I've recently bought an electric wallpaper stripper that you can also use as a general-purpose steam cleaner too. I'm thinking of trying to steam clean the engine bays of our cars, especially our Xantia, which seems to be caked in split oil and LHM.
* Anyone used this kind of thing before with decent results?
* Do I have to be particularly careful of any components?
* What is the stuff (detergent?) that the professionals spray beforehand to help dissolve the muck?
Thanks
Chad.R
|
Third Star point...(If My Memory Serves Me Corectly)it is called
GUNK
Regards
John R
|
I would be inclined to leave it alone. The engine bay may not look pretty, but if you steam clean it, you will get water into all those rubbishy French wiring connectors and be plagued by random electrical faults for the next six months. Also, steam cleaners tend to remove the rustproofing wax from seams etc, and any alloy castings in the engine bay will go white and fluffy.
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
|
Much though I try to keep my car's engine bay spotless, I agree with Richard, and never steam clean or pressure wash it.
I find that careful application of Gunk (excellent product, though be prepared for the smell that remains for a few days afterwards on anything that gets warm) with a brush, then rinsed off with a gentle hosing or simply cold water wrung out of a sponge, does an excellent job without getting water where you don't want it.
/Steve
|
|
|
|
Don't, whatever you do, get Gunk or any other degreaser on your tarmac drive. It'll ruin it, washing out all the binder, and leave a load of loose stones. If you've got access to a presure washer, that will do a remarkable job on even oily engines without any solvents, and no risk to the drive.
With any engine cleaning watch out for water ingress to the elctrics, as already mentioned.
Regards
John S
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies - I think I'll get some GUNK and try the "gentle" method. I'm not one to spend too much time on cleaning or washing my cars anyway. At most I'll wash 1 car a week - so each car gets washed every 3 weeks or so. As long as I can maintain them in as good a mechanical condition as reasonably possible, I can live with a dirty engine bay.
However, we are thinking of selling SWMBO's Punto privately. I'm sure the average punter will feel obliged to pop the bonnet to check if there is an engine where it's supposed to be - so no doubt they'll be impressed if it's spotless.
Chad.R
|
It's whatever you feel comfortable with really.
I like to keep the engine bays of all the cars I look after in a cared for condition, even if not spotless all year round.
About two yearly I de-grease and pressure wash them. Very important to completely spray all the washed areas when dry with a WD40 type fluid* to stop the whole thing breaking out with corrosion.
Then at each service I spray the whole engine with the same fluid. The grime does build up with this but in a slightly "oily" protecting way.
*I use a fluid that leaves slightly more of a residue than WD40.
As far as pressure washing anything crucial...don't! I just ease off the distance of the spray lance to give a softer mist.
Just done the Xantia as above and it looks a treat for a nine year old car. Anyone who engages me in conversation on the way to Scotland about the car *will* be shown the engine compartment. Avoid blue Xantias next weekend at Northern service stations!
David W
|
Take care with WD40; it is highly flamable. Just make sure you only use it on a cold engine. I believe Gunk and similar solvent based products such as Jizer are also flamable. I use Auto Glym engine cleaner and find it to be more 'pleasant' to use. i.e no unpleasant odour or tarmac unfriendly action.
As other contributors have already pointed out, don't remove 'friendly' protective oil from around load bearing parts of the bodywork such suspension & engine mounting points.
|
|
Agree dont pressure wash. As an alternative to gunk try brake cleaner; seems to disolve caked on oil very well. Also suggest thin coat of waxoyl as an alternative to WD40.
|
|
|
|
When we sold our MX5 the engine bay hadn't been cleaned from new, so it was fairly dirty. One guy who came to look at it said he was pleased to see the engine hadn't been cleaned as it's a sign were not trying to disguise any leaks.
When you wash the car, try spending a minute at the end with the same water and clean off the metal bits, plastic covers and rockers. Looks good but not too good then!
|
I left mine alone when selling a Rover 827. It was pretty damn clean inside the engine compartment snyway. One guy said he was surprised I hadn't cleaned it if I was trying to sell. You can't win 'em all.
I'd sooner see an engine "au naturel". I'm suspicious if it's recently been cleaned...
|
|
|
|
|
_COLON_no_upscale()/cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/30d07590976de39f4f9f9b6ae02e5986/26538e2a2b1174ccef363390300a6c9b.jpg)
