[Cloud9...68]

With my engine out, I want to thoroughly clean off all the 19-year-old grease and grime, of which there is a fair amount, because at least 50% of all the seals on this engine are leaking. It will be SOOO nice to get them all replaced, and so easy with the engine out.



Anyway, what are your favorite grease removing products? I've always used the petroleum-based sprays, but I've heard from some people that Dawn grease remover, which I believe is water based, works very well also. I want the best results for a minimal amount of elbow grease - ideally, I'd like something I can spray on, maybe go over with a bristle brush, and then hose off. Does such a product exist? Thanks.

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[flash]

the best one by far that i ever found was Gumout Steam Premium



http://ucanhealth.com/local/merchandise/...ser_(7566)

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[Cloud9...68]

Thanks; any idea why it's called "Steam degreaser"? Does it need to have steam (or at least hot water) sprayed on it after application? I suppose the most effective, and enviromentally friendly way to get this job done would probably be to take the parts to one of those coin-operated car wash places, and use their hot, high pressure water spray to rinse off the gunk.



I'm not really into the whole "pristine engine" thing (how often to you show off your engine compartment, anyway?), but it sure will be nice to get everything all cleaned up. One of the most satisfying parts of this project so far has been finding sources of leaks that I hadn't suspected. Fun stuff...

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[94SilverCab]

I use Simple Green for easy/light clean up. I also have a little "Shark" steamer...it sure would be great, in your case, to have the whole thing professionally steam cleaned



Jay

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[flash]

they call it steam because you are supposed to do it on a hot engine - it works best that way



lol - how often do you show off your engine? how about every time anybody sees the car



besides, it's a lot easier to do maintenance and see what's wrong - inspectors like it too - they tend to let a lot more go by when the car looks pampered

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[banditsc]

P21S also have some nice products.

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[Cloud9...68]

Whatever product I use, it sure would be nice to do it at one of those coin-operated carwash places and blast the parts with their hot, high pressure water, but as I think about it, I have a feeling they'd frown on having their facilities used to clean a bunch of grimy, grease-laden engine parts. Maybe if I swing by at 2:00 AM...

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[bob blackwell]

Another Simple Green user, I cleaned up the engine compartment while my engine was out and the Simple Green did a fine job and did not mess up the environment. Don't worry about the car wash places, they are used to cleaning up after 4x4 drivers who just returned from an outing in the mud! Good luck, Bob Blackwell.

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[DaveN]

OT but I always have a shiny engine displayed at any club meet or function, it's something a 911 CAN'T do <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[rhudeboye]

[size="2"]Simple Green will do a good job. [/size]

[size="2"]Optimum Power Clean is also a good choice and works on almost every surface of the car. [/size]

[size="2"]

[/size]

[size="2"]Be careful with pressure washers. Get too close to certain parts, like hoses, an[/size][size="2"]d you could [/size]damage[size="2"] them. Especially if it has some type of nick or defect already. [/size]

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[Cloud9...68]

Does Simple Green, a water-based product, work as well as the petroleum-based "carb cleaner" type products? I always thought Simple Green was a decent all-purpose cleaner, but pretty wimpy when put up against 19 years of greasy grime, but I could be wrong, as it does a great job on brake dust.



As far as the concern about pressure washers, that's a good input, but I'm mainly planning to clean things like the bell housing window, the power steering pump (which I'm going to re-seal anyway), the balance shaft covers, etc., although I would like to thoroughly clean the steering rack as well, which I'm also planning to re-seal, but would still not like to damage.



My goal is to do as little scrubbing as possible, as that gets old very fast; I want chemicals, heat, and pressure to do as much of the work as possible.

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[flash]

be careful when using any petroleum based product like carb cleaner - it can easily strip away paint and clear coating - they can also break down rubber, and will almost certainly destroy plastic



and of course, NEVER use gasoline as a degreaser

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[Cloud9...68]

Yeah, I think I'm sold on the water-based stuff. And as far as the car wash places, since their selection of cleaning cycles includes a degreaser which is intended to clean off engines, I assume they must be equipped to deal with grease. So, I think I'll give that a try.

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[MB968]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1299282113' post='106050']

Yeah, I think I'm sold on the water-based stuff. And as far as the car wash places, since their selection of cleaning cycles includes a degreaser which is intended to clean off engines, I assume they must be equipped to deal with grease. So, I think I'll give that a try.

[/quote]



So, what did you do to clean your engine, bell housing, etc. Did you have to do much scraping. I have a lot of accumulated grime on some of the pieces. I'm thinking of using the power washer that I use on the patio, etc. I can hook it up to hot water, and it has a tank that'll dispense cleansers (water-based of course). The local auto parts store sells Purple Power which is an "Industrial Strength Cleaner/Degreaser". Thought about using it with the power washer. Like you, I just want to be able to spray it on, let it sit for a while and power wash it off. Am I dreaming??

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[Byte]

I have good luck with stuff called "Purple Power".

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[vliegwielolaf1234]

S100 all purpose motorbike cleaner(not cheap) , works very good , hose of with water , does not damage any plastic or seals since most motorbikes are all plastic .

And even cleans the chain grease or other grease off .

They have o whole line of cleaners for motorbikes , but works on car engine bays very well , not sure if it is availble in the usa .

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[jfrahm]

Purple Power is good. I've also had some good luck with "LA's totally Awesome" cleaner which I bought very cheap simply to get the spray bottle and I was surprised to find the cleaner worked pretty well. Not as well as other more expensive cleaners but it comes in handy for lighter jobs..

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[Cloud9...68]

I ended up using a combination of products - water-based stuff on parts where rrubber was exposed to the cleaner, and petroleum-based degreasers on the pure metal parts. I also ended up using a soft drill-mounted brass brush to clean up a lot of parts, but more for moderately dirty parts, not for removing larger quantities of grease. No shortcuts - just lots of elbow grease, I'm afraid.

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