Engine Cleaning

That is only good advice if your engine and engine bay is already pretty clean. If you have some oil leaks and operate in a dusty environment then your engine bay might be filthy.

Kerosene cleans really good. Wash it off with detergent water. Really tough stuff can be attacked with steam cleaner, high pressure sheep urine etc.

Not unless you deliberately fill the sump with detergent.

What car are we dealing with here?

We used something similar to Simple Green, we would spray the engine with it and let it sit for about 5 minutes and then rinse it off with a high pressure hose, but a garden hose works just as well. On newer cars this works quite well. When I did it to my Supra at closing time, the Service Manager was quite angry with me because the car wouldn't start because everything was wet and we couldn't get the car out of the wash bay. On older cars it is best to leave the engine running, but take care not to get water into any air intakes.

wow, that must indeed be a book for beginners. It's like instructions for taking a bath saying "First remove your clothing, shoes and socks, and your wristwatch. If you're going to shampoo your hair, remove your hat." Duh! Seriously, the only thing to worry about is getting the rinse water on or near electrical parts, so covering those parts with saran wrap is a worthy idea. Don't soak the engine with a full-force garden hose or you likely won't get the engine started when you're finished.

Do not use cleaners or solvents on ANY decals or stickers, dry rag only.

Honestly? Just leave it alone...

When you start cleaning an engine you knock things loose accidentally, water gets places it can't normally get.. brittle plastic parts get snapped off. I've never seen a car cease to run because the engine wasn't cleaned. I've seen tons of cars that don't run anymore after the engine is cleaned.

If you really want to have it done have a professional steam clean the engine.

Steve B.

I cleaned hundreds of cars with a grease cutter like Simple Green.

Unfortunately, the only one that wouldn't run afterwards was my Supra...

Not if you show just a little bit of care.

But a clean engine compartment and engine is so much nicer to work with.

A little bit of care prevents that. And the condition should only be temporary and self-correcting unless they were VERY stupid.

That sucks that the Supra wouldn't start! The one I see most often is the mid 90s Lincolns that grampaw washes. Water gets in those deep spark plug wells and the car runs like crap. Being around used cars / trade time I see a lot of "first time washers" and the destruction they inflict.

Steve B.

What I do, and have done for a long time, is when I take the rig to a "do-it-yourself" carwash I LIGHTLY spray under hood with the soap spray, ease hood down and wash car - then when I rinse, I rinse under the hood again fairly lightly - but then I do it several times a year so don't need the pressure. Need I say Toyotas stay fairly clean w/o oil leaks?

Ron in Ca

Double ditto this post.. If he doesnt know how to do it, he shouldnt. You CAN cause a lot of problems with injudicious engine washing. Leave this until a little later in the development of your automotive hobbying.

I WISH!!!! My last three have leaked like sieves!

One of them had the oil pan bolts working loose and the entire underside of the car was oil undercoated.

Get some Simple Green - I bought a gallon about a decade ago and still have plenty left. Simple Green works on grease and just about anything you spill in the interior, it works as a household cleaner, and driveway degreaser. Of, you can try stuff like Gunk Engine Brite.

Spray the cleaner on the engine, avoiding the coils, spark plugs, electrical connectors, engine air intake, and throttle body. Let the stuff sit for 5 ~

10 minutes, rinse off with a gentle spray. A full power shot from a hose or pressure washer can knock stuff loose or force water into the intake (very bad - you can end up needing a new engine).

Good thing. Prevents body rust.

--scott

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I guess when I clean underneath the front hood, I'll just do it the careful, tedious way, with a shop towel passed over individual surfaces, one at a time, like Auto Upkeep recommends.

It sure will take a lot longer, but for a beginner like me, it's probably safer.

On the other hand, in the '06 Camry, the engine's spark plugs are protected by a large plastic engine cover, and I guess I could cover the air filter housing's air intake with something, and cover the alternator and MAF sensor, but I think I'll just follow the book and use a dampened shop towel.

I've always used the gunk "Engine Brite" spray. Start with a cold engine, idle for 2-3 minutes to warm it up just a bit. Then let loose with the entire can of gunk and have a toothbrush handy. Go around the entire engine compartment and use the toothbrush on any dirt you see, hit the firewall, strut towers, manifold shields, hoses, clamps, etc. The solvent will keep the dirt loosened up once you touch it. Once you've hit everything use a garden hose to rinse it all out. Whala, perfectly clean engine compartment.

Now you do need to be careful if your engine has the plugs down inside a 'well', because water will invariably get down in there and keep you from driving until you get it all out. I use compressed air to dry this area off, but if you don't have that option you need to mask that area of the engine off with a block of some sort(plastic bag and tape?) to keep water away from there. Another area to avoid getting intentionally wet is the distributor, cap and wires. Or if you don't have a distributor, keep the coil packs and wires dry.

Chris

When I do this, I am careful to plug the air inlets, cover the alternator, distributor, etc (as it may apply to the vehicle) with plastic bags and tie them snugly.

Gunk, Dawn, etc will usually work fine. Kerosene, as mentioned before is great for dissolving oil without hurting most paint. Easily flushed away with soap and water.

When you get through, take away ALL the bags and rag stuffing, wipe off the visible water. You can use WD-40 on plugs, wires, etc if you wish.It is a darn good water dispersant.

Start the engine immediately. Let it run until hot enough to evaporate the water.

You may want to (need to) lubricate hood hinges, pins, linkages, etc when you are finished. Removal of grease or oil by the bath may make this wise.

Does your girl friend/wife/significant other get turned on by a clean engine? I don't understand why you want to clean your engine, it won't make the car run better. It won't help the engine to run cooler or the A/C to work better. Well, maybe the A/C might work better if the condenser is plugged up with bugs and stuff.

Keep the outside clean and the hood closed.

Jack

Don't most modern cars have their air inlets inside one of the fenders these days? I can't recall the last time I saw a car that didn't.

Do you ever do any of your own work on a car? It's a lot easier when you keep things underneath and under the hood clean or at least somewhat clean. Tracing a leak is a lot easier when things are kept clean. And as far as the engine working better, when clean it is working as it was designed. Accelerated life testing may not get the engine and other parts coated in the sorts of grime they do over a period of years of real operation. Grime can do harm in a number of ways. Sure it may something that isn't measurable and can't be pulled out of the noise of random and old-age part failures, but other than some rare exceptions its not doing any good being there.