trick here.

charles4d

Acetone is still sold at Home depot and maybe Lowes

railknight

I know acetone is available and I can obtain it at my local ACE Hardware too.  I just thought the chemical makeup changed over the years to make it a safer product.  However, checking on-line seems to indicate that acetone has not changed at all.  It is to be hoped this is the case.  Seems its the carbon tetrachloride that may be difficult to obtain due to its toxicity. 

charles4d

 You can buy it on Amazon Carbon tetrachloride 

hudsonsplasher1

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info.

lostmind

Lacquer thinner works

terraplanepilot

I had the same problem and used  a bunch of concoctions and methods that did not work. Then I found out about Trichloroethylene and I found some on Amazon.com. It worked like a charm but it is hard to get. Amazon does not have it anymore and I did check Ebay for you and there are a couple of vendors (one in Italy) selling it and the other one is quite expensive in New Jersey but they do entertain offers.   

Uncle Josh

Carbon Tet is hard to come by.  Use 'Carbochlor' available at your local hardware.

ken1962

When I was a 15 year old kid working part time on Saturday mornings at a plumbing manufacturer I was confronted with huge heated covered steaming vats of the cleaning agent trichloroethylene - I was warned then never to touch the liquid, as it moves thru the skin, never to breath the fumes as it will kill you in confined areas - it was a fantastic cleaner - oil would just lift off like magic - I'd never recommend untrained people using it and then trying to dispose of the liquid to your environment - it will kill you. Stay well away from it - it doesn't have the skull and crossed bones black warning signs for nothing on its barrels cheers Ken 

Ps

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classify trichloroethylene as a human carcinogen.

JasonNC

Ken U-Tx said:

The conventional CRC Brake Kleen in red can (not the green can non-chlorinated version), is primarily Perc or tetrachloroethylene. You can spray it into a container and then mix with acetone for about a pint. The Carbochlor is actually a bleach with sulfonic acid used by the food processing industry to sanitize food processing equipment. IT IS NOTHING like perc or the old carbon tetrachloride, and I sure wouldn't use it in a Hudson clutch.

What ratio of brake cleaner to acetone would you recommend to a pint?

BigSky

I was told by Don Chase many many years ago to use Toluene for the stuck clutch I had in my sedan.  Once I braced the clutch pedal it was free within a couple days.  However, I don’t know if it could or should be used for the application your looking at?

hudsonsplasher1

BigSky said:

I was told by Don Chase many many years ago to use Toluene for the stuck clutch I had in my sedan.  Once I braced the clutch pedal it was free within a couple days.  However, I don’t know if it could or should be used for the application your looking at?

Thanks BigSky I appreciate it.

hudsonsplasher1

I used a combo of 80 percent acetone and 20 percent lacquer thinner to flush the clutch and it worked very well. Clutch is very smooth now. Thanks for all the info.

railknight

Great to hear your own clutch flushing cleaner did the trick!