how to clean Engine

[nav786]

whats the best way to clean an engine. its not in the car at the moment, and i wanna clean it all up. i hear things about 'Gunk' but the the hell is it and where do i get it from. would Halfrauds sell it?

also is it ok to pressure wash or is that a no no, any other advice?

[palerider325icab]

I was at a BMW MAIN DEALER today with my 635csi Highline Motorsport,and i asked the same thing this is what i got.
MAKE SURE THE CAR IS WARM FIRST AND THEN POWER HOSE THE ENGINE BAY .
Me dont think so lol.

Cheers
Rhino

[Dan318-is]

is the engine in pieces or as one Nav?

i would genreally avoid a power washer if its in one, but a steam clean would hurt

engine gunk i used to clean my block at college an then paint it but it was jsut the block so not sure how easy it would be with all the ancillaries on

[Dominitry]

I used wet sponges on mine, 1 sponge would get black in about 30 seconds lol, i bought 3 packs of 10 sponges used them all in one day.

[nav786]

the engine is in one piece,

[mrLEE30]

NEVER use high pressure washers to clean an engine IN the car, the electric connectors are all waterproofed for light water and humidity, NOT against a power washer jet.

use an engine degreaser on inlet manifold, head, engine block, gearbox, apply it with a brush/sponge (wear washing up gloves) and again avoid and plastics, including wires clips trim plugs etc (hence why i say apply with brush/sponge, and not spray it on)

let it sit for an hour then clean it off with a small amount of water and more sponge/brush (i find yer mums/wifes dishbrush very good for this job sexist pig)

and dont forget WD40, that is aslo very good at ceaning bits like throttle body and fuel injection rails, around the fuse box, spray on and use a 1 inch paintbrush and cloth and it wont harm plastic/wires (although it can sometimes discolour plastic)

expect to take three-four hours on an in car engine clean to get a nice job

engine out- it5 depends on how stripped down it is, straight engine out then same as above, only block, inlet, gearbox and no plastic then i would possibly risk a powerwash in this case but would worry about how good i could seal the exhaust/inlet ports

best bit about engine out is you can have a good go at youe engine bay with a brush and soap.

mrlee

[buster]

Nav,if its that engine i sold you then dont need to use degreaser etc on the inlet or rocker cover as the cover is powder coated (black) and the inlet is painted with VHT paint so you will damage it with any harsh chemicals.The head was a recon head also and was reasonably clean so should clean with just a rag,or spray type cleaner like auto glym stuff or even WD40.the throttle body was also a new BBTB and should only need a wipe over really.Id try to avoid using anything harsh on any of that engine appart from the block.
Fair play on the block though it needs a good scrub !!

[E30Mark]

Gunk is good (Available from Halfrauds - look for a orange tin / can) but it stinks, and the smell hangs around for days....

Also remember any runoff when washing gunk etc off has to be collected and disposed of in an appropriate manner, not flushed down the drain

Personally I've always jet washed my engines when i first get them... never had an issue with doing this. Obviously take some care around the electrical bits, other than that the engine is a sealed unit, blast away!

Periodically i hose down my engine bay to stop the dust / muck accumulating, just make sure you eliminate all sources of oil / water leaks and you'll have a clean engine for ever...

I like to think my engine bay is cleaner than most.....

[bigkev]

have to agree with you there mark i pressure wash too just use some common sense i tried some auto glym alloy wheel cleaner on my motor and it works a treat apply with a small toilet brush and leave for a few minutes and wash off and then give it all a good spray of wd40 afterwards to feed the plastic and alloy job done

[Geoff]

The only thing i clean an engine with is petrol. Its a great degreasant, is very cheap in comparrison with gunk and Ԛ£6 a litre and you can get high on it at the same time!!

Served me very well over the years. Try it. Just put some in a tin and get a decent sized paint brush and start brushing the engine down.

[nav786]

Nav,if its that engine i sold you then dont need to use degreaser etc on the inlet or rocker cover as the cover is powder coated (black) and the inlet is painted with VHT paint so you will damage it with any harsh chemicals.The head was a recon head also and was reasonably clean so should clean with just a rag,or spray type cleaner like auto glym stuff or even WD40.the throttle body was also a new BBTB and should only need a wipe over really.Id try to avoid using anything harsh on any of that engine appart from the block.
Fair play on the block though it needs a good scrub !!

yep its the engine i got off you, its the block that needs cleaning really the rest is fine. gonna hopefully clean it over the weekend.

