Cleaning heavy greased engine.

[johncmng]

What is the best way to clean a heavily greased/dirty engine? I had a small oil leak and over time the oil and dirt are caked on all over the motor. I really don't want to use 10 cans of engine cleaner because mess it makes. Not to mention the fumes. Also the motor is also out of the car. Is a power washer safe to use on the motor? What did other people do?

Thanks

[Diablo Dents]

Warm the engine and spray it with Simple Green. Then hit it with a pressure washer. It will work well

[charleskieffner]

simple green bad for alum parts. go to smart final and p/u restaurant stainless steel degreaser in gallon jug. that and wd-40 with HOT water pressure washer will do trick. wear safety classes!!!!!!

[Diablo Dents]

Why is SG bad for aluminum

[equality72521]

Originally posted by Diablo Dents
Why is SG bad for aluminum

Reda this: http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_faqs.php

[kwm]

aluminum is tricky..i forget for sure what it was it may have been Simple Green but I used a product on a aluminum swingarm on my motorcycle that basically ruined it.

[jluetjen]

I've found denatured mineral spirits to work best and not cause any corrosion issues like a lot of cleaners will. I've tried the stuff at the self-serve car washs, Simply Green, the Purple Stuff, Brake Cleaner, Carb Cleaner, etc.

Denatured Mineral Spirits worked best in floating the gunk off, and it didn't turn the Aluminum nor the Magnesium into oxide. The important thing is that after the parts have dried, you need to spray them down with WD40 to avoid future corrosion since you would have washed off any protective coating.

[austin552]

Greased Lightning worked okay with the 71 2.2l. Several applications and some scrubbing removed about an 1/8" of crud. Now the shocks...

[Diablo Dents]

Very interesting

[JeremyD]

I used simple green and diesel fuel to clean my engine and transmission.

Simple green was on parts for a short period of time, then rinsed with water

I also used some of the purple cleaner - again not letting it soak too long.

[kwm]

Grease Lightning!!!!!! that is what I used the ruined the aluminum swingarm on my motorcycle. I would not use that stuff ever again.

[kach22i]

The new spay gel from Gunk works pretty good. I assume steam cleaning is best.

[azasadny]

As long as you adequately rinse the Simple Green when you're done, everything will be fine. I've been using Simple Green for 4 years and it's never let me down.

[73TCoupe]

I went over everything with kerosene and a stiff brush followed up by one of these using mineral spirits:

http://cgi.ebay.com/AIR-ENGINE-CLEANER-SPRAY-GUN-HOSE-TOOL-AUTO_W0QQitemZ120014346958QQihZ002QQcategoryZ22660 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I took the fan shroud off as well to get down into the areas between the cooling fins. It turned out very well. Good luck.

[aigel]

Gunk engine cleaner. The fumes are minimal. Put a big concrete mixing pan underneath to catch the runoff. Use brass brushes to get the stuff off, rinse with water.

G

[randywebb]

Don't use any chemical until later.

You say it is heavy grease - so use a spatula to scrape it off as much as you can.

2d - wipe with a rag

3rd - use a chemical - simple green or whatever don't let it sit there long.

[aigel]

Also remember that the cylinder and head fins are the place where dirt will hamper your cooling. So don' just go for the visible areas, but make sure those fins are clean.

G

[kwm]

be sure to use your wife's best/fave spatula too....that always goes over well. I used her oven once to bake some powdercoat on some engine parts.....Whoaaaaaaaaa

[kwm]

I grew up in IN in a town called Jasper and in the summer during college I worked at a place called Jasper Engines (some people may have heard of them they are nationally known as far as domestics go) anyway they hot tanked everything. Are you planning to break this engine down? If so maybe you should use this process b/c the engines come out awesome.

[sepia2.4]

another source for good engine cleaning tips

http://www.carcareonline.com/viewarticle.aspx?art=4