How do you degrease or degrime your engine??

[andyd]

My 528e had a minor oil leak when I bought it with 150k miles. It used a qt every 1500 miles. It was a porous spot on the headgasket, a common problem in that engine. I put another 200k on the car without doing anything but adding oil as needed and changing it evry 4-5k. Cheap oil and filters. The oil worked its way back on the frame rails and rust proofed them.

 

[[RT] ProjUltraZ]

you know what screws things up the most but looks the nicest? engine detailer. you have to saranwrap everything esp the alternator grill. i got engine detailer in there and the resins totalled it

 

[tonycarguy]

There's no need to use high pressure water. I spray the citrus-based degreaser on a slightly warm engine, scrub for 10 seconds, wait 2 minutes, then rinse with a gentle stream of water. The only thing I cover is the alternator. Everything else can handle non-pressurized moisture.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
I do not derive pleasure from spending a week and a half tracking down silly electrical gremlins.


If my car develops electrical gremlins from getting wet under the hood, they need fixed.

 

[tom slick]

Other than getting water in the distributor cap I've never had any issues using a pressure washer and degreaser under the hood but I don't concentrate the blast into components or reservoirs. With my current vehicles they get some simple green and rinsed with a hose once in awhile. I like keeping them clean so they are easier to work on and I can tell where and when something is leaking.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I use Castrol Super Clean/Water at 50/50 mix on warm engine, let it soak about 10 minutes with hood close then hose off with garden hose with medium pressure.

 

[Merkava_4]

My car's computer lives inside the air cleaner box, so I always have to remove the air cleaner box and computer before I wash the engine; in addition to that, I also have to wrap plastic around the electrical connector that goes to the computer and wrap plastic around the opening to the throttle body before washing the engine; it's kind of a pain.

 

[mstrjon32]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
My car's computer lives inside the air cleaner box, so I always have to remove the air cleaner box and computer before I wash the engine; in addition to that, I also have to wrap plastic around the electrical connector that goes to the computer and wrap plastic around the opening to the throttle body before washing the engine; it's kind of a pain.


Mine has the same arrangement. I just hose the whole lot down. Never a problem.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: tom slick
Other than getting water in the distributor cap


My Mustang, which is the only car I currently have with a distributor, has a rubber cover over the distributor cap to keep water off of it.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
Mine has the same arrangement. I just hose the whole lot down. Never a problem.


I washed the engine down one time and then took the air cleaner box out so I could apply some plastic dressing to it - low and behold, there was water in there swishing around the computer.

I won't wash the engine anymore without removing the computer and covering the harness coupling.

 

[mstrjon32]

Fair enough. Maybe next time I wash it down I'll have a look under there.

 

[PT1]

Simple Green ONLY because it is biodegradeableand doesn't pollute. I have a $2.00 spray car wash that uses only simple green for it's degreaser. It works great just apray on and lightly rinse it off with the high pressure spray. All the vehicles get cleaned once every Spring so I don't get build up.

 

[bcossa2001]

+1 on the Simple Green. I hook the hose up to the drain valve on my water heater and use warm/hot water to do the rinsing. I put Wal Mart bags on the alternator and electrical connxns.

 

[mstrjon32]

I use the Black Magic 1-step engine detailer. Spray it on, let it soak for 15 minutes, then hose it off. It degreases and gives everything a deep looking shine, which also helps it stay clean. It's certainly not as effective as the detailer-only products, but its a good middle ground.

It's only worth using if your engine is already pretty clean though. I tried it on my Jeep and it didn't do squat the first time. Had to clean it with simple green first.

 

[firemachine69]

I use the Armour-All Orange wipes to clean off the engine cover and other "visible" components.


But yes, keep high-pressure spray away, wrap everything up before-hand, and everything should be cherry.