cleaning engine

[ordlord11]

I'm looking for some tips on how to clean my engine

[MingisDew31186]

Pick up a bottle of Simple Green Automotive De-Greaser. That stuff works wonders. Do the process it says to do on the back of the bottle like twice. Your engine will look like new!

[Ted]

It also helps it corrode more, have fun!!!

[hockeyman]

When I do mine, I use Castrol Superclean Degreaser.
I let the engine sit overnight to cool, and the next morning I spray the superclean all over everything including the alt, and let it sit for 5 minutes then hose off. I spray everything down!
Let the engine drip dry for a few minutes, then start it up with the hood open and let it get up to operating temp to steam off the excess water.

I posted this before and people here told me that I was gonna ruin the alt and other things if I keep doin it that way, but I've been doing this two times a year since 1997 and I have had zero problems after cleaning.

-Marc

[Ted]

Theres nothing wrong with the way your doing things, it's just that your leaving your engine off when your doing it. The reason you want it on is because when you hose it down the heat will burn up the water when it gets near the sparkplugs and wires, this way it will keep them safe. Next time you do it, just leave your engine running.

[Devilboy28]

I take mine to the do-it-yourself carwash. Pop the hood, spray on the engine cleaner, let sit, and rinse. Mine looks GREAT! I leave my car running the whole time also. NEVER had a problem.

[sac2165]

I think a running engine is bad, I have always hosed the engine down for about 10 min. before adding soap & scrubbing & rinsing. I've never had a problem.

[sam r.]

never done it with the engine on. I thought it might cause a short...um....like when you drop a hair dryer in a bathtub!!!!!!! I make sure the engine is cool because a really hot block and cold water MIGHT have the same effect as a cold frozen windshield and warm water....CRACK!!!

What I use is Greased Lightening, a product of Orange Blast...works great!!! Spray it on concentrating on the greasy spots, let it soak...hose off.

[Ted]

If you want to risk leaving the engine off, I know tons of people that ruin coil packs, short wires, etc... As far as I know the body shop I work at we leave the engine's on, on every car we wash. I imagine they do that at most body shops too, otherwise half the cars won't start back up. I don't think the water is cold enough the crack the block. It's not like fire and ice here.

[sam r.]

Actually......yeah it is like fire and ice here. Would YOU touch your exhaust or engine block with your bare hands after it's just been up to running temp which is what......at least TWO HUNDRED DEGREES!!!! Do this.....stick a thermometer on your block......then in the stream of your running TAP water and tell me the difference.......

AGAIN......UMMMMMM.....Basic ol' laws of electricity......when there is CURRENT.......YEAH GO AHEAD and add water to it!! That'll work!! I think we all think that yeah our engines may be bulletproof and all......but NOT electrical proof! But hey my friend.....if you want to take the chance of running a stream of water of your fuses and alternator and battery terminals on COMPUTER while it's running....be my guest...but ME personally.....I wouldn't so much as spill a cup of coffee on my PC (which doesn't rely on GAS as a source of energy) as spill a drop of water on my OBDII system.

[hockeyman]

I had a bad experience once with my 76 T/A back in 1991. It overheated one summer day, and I shut it off and poured cold tap water into the radiator because the coolant level was low...CRACK -went the block!
Yes, the engine was shut off, but that day I vowed to never pour anything cold onto/into a hot engine again. It was a hard lesson learned on my behalf. I was young and stupid, but that was a mistake I'll never repeat again.
Not saying that spraying cold water on a hot running engine will crack the block, but I dont want to take a chance like that again. ;)

-Marc

[naptown]

Ironman and myself, found the best way to do it is with a toothbrush looking thing with brass wires instead of those plastic thingy's well just scrub it all down. I mean everything. Then take a water hose to it and volia!

[Bluebird]

Hey guys! I am going to clean my engine bay today. What I am going to do is pull into a self-serve car wash, let the engine cool down by 75-100*, then blast away! Car-Wash Soapy Water isn't Icey Cold! Plus a cooler Block should make it through.

Then I'll add some Red Wire Loom... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Ted]

Who the heck does this sam r guy think he is? Sorry to offend you I just never heard tell of tap water cracking someone's block. No need to go berserk here. Bottom line is your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

[ May 20, 2003: Message edited by: Ted ]</p>

[sam r.]

sorry ted....I got a little overzealous there didn't I. I just don't like it when people give advice based on what they or their friends do. Just cause one person does it doesn't mean it's right (or wrong). I just wanted to point out what I felt, were the pros and cons and give my free advice which is worth as much as it costs. I'm no know-it-all and I came across that way. Sorry. In my experience, I used to spray down my engine at the car wash all the time. THen I swritched over to orange blast. My g/f has a mazda 626 and I sprayed hers for the first time one day and I she was like, "are you sure it's ok to do this?" and I was like "yeah, I do it to my car all the time." Well, wouldn't you know it...I sprayed it down and the damn thing didn't start. I felt like an idiot. I thought, well it didn't harm my car why hers? So needless to say I stopped doing that and thought about what MIGHT have gone wrong. Sorry for seeming like I flew off the handle there. [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]