Engine Cleaning

[mellonhdz]

Products used:

http://www.gunk.com/products/cat_det.asp
$3.99

http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-517-a...-dressing.aspx
$14.95



Time: 30 minutes

Hello all,

Last time my mechanic worked on my car, he was suspicious of a gasket leak since there was oil on top of the my engine. I regularly checked my oil level and figured cleaning it should determine if I had one or not. Still no oil. I suspect that the oil was residual from when my PCV was replaced.




[IMG][/IMG]

I chose to use Gunk Engine Degreaser and the directions were pretty straight forward.

1. Spray on cool engine.
2. Wait 10-15 minutes
3. Hose off.
4. Run engine for 10 minutes to dry (doing so, I suggest turning off your A/C so the cleaner doesn't get sucked in)

Notes:

The degreaser smell inside my car took a couple days to go away. Once again, turning off your A/C probably should help.
I didn't cover my air intake. If you have an exposed aftermarket intake, Gunk suggests covering it in a plastic bag.
I hosed lightly enough to spray off the degreaser rather than watering the crap out it. Especially around the ignition coils.

More dirty pics.







Applying Gunk Degreaser.









Results





Not completely clean but I was very impressed with the first go around.



Before Adam's In and Out Dressing



After





Air Drying



Finished



Gratuitous clean Audi shot.



Thanks for viewing.

[Hungrypilot]

Are there any negatives to "hosing off" your engine? I would rather take it somewhere that steam cleans, or find a steam cleaner. I can't imagine water under the hood would be a good thing.

[Charles.waite]

You should generally tape off the area around the coil packs so that water doesn't get into the spark plug chambers. Look like the OP didn't even take the engine cover off though...

If you use a light mist setting on a hose nozzle you will likely be fine, but just dumping water over the top with an open ended hose, or using any high pressure setting on a nozzle is bad news bears.

[mcmahonbj]

You missed the dirt on your heat shield!!! Other than that that adams spray is great!

[mellonhdz]

Here are some videos that may help. While doing some research on the dangers of getting the engine wet, I read that just about any engine vehicle built after the 1990's is safe to get wet in moderation. I also didn't use as much water as the videos demonstrate. They really soaked the crap out of their demonstration vehicles. As of today, I've had no mechanical issues since doing this. I also contemplated on paying a professional detailer to do this but the ones I contacted wouldn't just do the engine so I was looking at the least a basic detail for $75 that includes the engine bay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lORPwC0HLr0

http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Detai...ngine_Bay.aspx

Are there any negatives to "hosing off" your engine? I would rather take it somewhere that steam cleans, or find a steam cleaner. I can't imagine water under the hood would be a good thing.

[mellonhdz]

I'd give myself a B- for my work. I learned a lot and the next go around I'll pay more attention to detail. I also have Adam's VRT that works great as well on the plastics and rubber. The In and Out spray is just so darn convenient.

You missed the dirt on your heat shield!!! Other than that that adams spray is great!

[rlopez]

I heard engine gunk leaves a terrible smell for weeks

[Boosted6Speed]

Have a paint scraper handy when you do your timing belt. It's so thick and satisfying to scrape from the front of the block. I used high temperature ceramic paint on the timing covers to help keep it clean.

[aluthman]

FWIW, I hose the shit out of my engine bay on the regular and have never had any issues...

[hammond]

I hose off oil at brown bear car wash from my engine bay after every fix. Never really got into any issues untill the last time, The alternator started making whining noise since my last wash. I recommend purple power for cleaning aluminum and Easy off for plastic. Walmart gunk products are not really effective.