running without fan/alternator for <10sec
 

I need to power wash the top of the engine, I plan to remove the
fan/alternator and drive the car in the self serve car wash. The
actual drive time without the fan/alternator will be less than
10 seconds. Is this a bad plan? Can I dammage something doing
this? The car is a stock 72E with stock MFI and stock ignition.

Thanks,
Francois

First, no, it won't be the end of the world. I'm sure many of us have had a belt go on the highway, and it sometimes can take ten seconds to find a safe place to pull off.

Second, it seems there ought to be enormously easier ways of cleaning your engine...

here's some background on the problem:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-rebuilding-forum/187080-crankshaft-leak.html

basically there is lots of oilly deposit on the top of the barrels
and crankcase. This trapped dust and crud over the years
and it smell very strong when the engine warms up.
The smell might be something else but I feel this is my next step
in getting it under control. I'm 75% sure this is the source.

F.

Why do you need to drive it into a carwash with the fan shroud and alternator off? Is this one of those automatic carwashes, or one of those dump-quarters-in car washes? If its the former, why not find the latter, or find a pelicanhead with a hose?

I don't think an automatic carwash is going to work, if thats what you were planning -- you won't get enough pressure to push off any real grime, or be positive any degreaser you got in there is totally washed off.

I never ever use the automatic car wash, they don't exist as far as I'm concerned.
I will use the quater type place and their power wash gun.
I will use some degraser and I don't want to do this in my
driveway, it will make a mes, wife will be VERY grumpy if I did
and I don't blame her.

F.

Running the engine for that short of a time should not hurt the engine at all. As stated in another reply How many times has a belt broken & it has taken a little time to find a safe place to pull over. In the world of VW drag racing the alternators are removed because the alternator adds weight to the car. Again they are only running for a short time. On another point it may be a good idea to put some tape over the wire ends of the alternator connections because you will still have current running to them. If they were to come in contact with something they could short, spark or cause a fire.

I ran my engine for about 15 minutes after a belt broke on the highway. I had just got the car and didn't know the difference. Anyhow, I was in the red on the temp guage. Short story.....after 20K+ miles, no damage whatsover. Many are amazed at that, but it's true, but it did get seriously hot, hot, hot. So, I think a few seconds aint gonna hurt...

Regards,

Francois, this sounds like a bad idea to me.

As was posted above, when you remove the alternator the B+ (fat red wire) will be hot, and if it makes contact with the engine case you will have an 800 amp arc welder on your hands. Also, if for whatever reason the engine DOES heat up faster than you think, it's going to seize, and you will be writing a check for $5000+

Here's what I would do. Get yourself one of those large steel drip pans, such as the ones made by "Blitz," and some Castrol "Super Clean" a few nylon bristle brushes and a plastic putty knife. Position the pan under the engine. Disconnect the batteries, both of them. Then remove the alternator and liberally spray the degreaser on the engine case. Let it stand for a bit, then scrape as much crud off as you can. The degreaser will fall through the engine and be caught by the pan. You might put some old newspapers on the pan to soak it up. Once you've broken up all the big chunks, squirt some more degreaser and start with the brushes. Once you've finished the dirty work, put everything back together and drive to the quarter car wash, and then carefully use the pressure wand through the bottom of the fan blades, and over the heat exchangers. Good luck.

I will cap off the wires with tape to avoid shorts.
THe other option would be to push the car into the car wash bay.

John, I was considering doing something similar over the center
pit/drain in my garage and use some plastic tarp taped to the
car to funnel the crud to the hole in the ground. I could use
my own power washer but I'm worried about making a mes
in my garage.

Thanks all,
Not yet sure how I will do it.

Francois