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Pressure Wash SL450 Engine?

I am working on a friend's 1975 SL 450. It's in pretty good shape, but the engine is really dirty. The guy who owns our local German auto shop told me that pressure washing the engine would be a bad idea because the engine has electronic fuel injection, and that I would likely get water in the injectors and that they wouldn't work right until I took them apart and dried them off inside.

Does anyone have expeience with the 4.5 liter gasoline V-8 from that era?

What would you recommend for cleaning 34 years of accumulated grease and dirt from the engine?

I am thinking I could lay towels across the valve covers and over the distributor and clean those areas manually with solvent and rags but pressure wash the rest.

What do you think?

Paul

Reply to
heav
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I wouldn't do it as the pressure from pressure washer is high. You have distributor points on that engine do that would be the first thing to get wet.

I suggest you use biodegradeble oil eater detergent/cleaner... Sometime it is sold at Costco but if I recalled long ago Castrol made a product... it was very good but I haven't use it for over adecade

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Rinse the engine so it is wet... then spray liberally and let it soak... respray if it gets dry and then after a while... maybe 10 minutes or so. Rinse it out. Repeat if needed.

I have used the CRC Engine cleaner but that stuff is pretty toxic. It cleans nice but I would rinse it on the street if possible. This product does make aluminum shine by removing some of the oxidation... but it is not like super clean engine out of the cleaning steam oven. Maybe I might use this last to get that shine.

Reply to
Tiger

use Gunk ........

Reply to
Jim GM4DHJ

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