Rob Edwards

There are a number of posts in the archives about people using steam cleaners for various purposes in Renn-land. I'm beginning to wonder whether what I really need for the shark is a steam cleaner. Of course, if I lived anywhere other than SoCal and used the 928 as a fair-weather car, I wouldn't even consider it, since the first wet day would negate the work. And since I've already donated about 10 rolls of greasy paper towels to the cleanliness gods, a lot of my engine bay is already 'clean', but the wheelwells (especially the LF, with it's 1/2" sediment of PS fluid)? Ewwwww.

BUT- I've been reading about steam cleaners. I am wondering whether anyone's got any BTDT experiences with respect to cleaning suspension bits, engine bays, interiors, etc. by steam, vs. the simple green/citrus cleaner + elbow grease method, or pressure washing, etc.

I'm wondering about something like this:

Daimer 175

or this:

Vapor Clean Products TR4

Of course, the hyperbole on their websites sounds like they're marketing to germ-obsessed Howard Hughes crazies, but I'm sure the $30 QVC channel crap models are exactly that- crap. And obviously a diesel powered steamer would be a bit much. But these seem to be in the middle ground, perhaps (?) powerful enough to make chassis/suspension cleaning easier than the elbow grease method?

Thoughts?

BC

I'm interested in the info too. The heat and water action has to work well. Alot of the stuff would move better if it was heated.

IXLOR8

My son works ar a car dealership. He used brake clean with compressed air. It used very little brake clean and lots of air. It worked very well with little mess.

heinrich

never never never NEVER steam or wet your 928's interior.

BC

There was that one time with my wife that we fogged the windows on date night.

danglerb

High pressure sprays worry me.

Hot water under normal pressure with a degreaser should be ok, but maybe bag the alternator etc. first.

Rob Edwards

Heinrich-

Duly noted. I can imagine what steam would do to the fiberboard under the vinyl in the door and rear quarter panels. And you wouldn't want to soak the carpets without some good suction/extraction.

My alternator is already clean, thanks to a good hour with a toohbrush and a crapload of paper towels, though I forgot to reinstall the new gasket between the alt and the cooling duct.... . There are plenty of crevices in the engine that I wouldn't want to get near with steam. I can even imagine how steam might not be so great on/around some of the rubber bushings in the suspension. Which of course is why I'm looking for experienced opinions. Don't want to hurt anything!

-Rob

928ntslow

I am not sure why anyone would need a steam cleaner...for more than one time...unless of course you are in the business of auto repair/resto or what have you.. Just rent it if your car is a greasy mess underneath or around the engine bay.

A high pressure sprayer is cheaper and you can find more uses around the house for it. Once a car is clean, it doesn't require much to keep it that way. The high pressure sprayers you can buy are fully adjustable in the pressure dept and you can buy different nozzles to pinpoint what you are actually trying to clean. They are easy to use, much lighter and safer.

The steam cleaners remove more than you need or want!...SERIOUSLY! Most guys who have these know not of what they are actually doing other than removing funk from under the car. Say good bye to the Porsche undercoating with a steam cleaner. That should stop anyone from using them for one reason.

You say your car is already clean, so why do you need one anyway?

SharkSkin

When Ron was helping me with my pan gasket/MM/rack job, he brought one of these mini-steamer jobs. It cut through caked on stuff very well, but was slow going because it really didn't emit a lot of steam. I just received this bigger steamer a few days ago, and will test it on the shark this weekend. I have some coolant mess to clean up, and I will try it out on a few other areas. If I can't find any good challenges for it on the shark, I'll move on to the 76 Dodge truck. I'll let you all know how it goes. It has 2x the power(watts) compared to the smaller unit and a much bigger tank. The steam comes out with much, much greater force than the small unit, and from what I can tell is denser and hotter to boot. It cleaned the grout in my shower very effectively, and went through soap scum on the glass like it wasn't even there. (See honey, it's good for lots of stuff... oh, and the car too...)

As Heinrich says, don't get water inside the car, and I'll add that you need to be very careful around electrical connectors in the engine bay. You don't want to drive water into the connectors!

SharkSkin

Keith, The steamers mentioned are not high-pressure units like the commercial cleaners. The commercial units superheat the water and pump it to the nozzle, where it flashes to steam. And yes, they remove undercoating, paint, even asphalt and concrete! These units are much gentler, the big one I just picked up only does about 35psi. It's very easy to control what gets wet and what doesn't. If anything, I would say it's LESS likely to cause problems than a high-pressure sprayer(which does have its uses around the house as well). My intended use is mostly for small parts, nuts & bolts, or small areas and I think it will be great for that.

