[HotSoup]

I have the motor out of my car for replacement and desperately need to clean it up. I thought about getting it repainted but just dont have the resources right now to do so. What does everyone use to get all the dirt/grime/grease gone? I have access to a pressure washer just fyi. What chemicals do i need? I have some engine brite and purple power but I know the pp will possibly eat the paint.
Thanks
Jason

 

[sunnysupra]

simple green but what i use is engine brite i think it is made by GUNK and its the best stuff i ever use

 

[Sfitts2380]

Cleaning metal surfaces(not painted) I'd use the non chlorinated brake cleaner, it will take off anything, grease, dirt, Dryed on stains, but that's also the problem, it will eat your paint to. So I only recommend for like block cleaning or if you have chrome or anything as such.

 

[Flicktitty]

3M Brake cleaner seems to work well, i know some napa's had a sale going on for it at like $2 a can which is cheap for any brake cleaner.

i also picked up some "FAST 505"
http://cdn.www.officedepot.com/a/products/841655/Zep-Fast-505-Industrial-Cleaner-And/
i just picked up a bottle of it at True Value and that stuff works great as well, i used it on a white engine bay but i didn't notice it doing anything to the paint.

BEFORE:

AFTER - using the 3M and the FAST505 stuff and some water and a little elbow grease.

this was only after about 30 minutes or so of cleaning. so if you took your time i think your results would get better.

 

[Sfitts2380]

Long time usage, meaning doing it over and over again will eat your paint, doing it just once, you could probably get away with

It gets rid of bags of cans too?!?!?!? That's awesome

 

[Flicktitty]

HAHAHA, the bag of can's was a joke telling people i was putting a SR in the car instead of the 2JZ.

 

[Kracin]

Hotsoup. A picture of what you are working with would help.

But without pics I could tell you that the most aggressive way to clean would be a non chlorinated brake cleaner like mentioned... it will literally dissolve any and all thick grease. But will harm some surfaces if used for to long.

The best option for all around after you attack trouble spots in a contained fashion would be usin meguairs apc plus. Works better than simple green and I have used it to clean up the engne bay of my jeep I bought with 200k original miles in the engine bay. Best way to do it is to spray te cleaner on. Let it sit for 10 minutes (not hot, but warm)... then spray again and agitate. Rinse with water. Repeat the soaking and repsray plus agitate until its clean... it will come clean that way. But takes some time if you want to be sure not to damage anythinkg.

 

[ReflectionsDetail]

simple green but what i use is engine brite i think it is made by GUNK and its the best stuff i ever use

If you have aftermarket metals in the bay..............DONT USE gunk

Cheers,
GREG

 

[Kracin]

If you have aftermarket metals in the bay..............DONT USE gunk

Cheers,
GREG

might also want to add that simple green is not the best chemical to use on aluminum... look up the chemical reaction caused by combining simple green and high grade aluminums...

 

[flightz71]

Use simple green or a natural citrus degreaser such as P21s total auto wash. Do NOT use a pressure washer if there are still electronics in the engine bay... with a good balanced formula you won't need one anyhow. Wet the engine bay, spray formula (make sure everything is cool to touch!), let the formula work, use a brush and agitate everything, rise with a hose.

It's much simpler than ppl think. Aggressive formulas will damage plastics, corrode aluminum, and eat away at paint. Simple green should be diluted slightly to prevent this and KEY is to work on a cool motor!!! Heat will instantly cause forumlas to eat faster! To the above comment regarding brake cleaner, dude BAD IDEA.

I used to detail high end BMW's Porsche's and what not to make money in college .

 

[Daruff1]

i wanna try this

 

[94nasupra]

There's a sticky with pictures and everything on this page. Check it out very detailed.

 

[Kracin]

There's a sticky with pictures and everything on this page. Check it out very detailed.

sticky is not exactly the best way to clean an engine bay either. using engine degreaser spray cans is pretty outdated and there are much better ways to clean engine bays that will no damage electronics, dry out rubber, or remove coatings from things that might not react well to using an engine cleaner

and btw, those engine brites are not the greatest thing to use on polished surfaces or delicate painted surfaces if you happen to have painted quite a few things in the engine bay. and they will dry out rubber faster than a good diluted degreaser.

 

[Kracin]

Use simple green or a natural citrus degreaser such as P21s total auto wash. Do NOT use a pressure washer if there are still electronics in the engine bay... with a good balanced formula you won't need one anyhow. Wet the engine bay, spray formula (make sure everything is cool to touch!), let the formula work, use a brush and agitate everything, rise with a hose.

It's much simpler than ppl think. Aggressive formulas will damage plastics, corrode aluminum, and eat away at paint. Simple green should be diluted slightly to prevent this and KEY is to work on a cool motor!!! Heat will instantly cause forumlas to eat faster! To the above comment regarding brake cleaner, dude BAD IDEA.

I used to detail high end BMW's Porsche's and what not to make money in college .

simple green has been shown to be a bad thing to use on aluminum as it reacts. not to mention if there is something porous you might get a green hue to something afterwards. i wouldn't recommend simple green for engine bays anymore. if you visit some of the automotive detailing forums you willl find that there are far better options for diluted degreasers out there than the oldschool way of simplegreening anything that has dirt on it

 

[KenHenderson]

Kracin,

You, Benzo and MDSUPERSTAR on here know as much about car care and surface detailing as anyone I know. Your posts on this and related topics are always chock-full of good information and advice. Thanks, man. Much appreciated.

Ken.

 

[HotSoup]

looking into buying some Meguiars APC online to do the task. I will post before/after pics once I am done.

Thanks to everyone

Jason

 

[Kracin]

Thanks ken. Always glad to give info for anyone who needs it.


Hotsoup. You won't be disappointed with the megs apc+ I just cleaned the interior of my girls 96 jetta. It had a smoker in it before and the apc+ at a medium 10:1 ratio (water to apc) took all of the yellowing off of every surface and got rid of every last bit of sticky residue and oily feel to all the surfaces.

I might try to do a writeup on an engine detail using the megs on her engine bay seeing as how it has never ever been cleaned lol.

 

[SupraGreg]

Purple power, a scrub brush, and a pressure washer will do the trick!

 

[Kracin]

Purple power, a scrub brush, and a pressure washer will do the trick!

ive tried the purple power and the orange lightning and a couple others from the parts store too. they work good as degreasers if you need to get something right then and there. but i still prefer meguiars professional products (including their specific engine degreaser) over anything in a regular old parts store counter. the difference in product performance in night and day