Engine Cleaning - Tips? How-Tos?
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Engine Cleaning - Tips? How-Tos?
I've got an '87 928 S4 in decent working shape, but as I get advice from people on fixing things, one thing that keeps coming up is that I should clean my engine and the compartment. I'm all for it and want to get started, but I've never done this before. What tips do you guys have for cleaning? What do you do to ensure you don't flood the engine or damage parts with water? Please be specific, I'm learning here. Thank you.
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From: Philly PA
if you have a 5 speed then you want to be careful about washing the engine as water will go down the clutch release arm and flood the throw out bearing/pilot bearing and pressure plate. This openeing should be plugged with a rag. Otherwise you might rry using compressed air to remove most of the dirt unless you have oiul leaks, then engine gunk and brush followed with a hot water rinse works good , also you can use simple green but make sure to wash it off as it has compunds that are corrosive to aluminum parts
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Whatever you do, don't use sonax engine wash..aks me how I know. Just wash the engine gentl with a water hose. Don't use a pressure washer. Some people cover electrics like the 14 pin connector and the alternator. I didn't, just washed it and let it dry in the sun, then started the engine to warm it up some more and dry completely.
David, looking clean in there!!
David, looking clean in there!!
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Burning Brakes
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From: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
We just finished in the engine bay area last night. I am really happy with the result, but man has it slowed down progress.
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From: Philly PA
sorry i dont have a 5 speed if you do thewn you need to go to the back of the engine on the driver side USA car and you will see at the top of the bellhousing a hole with the clutch release arm sticking up this is the path that water folloew as it runs off the rear of the block
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Mike--
How's the paint on the cam covers and intake? If it's original and good condition and you want to keep it that way, your weapon of choice will be the same very mild detergent you use to wash the car. If the paint is already tired/chipped/faded/peeling, or it's been replaced with powder paint, you can use other stuff on those parts.
There are several electrical connections on the top of the engine that can suffer with water and detergent. From the top, look at the fan switch on the intake manifold and the temp sensors on the water manifold across the front. There's a solenoid for the flappy valve on a bracket in front of the engine on the right as you face it. There's a cam position sensor behind the cam gear on the pass side (US cars...), a Hall sensor on the top of the bellhousing flange at the rear under the air filter housing. There are connections for two knock sensors and the mass airflow sensor under the intake manifold. All of those will be sensitive to water.
On the pass side fenderwll there's a 14-pin engine harness connector that isn't waterproof. The alternator sits low on the driver's side front of the engine. Neither of those like water. Low on the driver's side just in front of the oil filter, there's a compound sender for oil pressure and low oil pressure light. It doesn't like high-pressure water. On the front of each cam covere there's a distributor cap and rotor, with an ingintion coil mounted on each inner fender wall. They don't like water that much. If you pull the air cleaner housing, be sure to cover/seal the MAS inlet so water doesn't get into the engine.
Other than those things, have a field day!
I did a carefull engine clean on my car with a lot of that stuff covered. Started off with shop towels to get any major deposits off before using any other chemicals. Starting then at the top under the intake, I used a mild detergent solution of Dawn dishwashing detergent in hot water, a soft brush, and a very low-pressure water spray for rinsing. Once I got down below the sensor level abd the distributor caps, I got more aggressive, with Gunk foamy engine cleaner. That took care of most of the oily accumulations that were left. The shop vac managed to gather up a lot of the water left behind, particularly the crud that ends up in the engine valley under the intake. After all that I pushed the car out into the sun and let it sit all afternoon to hopefully bake out any stray water left in sensitive spots. My only casualty was the temp switch for the cooling fans, the one on top of the intake; After a couple weeks it was causing the fans to run on after engine shutdown, so I replaced it with new.
Once the engine was clean, it's been easy to keep it that way with regular wipedowns. I use spray tire stuff on a sponge to wipe down the rubber bits under the hood, like hoses and the like. The plastic gets a similar treatment with a little Pldge on a towel every once in a while to add shine. Most general cleaning in there is limited to the vacuum, some alcohol-based aerosol window cleaner, and a small soft towel now. The alcohol window cleaner takes off road film and some grime from the aluminum parts without risking the darkening that's typical with high-pH cleaners like pre-mixed Windex (with ammonia-D...). A mild solution of Dawn does the duty for more substanitial grime without discoloring the aluminum. Generally, low-pH detergents and cleaners will brighten aluminum but damage steel parts, while low-pH will darken the aluminum but leave the plated steel bits unharmed.
Hope this helps!
How's the paint on the cam covers and intake? If it's original and good condition and you want to keep it that way, your weapon of choice will be the same very mild detergent you use to wash the car. If the paint is already tired/chipped/faded/peeling, or it's been replaced with powder paint, you can use other stuff on those parts.
