Cleaning a engine

[JoeKan]

What kind of spray and/or solution do you all spray on your engine to get the dirt and oil off? I don't think my engine has been cleaned...ever. Is there a good way of doing this?
Thanks!!
Joe

[sweetk30]

if you want clean and cheep but possible paint peal . . . . go to the dollar store and get the cheep oven cleaner .

i have seen it do crazy cleaning . just did a th400 a few months back right down to bare aluminum with just 2 spray downs and wire brush scrub each time. could even read factory painted on stamped #'s

[mongocanfly]

I use purple power and mineral spirits....and a wire brush....and a lot of elbow grease
that crap that's been on there for 60yrs is hard to get off

[JoeKan]

Thanks guys, really appreciate your input.

[cadillac_al]

I use Greased Lightning and a pressure washer. I find it works better and is cheaper than aerosol cans of engine cleaner.

[mattfranklin]

I used to use GUNK in the squirt can and use the manual car wash to wash it down.

One warning is that you will likely splash some water on the ignition system and have trouble restarting. Have a roll of paper towels handy to dry off the plug wires and distributor cap if necessary.

[68gmsee]

With the engine in the vehicle I use at least two cans of Gunk engine cleaner and with an adjustable sprayer on the hose wash it down. This cleans most of the oils and grime but doesn't remove baked in grime. I also do this any time I have an oil leak and not sure where it's coming from.

Make sure you cover the carb breather and any other part that may be affected by moisture.

[Macdaddy1]

I degrease mine with soap and a cheap commercial degreaser from Sam's club using a pressure washer with the engine running. I leave the engine running to help dry and to avoid water in the ignition system.

[tinydb84]

There is a place by me who does steam cleaning. $300 for the engine compartment and for $500 they will put it on a lift and do the underside. It is amazing how clean they come out. Its a lot of money but if you were doing a build I would pay it in a heart beat.

[Dead Parrot]

Depends on how clean you want it. A lot of the open stall DIY car wash setups have a engine clean option. First is a solvent type stuff, then a hot wash. Avoids having all the removed crap in your driveway. Not perfect but can be a good start. Bring towels to clean the windshield and you off. And one to sit on as some of the removed stuff seems to fly off and find the back of your shirt and pants.

[garyd1961]

Had a guy show me this years ago, take some Tide washing powder and mix it with kerosene. Spray it on the motor, let it set, brush the thick stuff, rinse and repeat if needed. It's a little smelly at first but it dissipates fairly quickly as it dries.

[earl84]

I bought an ‘07 Silverado with Duramax engine a couple months ago. The truck belonged to a contractor/hobby farmer and it got used, and it was so dirty and greasy in the engine compartment. I covered all the sensitive items like the MAF, and exposed wiring connections with aluminum foil, then sprayed it down with a product from O’Reillys called Super Clean. Let it sit for a few minutes, then used a regular hose with nozzle and rinsed it off. I’m just a little leery of pressure washer under the hood, but lots of people do it with no adverse effects. Got very clean. Did a second treatment to get a few small areas I missed. Followed up with another product called Trim Shine, also from O’Reilly’s, and it looked like a $300 detail job.

So easy, so fast (like 30 minutes overall), so cheap, and it looked amazing. I didn’t have any inch thick areas of baked on grease and oil, but there was definitely LOTS of grease and oil everywhere.

[toolboxchev]

That Purple Power and Super Clean will eat rubber if you let it sit a tad too long. It has an acid in it. Also does wonders to corrode aluminum. But if you want it clean it will do the trick.

Watch that stuff.

[earl84]

Originally Posted by toolboxchev

That Purple Power and Super Clean will eat rubber if you let it sit a tad too long. It has an acid in it. Also does wonders to corrode aluminum. But if you want it clean it will do the trick.

Watch that stuff.

Yes, that’s true. Thanks for pointing that out, forgot to mention that. I literally sprayed it down with the cleaner, picked up my garden hose and sprayed it off. Second application I focused on spots I missed the first time and tough areas, immediately followed by garden hose rinse. It didn’t sit on the engine bay for very long at all.