paluck

Hi,
I'm looking for recommendations on where I can get my engine degreased. Bay Area - norcal. I've called some car wash places and they don't do it. Self-serve places expressly disallow it and I'd liek to be environmentally responsible if I can.
A shop said they'd do it for $150 - but that sounds a little much for some spray degreaser and a garden hose.
Any advice?
-M

nh7cy

First off, welcome to Rennlist, secondly, why not do it yourself? Go to the Autozone in Oakland, pick up some degreaser, spray down your engine and hose it off.

paluck

Hi Jason - thanks
i would do it myself, but
1) I haven't cleaned my engine in.... well... the last 9 years I've had the car - so its a little icky and I didn't want to crap up my light colored concrete driveway with the sludge
2) I'd prefer to do it somewhere they can properly dispose of the 9 years of crud properly.

Josh B

$150 sounds like a good deal to me especially if they have the ability to clean off the bottom of the engine as well. Being environmentally conscience isn't cheap

Stephenwz968

This may sound ghetto, but the way that I do it if the engine is really dirty is to drive the car on top of an old quilt, and then degrease and hose down. The quilt collects the water and sludge, and is thrown out after the process is complete. Just an idea...

Steve

Luis de Prat

How about just driving it to a DIY car-wash facility, spraying down with degreaser and rinsing it out? These facilities are prepared to handle grease sludge in their sewage.

Spidey944

Keep in mind you do not want to have your engine steam cleaned. The moisture get into all the elect. connectors and after 20 years of wear, the insulation on the wires is not what it used to be and corrosion can get into the wiring and mess it up. Just a for-warning.

paluck

hmm.... I actually like that old quilt idea - that sounds pretty good - maybe thats the way to go.

Da Bears

I'm glad this thread came up because I have been thinking about this and I've got a question or two for those of you who have done this.

Many moons ago, I used to clean every so often the engine of the first car I ever bought new. I did it in the fashion described by you guys - spray with degreaser and then garden hose off. Problems arose that I like to attribute to that process. Some electrical issues, but the most annoying thing of all was that one or some of the belts squeaked ever since I did that. It drove me nuts.

Ever since then, I basically make no attempt to clean any of my engines. Modern engines stay pretty good looking due to all the plastic coverings, etc. hiding everything (like the L6 in my Denali).

So, question here - to those of you who have done the simple spray-degreaser-garden-hose thing, did it leave the "sound" of your engine (especially at cold start-up) the same? Any other problems creep up? Any other ideas of how to clean the engine without doing an unnatural thing like dumping water all over your fine piece of German engineering?

Thanks for the thoughtful replies to come.

reno808

after your done just power wash your drive way. You will be fine.

PorscheDoc

A case of Brake cleaner, a big catch pan and a toothbrush for the extra stubborn areas.

alordofchaos

You can throw a plastic bag over your fusebox, distributor, belts, and other parts you don't want to get wet.

IPSC

See that is my method. Glad to hear I am not totally off base.

IPSC

Jay W

I put cardboard on the driveway under the engine, sprayed just enough degreaser to loosen up a small area of dirt, then wiped as much as I could with rags. Then repeated. What I didnt get on the rags dripped onto the cardboard. When I got most of the dirt off, I then removed the cardboard and rinsed with water. Threw away the rags and cardboard. Barely got any degreaser or dirt on the driveway that way.

sbyrne

You can help to avoid electrical issues by using your garden hose gently, and at close range, along with the plastic bag advice stated aboove. Standing back and blasting away (especially with a car wash wand or a pressure washer) is asking for trouble.