There are several electrical connections on the top of the engine that can suffer with water and detergent. From the top, look at the fan switch on the intake manifold and the temp sensors on the water manifold across the front. There's a solenoid for the flappy valve on a bracket in front of the engine on the right as you face it. There's a cam position sensor behind the cam gear on the pass side (US cars...), a Hall sensor on the top of the bellhousing flange at the rear under the air filter housing. There are connections for two knock sensors and the mass airflow sensor under the intake manifold. All of those will be sensitive to water.
On the pass side fenderwll there's a 14-pin engine harness connector that isn't waterproof. The alternator sits low on the driver's side front of the engine. Neither of those like water. Low on the driver's side just in front of the oil filter, there's a compound sender for oil pressure and low oil pressure light. It doesn't like high-pressure water. On the front of each cam covere there's a distributor cap and rotor, with an ingintion coil mounted on each inner fender wall. They don't like water that much. If you pull the air cleaner housing, be sure to cover/seal the MAS inlet so water doesn't get into the engine.
Other than those things, have a field day!
I did a carefull engine clean on my car with a lot of that stuff covered. Started off with shop towels to get any major deposits off before using any other chemicals. Starting then at the top under the intake, I used a mild detergent solution of Dawn dishwashing detergent in hot water, a soft brush, and a very low-pressure water spray for rinsing. Once I got down below the sensor level abd the distributor caps, I got more aggressive, with Gunk foamy engine cleaner. That took care of most of the oily accumulations that were left. The shop vac managed to gather up a lot of the water left behind, particularly the crud that ends up in the engine valley under the intake. After all that I pushed the car out into the sun and let it sit all afternoon to hopefully bake out any stray water left in sensitive spots. My only casualty was the temp switch for the cooling fans, the one on top of the intake; After a couple weeks it was causing the fans to run on after engine shutdown, so I replaced it with new.
Once the engine was clean, it's been easy to keep it that way with regular wipedowns. I use spray tire stuff on a sponge to wipe down the rubber bits under the hood, like hoses and the like. The plastic gets a similar treatment with a little Pldge on a towel every once in a while to add shine. Most general cleaning in there is limited to the vacuum, some alcohol-based aerosol window cleaner, and a small soft towel now. The alcohol window cleaner takes off road film and some grime from the aluminum parts without risking the darkening that's typical with high-pH cleaners like pre-mixed Windex (with ammonia-D...). A mild solution of Dawn does the duty for more substanitial grime without discoloring the aluminum. Generally, low-pH detergents and cleaners will brighten aluminum but damage steel parts, while low-pH will darken the aluminum but leave the plated steel bits unharmed.
Hope this helps!
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From: Sun Diego
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I'm with you Dave! I used something called "SuperClean" and a powerwasher.
Left Engine Bay.jpg
Right Engine Bay.jpg
Left Engine Bay.jpg
Right Engine Bay.jpg
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Another keeper from Dr. Bob 
Mike--
How's the paint on the cam covers and intake? If it's original and good condition and you want to keep it that way, your weapon of choice will be the same very mild detergent you use to wash the car. If the paint is already tired/chipped/faded/peeling, or it's been replaced with powder paint, you can use other stuff on those parts.
There are several electrical connections on the top of the engine that can suffer with water and detergent. From the top, look at the fan switch on the intake manifold and the temp sensors on the water manifold across the front. There's a solenoid for the flappy valve on a bracket in front of the engine on the right as you face it. There's a cam position sensor behind the cam gear on the pass side (US cars...), a Hall sensor on the top of the bellhousing flange at the rear under the air filter housing. There are connections for two knock sensors and the mass airflow sensor under the intake manifold. All of those will be sensitive to water.
On the pass side fenderwll there's a 14-pin engine harness connector that isn't waterproof. The alternator sits low on the driver's side front of the engine. Neither of those like water. Low on the driver's side just in front of the oil filter, there's a compound sender for oil pressure and low oil pressure light. It doesn't like high-pressure water. On the front of each cam covere there's a distributor cap and rotor, with an ingintion coil mounted on each inner fender wall. They don't like water that much. If you pull the air cleaner housing, be sure to cover/seal the MAS inlet so water doesn't get into the engine.
Other than those things, have a field day!
I did a carefull engine clean on my car with a lot of that stuff covered. Started off with shop towels to get any major deposits off before using any other chemicals. Starting then at the top under the intake, I used a mild detergent solution of Dawn dishwashing detergent in hot water, a soft brush, and a very low-pressure water spray for rinsing. Once I got down below the sensor level abd the distributor caps, I got more aggressive, with Gunk foamy engine cleaner. That took care of most of the oily accumulations that were left. The shop vac managed to gather up a lot of the water left behind, particularly the crud that ends up in the engine valley under the intake. After all that I pushed the car out into the sun and let it sit all afternoon to hopefully bake out any stray water left in sensitive spots. My only casualty was the temp switch for the cooling fans, the one on top of the intake; After a couple weeks it was causing the fans to run on after engine shutdown, so I replaced it with new.