Rob Edwards

Keith-

You rasie good points- it's probably folly to blow $400 on a steamer to use on a car that's really dirty only once, but my car is actually still filthy underneath. My engine bay is getting cleaner but is by no means clean, and the wheelwells are still a disaster- 16 years of untouched grime.

Maybe a pressure washer is more useful, though perhaps I could sell the steamer idea more easily to the wife- grout/soap scum removal, etc....

I'm surprised to hear that steam is capable of removing cosmoline (is that what you're referring to as Porsche undercoating?) - I would have ASSumed that it would only come off with solvents + scrubbing/scraping. I'm probably underestimating the 'blasting' effect of steam under pressure. But some of these steamers have adjustable pressure, maybe they just need to be set on stun and not kill.....

While I wouldn't want to necessarily remove the undercoating, I can't help but think that all of the immaculate 'after' shots of the wheelwells you see in the archives have removed every last bit of undercoating, since it all looks like bare (painted) metal to me. Maybe not?

Dave- that $99 Amazon deal sounds like a good happpy medium- looks like it's got a 1500 watt heater in it- I will be very interested to hear how that works.

All good thoughts- keep it coming!



EDIT: Dave beat me to it! Like I said, looking forward to your impressions.

BC

I hate Cosmoline. I hate Cosmoline. Franz was always very copious with it on the cars I have laid under. Bastard.

dr bob

There are 150 watt heaters in most consumer bathroom blow-driers. Using superheated steam is just a good way to get heat directly on your target area. Thinking along the lines of the 35psi steam that Dave suggests, the steam temp will be around 280f just before it leaves the nozzle, expands and cools.

Need a steam cleaner? Do it like you mean it, and go to the rental yard for one. But beware-- the amount of heat needed to melt the cosmoline and undercoating is only marginally less that what's needed to strip paint. You do have one of those handy heat guns for stripping paint, right? The glorified hair drier kind? Think about that same effect with a bit of pressure and flow forcing the scum/undercoating/paint to lift right off.

-----

So, where are you planning to use the steam cleaner? In the driveway? Put a bunch od plastic sheeting down to catch the mess, and DON'T get the nozzle near the plastic, please.

That plastic sheeting and mess sounds amazingly similar to using the normally-recommended degreasers. The purple stuff from Castrol is pretty good. Pry the thich stuff off first with a scraper, then spray with whatever you like, be it purple or orange or green, and let the degreaser do the work.

Want to soften the stuff first and maintain your water heater at the same time? Get some hi-temp hose with common 3/4" garden hose fitttings, and attach it to the blowdown valve on the water heater over there in the corner. Cleans the rocks out of the bottom of the shell and softens the crud on the car. You can crank the water heater thermostat up to speed up the cleaning, but be sure to warn the family that they can be scalded if they decide to rinse the beer pitcher while you are messing with the car.

Heat like this is the enemy of plastic parts. Wheelhouse liners will warp with too much heat, beware.

Cosmiline... Is a parrafin-and-wax protectant that keeps the rust devils away and protects the paint of the frame and undercarriage from casual damage from road debris. Should you remove it? I think that the overspray on the aluminum suspension can come off, as well as stuff on adjustable suspension and steering parts. On the painted parts of the wheelhouse and body there subject to rocks damage from the whirling tire, I'll probably scrub ths cosmoline to get it clean but leave it intact to do its job. Look in my wheelwells and they are very clean. But the cosmoline is pretty much intact on all the bodywork in there. Compared with the possible damage to my driven car, it's the lesser of too weevils.

Rob-- Off to the rental yard for a machine! Try your steam-cleaning skills on the BMW undercarriage first. Invite your friends over to share in your luck. Ron Perry is looking at a MM and pan project in the next month or so. What better candidate for some serious de-crudding?

SharkSkin

Bob, all very good points. This little steamer is a far cry from the rental yard units though. It's in no way suitable for an entire undercarriage, it's more suitable for small areas. The amount of steam is relatively small, so the amount of water/mess should be relatively small. When I was using Ron's, it was fairly easy to dab at the loosened crud with a rag, and what little dripped to the ground was easily soaked up with a piece of cardboard. I think I'd be in there all day trying to damage a wheelwell liner! I'll post my findings one way or the other. There's plenty of other stuff around here that it's been useful for -- like crud in the oven that stood up to several attempts with oven cleaner, but the steamer took it right off without making a mess of the kitchen. For $100, I figured I couldn't go wrong...

IcemanG17

On the concours forum Anthony Orosco is a professional detailers in Texas & he likes a "dry" steam cleaner....

http://www.topoftheline.com/vaporblitziv.html

he swears by it and uses it for everything from carpets to wheel wells to engines......