When you work on your car…

[A930Rocket]

Do you clean it before and then clean as you go? When I work on A car, especially a new to me car, I’ll clean it either using a pressure washer or going to the car wash and using one of their soapy wands.

Then, as I’m working on the car, I use brake cleaner like it’s going out of style to clean it further.

It’s not that I’m afraid of getting my hands dirty, because they always do, it’s just that I like a clean area without dirt and crap.

WBU?

This is not my car, but you get the idea of working on a dirty engine.

[widebody911]

Depends - if I have the luxury of time, I'll clean everything first, but if it's broken and I'm in a hurry, I'll just dig in. That looks like like my E46 water pump replacement did.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by widebody911

That looks like like my E46 water pump replacement did.

Which, when I did the on on my son's car, is a surprisingly simple little job.

Like WB, if I'm doing the repair in order to get someone's car back on the road, Ill pretty much clean only what's necessary to do the job properly.

_

[Arizona_928]

Depends on how much caked on junk.

Clean enough so it assembles correctly is my moto.

[matthewb0051]

When you work on your car...

Do you invent new swear words???

YES

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Depends - if I have the luxury of time, I'll clean everything first, but if it's broken and I'm in a hurry, I'll just dig in. That looks like like my E46 water pump replacement did.

Agreed. If it’s a quick repair to get on the road, you have to do what you have to do.

The picture is from a E46 M3 water pump replacement. Since I’m going to replace the water pump in my M3 tomorrow, I was looking online how to do it. Having just replaced it on my 330ci, it looks like it’s more involved. The 330 was a piece of cake.

[javadog]

Yes, I do. I cannot stand to put something back together dirty.

Mission Creep, on steroids.

[cabmandone]

Depends on what I'm doing. If it's a starter no. If it's a water pump, or valve covers, something I'd rather not have dirt dropping in, yes. I tend to wear gloves when working and I wipe down my wrenches, sockets etc after I'm done working. I can't stand reaching in a drawer for a wrench and getting grease on my hands.

Working on my 3.2 now. I know what you mean about the brake cleaner. I swear I bought out the stock at a local Rural King when I started this project.

[porsche4life]

Absolutely. Makes the job 100x more enjoyable. Pressure washer and a little simple green goes a long way in making sure you aren’t greased all the way to your arm pits on some jobs.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

When you work on your car...

Do you invent new swear words???

YES

Yea, I become very fluent in profanity and stringing together new profanity. It really does help the problem.

[ted]

The race car mechanicals and chassis get completely wiped down with simple green and white rags after every race weekend.
That's how we crack check, find small leaks or problems before there is a failure.
Beyond reliability maintenance call it preventive maintenance.
No swearing as it's all accessible and easy/fun to work on.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

When you work on your car...

Do you invent new swear words???

YES

Well, sort of.

In my case though, I'd say it's more of an English/Deutsche hybrid, where what would normally be a string of individual cuss words becomes, instead, a single very long one.

_