Once the engine was clean, it's been easy to keep it that way with regular wipedowns. I use spray tire stuff on a sponge to wipe down the rubber bits under the hood, like hoses and the like. The plastic gets a similar treatment with a little Pldge on a towel every once in a while to add shine. Most general cleaning in there is limited to the vacuum, some alcohol-based aerosol window cleaner, and a small soft towel now. The alcohol window cleaner takes off road film and some grime from the aluminum parts without risking the darkening that's typical with high-pH cleaners like pre-mixed Windex (with ammonia-D...). A mild solution of Dawn does the duty for more substanitial grime without discoloring the aluminum. Generally, low-pH detergents and cleaners will brighten aluminum but damage steel parts, while low-pH will darken the aluminum but leave the plated steel bits unharmed.
Hope this helps!
How's the paint on the cam covers and intake? If it's original and good condition and you want to keep it that way, your weapon of choice will be the same very mild detergent you use to wash the car. If the paint is already tired/chipped/faded/peeling, or it's been replaced with powder paint, you can use other stuff on those parts.
There are several electrical connections on the top of the engine that can suffer with water and detergent. From the top, look at the fan switch on the intake manifold and the temp sensors on the water manifold across the front. There's a solenoid for the flappy valve on a bracket in front of the engine on the right as you face it. There's a cam position sensor behind the cam gear on the pass side (US cars...), a Hall sensor on the top of the bellhousing flange at the rear under the air filter housing. There are connections for two knock sensors and the mass airflow sensor under the intake manifold. All of those will be sensitive to water.
On the pass side fenderwll there's a 14-pin engine harness connector that isn't waterproof. The alternator sits low on the driver's side front of the engine. Neither of those like water. Low on the driver's side just in front of the oil filter, there's a compound sender for oil pressure and low oil pressure light. It doesn't like high-pressure water. On the front of each cam covere there's a distributor cap and rotor, with an ingintion coil mounted on each inner fender wall. They don't like water that much. If you pull the air cleaner housing, be sure to cover/seal the MAS inlet so water doesn't get into the engine.
Other than those things, have a field day!
I did a carefull engine clean on my car with a lot of that stuff covered. Started off with shop towels to get any major deposits off before using any other chemicals. Starting then at the top under the intake, I used a mild detergent solution of Dawn dishwashing detergent in hot water, a soft brush, and a very low-pressure water spray for rinsing. Once I got down below the sensor level abd the distributor caps, I got more aggressive, with Gunk foamy engine cleaner. That took care of most of the oily accumulations that were left. The shop vac managed to gather up a lot of the water left behind, particularly the crud that ends up in the engine valley under the intake. After all that I pushed the car out into the sun and let it sit all afternoon to hopefully bake out any stray water left in sensitive spots. My only casualty was the temp switch for the cooling fans, the one on top of the intake; After a couple weeks it was causing the fans to run on after engine shutdown, so I replaced it with new.
Once the engine was clean, it's been easy to keep it that way with regular wipedowns. I use spray tire stuff on a sponge to wipe down the rubber bits under the hood, like hoses and the like. The plastic gets a similar treatment with a little Pldge on a towel every once in a while to add shine. Most general cleaning in there is limited to the vacuum, some alcohol-based aerosol window cleaner, and a small soft towel now. The alcohol window cleaner takes off road film and some grime from the aluminum parts without risking the darkening that's typical with high-pH cleaners like pre-mixed Windex (with ammonia-D...). A mild solution of Dawn does the duty for more substanitial grime without discoloring the aluminum. Generally, low-pH detergents and cleaners will brighten aluminum but damage steel parts, while low-pH will darken the aluminum but leave the plated steel bits unharmed.
Hope this helps!
Defending the Border
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From: Sun Diego
.. sorry, dinner break.
A couple of 928'rs, a couple of 951'rs, and a 993 person meeting for dinner in PB tomorrow. Reservation for eight starts at 6:30, I suspect most will arrive ~7 at World Famous in Pacific Beach. It's beach side and sunset is 7:15.
Daniel, Jason, Bill and Amy, myself, Mr. V and mrs?... you?
Interested, PM me.
A couple of 928'rs, a couple of 951'rs, and a 993 person meeting for dinner in PB tomorrow. Reservation for eight starts at 6:30, I suspect most will arrive ~7 at World Famous in Pacific Beach. It's beach side and sunset is 7:15.
Daniel, Jason, Bill and Amy, myself, Mr. V and mrs?... you?
Interested, PM me.