jenskleis

Dear friends,

I need some advise. This weekend's project is to wash my engine.

I have bought a special, solvent-free, product which I am supposed to spray onto the engine. The instructions tell me to leave it to work for a while and then... clean the engine with a high-pressure cleaner.

I am worried about spraying high pressure water into the engine. Does anybody have experience in engine cleaning?

Take care

Kahdmus

Jens, no experience spraying water into my 964 engine and not that I recommend it, but I used to work every summer in my Dads Ford dealership in England detailing cars prior to putting them in the showroom (brand new and used trades) we would routinely steam clean the engines using a very high powered (and hot) steam cleaner.

Good luck and make sure you take before and after pics if you do decide to do this!

robmug

General advice would be to tie a plastic bag around key electrical items (coils, distributors).

Water get in through the vents in the engine lid anyway, so the engine is quite used to getting wet...it's more a question of the volume of water and the pressure that it's not used to.

Before and after pics would be great. I'd also be interested to know what product you use.

vove

Couldn't you just wet a towl and then wipe it down? I dont think spraying high pressure water into the engine is a good idea(i could be wrong though).

joey bagadonuts

I've done it a couple times. Make sure to cover the air intake as well. The only issue I had was the sound mat located above the enginge compartment. A couple errat shots from the nozzle (garden-variety type) and it started to disintegrate.

I think the only areas which really benefitted from some scrubbing were the fan and a/c. Some Simple Green "automotive" grade was my cleaner of choice. I also hit the plastic bits with some 303 Aerospace protectant after drying.

John Miles

I high pressure rinsed mine. No electical problems but the yellow stickers around the place didn't last a minute.
I dont' think pressure washing is recomended by many. Next time just a hose and a brush / cloth will work for me.
Cheers,
John

springer3

I clean the engine before going in for maintenance or repair, but I do it just to keep from getting filthy myself. I really don't worry much about keeping the engine cosmetics up - it seems to look fine with just routine maintenance. I start with careful application of Zep Chemical (family affiliation, but good stuff) "Foaming Engine De-greaser", followed by hand scrubbing of the built-up dirt (toothbrush, rag). I then rinse gently with a water hose while continuing to scrub.

I don't like the idea of using a pressure washer on the engine compartment. You will be OK if you are careful and lucky, but there are too many places where an errant jet could penetrate, and leave just enough water to cause a problem. I have used a pressure washer underneath the engine to get build-up off the cooling fins, and on a previous 911 used high-pressure on the oil cooler to get air flowing through it again. That worked great. The under side is blasted by water when you drive in the rain, so there are fewer electrical connectors and fewer delicate parts that can be damaged by high pressure.

There are some engine compartment spray-on waxes that the "pre-owned" car lots use to make worn out parts look new for a while. I have never tried them, but I'll bet the engine would look sharp.

mmccray

Cleaning your engine shouldn't be much of a big deal if you follow common sense guidelines which include: "do not forcefully inject liquids" This means no high pressure washing. An engine cleaner and low pressure water to hose it off should be more than adequate. A brush or scrub rag could be used to wipe areas that need a little "extra" attention.

Arjan B.

Please just clean your fan with some wax, water is no good to the altenator and a few other parts. Why clean it? most is covered under coverings and wires.

jenskleis

I did it!

I just got back from the garage after cleaning my engine using a special citrus de-greaser from my local supermarket, Coop.

First I covered the distributors, the coil, air inlet and some electrical connections that looked vulnerable.

Then I sprayed the cleaning product all over the engine, making sure to get into all nooks and crannies. I left the product to work for about 20 minutes, and then wiped the engine down with a sponge.

Finished off by hosing down the engine with a pressure cleaner, taking care not to aim directly at sensitive areas.

Tomorrow, when the engine is completely dry, I will give all rubber surfaces a coat of One Grand Exterior Rubber & Vinyl Treatment, and wax the painted areas.

Enough for today!