[JazzMan]

I used Gunk to clean up mine, took forever and made a mess on the drive way. Do it over a big plastic tray if you dont want too much mess about the place. Results were quite good though: http://www.msportster.co.uk/detail.asp?cat=2

[mrLEE30]

Geoff Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 5:06 pm Post subject:

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The only thing i clean an engine with is petrol. Its a great degreasant, is very cheap in comparrison with gunk and Ԛ£6 a litre and you can get high on it at the same time!!

just make sure no 2CV6's are driving past your drive!!!

would imajine if you were caught cleanin an engine with petrol in uk you could land yourself in big fine territory, would not advise myself, plus the flamable issue so a big fine and a new black car, and not from the bodyshop either! explain that to the insurance man.

mrlee

[E30BeemerLad]

we used to clean down our racing karts with petrol and a paintbrush, used to put some petrol into a spraygun and give the kart and engine a blast over with the fuel then use a brush on any stubborn bits, such as around sprocket and other greasy areas, then a wipe over with WD40 and a rag afterwards used to work a treat.

leaves plenty of smeg all over the floor though, so not best done on a newly paved driveway or on tarmac as the pertol softens up the tarmac.

[nav786]

I used Gunk to clean up mine, took forever and made a mess on the drive way. Do it over a big plastic tray if you dont want too much mess about the place. Results were quite good though: http://www.msportster.co.uk/detail.asp?cat=2

oooh. look at that, just what i want to do. did you take the engine apart to paint the block? also how did you go about cleaning it with gunk?

thanks

[mrLEE30]

for Rotax they recommend paraffin and an air hose but here in the middle east we seem to care not so much about the environment or contaminated ground water, the big oil companies dump so much sh1t all over the ground and into the air i dont really know why anyone bothers to be green not in my backyard seems to be the order of the day.

thats my rant over

mrlee

[Jhonno]

i pressure wash mine.. its not an issue if you dont direct it at the electrical bits

[JazzMan]

I used Gunk to clean up mine, took forever and made a mess on the drive way. Do it over a big plastic tray if you dont want too much mess about the place. Results were quite good though: http://www.msportster.co.uk/detail.asp?cat=2

oooh. look at that, just what i want to do. did you take the engine apart to paint the block? also how did you go about cleaning it with gunk?

thanks

I used paint brushes and metal wire brushes. I didnt take the head off to paint, I was just careful with the brush ;)

I removed rust and bigger clumps from the block using an angle grinder with a metal brush attachment.

Before painting I treated it with Metal Ready and painted with POR15 hi temp paint.

I got both from here:

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8229 - metal ready

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8763 - paint

[Turbo-Brown]

Just to add into the mix:

I'd recommend using stuff called GT85 instead of WD40. It's pretty much the same except that it contains Teflon and leaves things all nice and shiny

[weegaz22]

ive always jet washed my engines, get a plastic carrier bag and cover the dizzy cap and coil, then go mental with the jet washer, never had a problem, as someone said just use a bit of common sense and dont directly point it at things like the afm or tps and everything will be fine

[nav786]

I used Gunk to clean up mine, took forever and made a mess on the drive way. Do it over a big plastic tray if you dont want too much mess about the place. Results were quite good though: http://www.msportster.co.uk/detail.asp?cat=2

oooh. look at that, just what i want to do. did you take the engine apart to paint the block? also how did you go about cleaning it with gunk?

thanks

I used paint brushes and metal wire brushes. I didnt take the head off to paint, I was just careful with the brush ;)

I removed rust and bigger clumps from the block using an angle grinder with a metal brush attachment.

Before painting I treated it with Metal Ready and painted with POR15 hi temp paint.

I got both from here:

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8229 - metal ready

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8763 - paint

cheers mate, and thanks to rest of ya too

[Adammcf]

I cleaned the engine in my last car with Gunk, a normal brush and a toothbrush. Then polished up the paint with normal polish and used some fast black spray to bring up the plastics.
As you can see it came out quite well.

[Bob_S]

o/t but that e36 has a rusty arch!!!

I just used a bit of gunk to clean mine up and once dry just wiped about with an old rag

[redrobbie]

thought id post this link. It is a test they did with all the name brands.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product_te ... asers.html