Best Way Clean Engine

[colombo]

I have heard it is no good to wash the engine when it is servicing. Which is the best way clean engine ( dust and mud and oil) .

[German Car]

As long as you cover the electronic parts with pastics or so - its ok to wash. There are many places that offer engine washing.

Well you could use wd40 and clean the engine as well - I would say this is the best

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

[The Don]

There is also a specialist engine degreaser you can buy from shops.

What you do is you spray it on, leave it for a bit, and wash it off using low pressure water so that water does not spill on the electronics (which need to be covered up) and all the dust and grease and oil washes away leaving the bare aluminum looking fantastic

[Arc Angel]

is engine deglazing similar to this? and does it have any negative effects (like a high pressure wash does)?

[Ripper]

As long as you cover the electronic parts with pastics or so - its ok to wash. There are many places that offer engine washing.

Well you could use wd40 and clean the engine as well - I would say this is the best

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

well i also use good ol WD40 quite carefully on most of my mechanical stuff which includes non-auto related things like fishing gear etc that needs cleaning and some sorta protection..

But have never tried it for a complete engine bay cleanup job...

the service station fellows at present i go to use a degreaser (pentra oil or summin like that) on the engine after covering up the alternator and the distributor... I don't budge from the spot to make sure they do a careful job and not use excessive pressure...

So far i've not had any issues and with the roads i travel in my engine bay tends to pick up a lot of dust that will be quite difficult to take out completely even with a larger can of WD40

[Ripper]

is engine deglazing similar to this? and does it have any negative effects (like a high pressure wash does)?

Arc Angel

I think deglazing is different ball game. I'm guessing here big time but i think that process is much for harsher than a normal surface clean up like you would do with a degreaser.

Last time i was at the service station i queried the friendly station owner on deglazing and he said that they have stopped offering the service cos on the long run the engine actually gets a worse appearance after deglazing...

not sure how true this is since don't have no other info on it than what this old timer told me...

maybe somebody else with better info can chime in

[The Don]

is engine deglazing similar to this? and does it have any negative effects (like a high pressure wash does)?

Not sure but I know they use a chemical method too. Glazing might involve cleaning the engine of aluminum oxide as well, what I was suggesting was de-greasing, getting rid of the dust oil and grease. Interestingly oil grease and dust prevent the engine from oxidizing, and once they are gone the bits which were covered by it look brand new

[The Don]

Arc Angel

I think deglazing is different ball game. I'm guessing here big time but i think that process is much for harsher than a normal surface clean up like you would do with a degreaser.

Last time i was at the service station i queried the friendly station owner on deglazing and he said that they have stopped offering the service cos on the long run the engine actually gets a worse appearance after deglazing...

not sure how true this is since don't have no other info on it than what this old timer told me...

maybe somebody else with better info can chime in

yes I think you are right. Incidentally what the guy probably meant was that the good thing about aluminum oxide is that it protects the metal underneath it from further corrosion (the same cannot be said for ferrous oxide !) so having a not so shiny engine is not a bad thing after all .......

[Ripper]

yes I think you are right. Incidentally what the guy probably meant was that the good thing about aluminum oxide is that it protects the metal underneath it from further corrosion (the same cannot be said for ferrous oxide !) so having a not so shiny engine is not a bad thing after all .......

The Don

My motor has some yellow greenish deposits neat the plug cover and the station guy said that that's probably after deglazing done by the previous guy....

quite strange to deglaze an AE100 motor imho

Now if i remember my chemistry lessons right, Al is more reactive to oxygen than Fe...

but then again none of these are used in their virgin state but used as metal alloys so not sure how the reactive state changes after that..

anyways for me personally i don't need a shiny motor and an engine bay...just a nice clean one is all i'm after and degreasers get the job done...

still u feel a bit dodgy when the service station people opens up the hood and brings in that spraygun thing with a cannister to spray degreasers on to the motor

all that protects your alternator and distributor is some polythene covering and hopefully a steady hand by the spray gun operator

[Nilantha]

As long as you cover the electronic parts with pastics or so - its ok to wash. There are many places that offer engine washing.

Well you could use wd40 and clean the engine as well - I would say this is the best

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

Use wd40 to clean the engine???????? This is a real joke. How many wd40 cans need to clean the engine???

Edited January 4, 2008 by Nilantha

[Arc Angel]

hmmm.. best not pay too much heed to the whole deglazing scene then...

still u feel a bit dodgy when the service station people opens up the hood and brings in that spraygun thing with a cannister to spray degreasers on to the motor

tell me about it... last time I did one (engine wash) I had to replace my headlamp relays

[The Don]

The Don

My motor has some yellow greenish deposits neat the plug cover and the station guy said that that's probably after deglazing done by the previous guy....

quite strange to deglaze an AE100 motor imho

Now if i remember my chemistry lessons right, Al is more reactive to oxygen than Fe...

but then again none of these are used in their virgin state but used as metal alloys so not sure how the reactive state changes after that..

anyways for me personally i don't need a shiny motor and an engine bay...just a nice clean one is all i'm after and degreasers get the job done...

still u feel a bit dodgy when the service station people opens up the hood and brings in that spraygun thing with a cannister to spray degreasers on to the motor

all that protects your alternator and distributor is some polythene covering and hopefully a steady hand by the spray gun operator

Yellow greenish stuff ....... sounds like copper oxide, might be the chemicals not being rinsed off properly ......

