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steam cleaning engine - good or bad?

I just wondered what the opinion is as several years ago I had a decent bmw that had some work done by a dealer. They steam cleaned the engine and the idle was all over the place afterwards - on what was a rock steady engine before. Turns out some moisture found its way int o O2 sensor connector (they said). Dried it out and all was fine again. Reason I ask is I have to do some work on a very mucky engine bay and wonder whether to Steam clean it. Any actual experiences (rather than folklore) appreciated.

Reply to
dave
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not a good idea on newer cars , to much electronics to bugger up , too many wires to melt

thier are plenty of products on the marketthat clean without steam

Reply to
steve robinson

Back to good old Gunk then!

Reply to
dave

================================== Don't rule out steam cleaning too easily. A good genuine *steam clean* is almost a dry process. A careful operator will cover or avoid any delicate areas. Some places are offering 'steam cleaning' when what they're really doing is hot wash which is best avoided in my experience.

I routinely visited a steam cleaner some years ago and always came out with engine bays looking like new and no problems at all.

It's worth visiting a few places to see what they're really offering before you decide. Remember that 'Gunk' requires some washing off which can cause problems if you're not careful.

You could experiment a bit and do your own steam cleaning with a wallpaper stripper but it might be a bit tedious.

Cic.

Reply to
Cicero

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