Engine Cleaning Advice
 

I'm looking to clean my engine with P21S Total Wash.

Can anyone give me some tips on what to do and what not to do?

Thx NK

Simple Green works amazing. It cuts the oil residue/dirt and leaves your plastic looking nice. I use it on my dirt bikes and they look great after I'm done but you need to make sure oil/lube goes back on the spots that need it like your latch because the Simple Green will remove it. Take a 3M Green Scotch pad to the underside and hit everything metal. The Scotch pad will polish up and help detail the motor and stainless steel exhaust components. Don't forget to do the exhaust mufflers in the rear wheel wells. Power wash the engine compartment and the underside but be careful not to put that nozzle close to electronic parts and bits.

Be sure to let the engine dry real well or if you have a leaf blower, use it to dry things up before you start the engine so you don't slip the belt on the crank pulley and smoke it.

Just like the exterior of the car, you need to detail the motor and underside a few times a year to keep it looking great. Dirt and grime build up quick especially if you drive it in the rain or the winter. I like to use some natural looking Meguires plastic vinyl cleaner and conditioner to make everything look new under the hood. It's also a good idea to spray some of the rubber parts including hoses with Silicone so they don't dry out. Try to keep the silicone away from pulley's and the serpentine belt.

From the owner's manual: Engine compartment

"The engine compartment and the surface of the
engine are treated with a corrosion-inhibitor at the
factory.
If degreasing solvents are used to clean the engine
compartment or the engine is washed down,
the process almost invariably removes the corrosion-
inhibiting coating. It is then absolutely necessary
to have a durable preservative applied to all
surfaces, body seams, joints and assemblies in
the engine compartment. This also applies when
corrosion-inhibitor parts are replaced."

Do you think this "corrosion-inhibitor at the factory" is Cosmoline or something in addition to the cosmoline?

Sounds like BS to me! Or I should say Porsche is trying to protect themselves. Cleaning the engine compartment with a safe approved cleaner is not going to compromise the integrity of the engine or compartment. NK

I have used P21S TAW on the wheel wells and engine compartment and it does work well. Stay away from any electrical connections, spray a small amount of the P21S TAW on the surfaces of the engine, use a soft bristle brush (boars hair is good) and then rinse. When rinsing take the hose nozzle off and turn the water on so only a very small stream if flowing out.

When you're done use a leaf blower to remove trapped water off of the engine components. When done start the car and either go for a drive (preferred) or just let it sit idle to burn off the remaining water. Use a rubber and vinyl conditioner for plastic and rubber parts in the engine bay.

The above is really only necessary for a car that is driven through rain, snow and very dirty roads. If driven on nice days only you can simply use a quick detailer, microfiber and elbow grease.

When using Simple Green on your P-car engine (or any other aluminum parts), be sure that you rinse it thoroughly with water. Below is an excerpt from the Simple Green web site with more info.

Is it safe to use Simple Green® on aluminum?
When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green® product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.
.

I use p21s as well, actually i get S100 cycle cleaner fron my local harley dealer same but cheaper. Have lots of brushes and small hands, it helps. Avoid simple green, its corrosive to aluminum.

Autogeek.net has lotsa info on this.

No Simple Green on the engine (or anywhere else for that matter).
Search this forum.
There are plenty of good products that do what you want, that don't corrode aluminum or degrade the plastics and remove whatever protective coatings exist.

I have used Simple Green on past cars and I can say without question that it attacks aluminum and certain types of rubber. Why use it when there are other products on the market?

Simple Green is fine for the engine compartment and works great. I've been cleaning my motocross bikes for over 10 years with Simple Green so I actually have experience with the products. I converted over to bio-degradable products years ago and never had any issues with Simple Green attacking aluminum,, magnesium, vinyl, electrical, plastic or any other component on my engine/bike after hundreds of power washes with multiple bikes.


Simple Green is recommended for engine cleaning see links below:

http://www.simplegreen.com/solutions...122&artlang=en

Huge generalization. Where is your proof?

Simple Green is:

Non-toxic and biodegradable
Non-hazardous
Non-flammable
Non-corrosive
Non-abrasive
Economical Concentrate

Read for yourself if you don't believe me.

http://www.simplegreen.com/solutions...er_cleanup.php

Please point out the corrosion for us all. Look below at my 4-year old bike washed over 100 times with Simple Green. Titanium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Carbon Steel, Rubber, Plastic and Vinyl.

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...R/IMG_2662.jpg

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...R/IMG_2659.jpg

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...R/IMG_2664.jpg

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...R/IMG_2649.jpg

Unless someone's backing up their claims with financial coverage, I'd just play it safe and not even mess with introducing cleaning agents into the engine bay or minimize it. Damp rag and vacuum/blower sounds like a smart, rational method?