The difference between Al and Fe oxides are once the layer of Al oxide is formed the metal does not corrode any further, but in Fe the top layer bubbles off exposing the Fe underneath causing further corrosion

The thing with chemical degreasers is they need to be rinsed off fairly well. The degreaser I used returned excellent results which lasted for many months. I polished my old engine using fine rubbing compound to bring it back to shine and then carefully wiped it all off. It was hard work but it worked and my engine looked pretty good ........ for a while ........

Careful with the WD40, I hear its a water retainer which means on steel it can lead to corrosion ......

[Ripper]

Careful with the WD40, I hear its a water retainer which means on steel it can lead to corrosion ......

well i heard the exact opposite on many fishing forums i visit online quite strange

most anglers use wd40 on their fishing reels, rods and other equipment to get the water out since WD40 is a penetrating oil of sorts it supposedly can "chase" water away...

not sure how true this is but since i started using it on my fishing tackle, i've not had a corrosion problem

not sure how wd40 effects rubber seals, gaskets etc though

[The Don]

well i heard the exact opposite on many fishing forums i visit online quite strange

most anglers use wd40 on their fishing reels, rods and other equipment to get the water out since WD40 is a penetrating oil of sorts it supposedly can "chase" water away...

not sure how true this is but since i started using it on my fishing tackle, i've not had a corrosion problem

not sure how wd40 effects rubber seals, gaskets etc though

interesting, it was actually through this forum I read that WD40 is a water retainer, been some time now, and there is always the possibility whoever made that comment was misinformed

[Ripper]

interesting, it was actually through this forum I read that WD40 is a water retainer, been some time now, and there is always the possibility whoever made that comment was misinformed

dunno mate

went fishing yesterday too... washed all my tackle with freshwater and WD40'd all of it

I've been doing this for about 2 years or so now and no corrosion yet

[Bugatti]

dunno mate

went fishing yesterday too... washed all my tackle with freshwater and WD40'd all of it

I've been doing this for about 2 years or so now and no corrosion yet

deviating.... Do you fish at Kinross..?

[The Don]

dunno mate

went fishing yesterday too... washed all my tackle with freshwater and WD40'd all of it

I've been doing this for about 2 years or so now and no corrosion yet

maybe it offers protection against salt ......

[Ripper]

deviating.... Do you fish at Kinross..?

not from the beach machang...i have a friend there who owns 2 boats and i occasionally hire them out for few hours of offshore fun

[Ripper]

maybe it offers protection against salt ......

probably machang

I don't take chances against corrosion so i keep my tackle under the shower for a few minutes and hose everything down, let everything dry under a fan and only then i use wd40...

seems to be the thing with anglers all over the world

some even believe wd40 on your lures help to catch more fish...which i think is just fancy bull$hit

i think at the end of the day the bloody thing has it's uses other than helping to loosen rusted/frozen nuts and bolts. it has become a household things to have nowadays...even my wifey uses it on door hinges etc

[Bugatti]

not from the beach machang...i have a friend there who owns 2 boats and i occasionally hire them out for few hours of offshore fun

Ah... that's cool....! trolling is fun... did it only once though.

[The Don]

probably machang

I don't take chances against corrosion so i keep my tackle under the shower for a few minutes and hose everything down, let everything dry under a fan and only then i use wd40...

seems to be the thing with anglers all over the world

some even believe wd40 on your lures help to catch more fish...which i think is just fancy bull$hit

i think at the end of the day the bloody thing has it's uses other than helping to loosen rusted/frozen nuts and bolts. it has become a household things to have nowadays...even my wifey uses it on door hinges etc

Well I've personally used it to great effect myself to unclog rust and joints !!!

I think I now remember what that article said and I think my comment that WD40 is a water retainer might be a misconception on my side. I think what the post said was that WD40 is NOT a lubricant and cannot be used as such, so its my fault for making that comment (though the issue of moisture or water retention was discussed somewhere in the same post, I am probably just mixed up !!!) So once you unclog something with WD40 you still need to lubricate it separately though the issue there is WD40 might get in the way of lubrication for obvious reasons ........

[Ripper]

Ah... that's cool....! trolling is fun... did it only once though.

assume you fish from kinross then

by boatman tells be that it's good for casting fellas and people occasionally land big fish in 2 digit weight numbers.

Yep...trolling is cool...the hitch is the cost both in equipment and boat fares

Have the equipment but not enough moolah to troll as often as i want to since there are other important things in life as well

[Ripper]

So once you unclog something with WD40 you still need to lubricate it separately though the issue there is WD40 might get in the way of lubrication for obvious reasons ........

defa machang

WD40 "washes" away the lubricant from any lubed parts... that's what it's supposed to do anyways

For example if you use it on a bearing or something like that...it will wash away the grease/lubricant from it making the bearing run dry afterwards causing it to wear out faster and eventually fail... i think you're 100% correct when you say to re-lube after using wd40 on such parts