YACT: keeping your engine clean

[dirtboy]

For a moment there I thought you were referring to the outside of the engine.

 

[scorpmatt]

Originally posted by: dirtboy
For a moment there I thought you were referring to the outside of the engine.

Had that thought when I first started this thread, but this made me change that:

Originally posted by: slag
Keeping the exterior of your engine clean is actually pretty important.

1. It keeps it cooler than one coated in oil and dust/dirt

2. It allows you to spot problems early with your car such as leaky seals, bad hoses, etc

3. When you need to make repairs, its much easier to get at the bolts/nuts to remove them and makes the job that much nicer/easier.

Its also a matter of personal pride for many of us

Note: I dont pressure wash the top of my engine, that is nuts. Only the bottom.

 

[NuroMancer]

Originally posted by: slag

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
In regards to pressure washing your engine - do you guys take it somewhere or DIY? Mine has about 25K miles on it (04) and its starting to get a lil dirty, figure I should keep it clean while it's still relatively clean.

I never pressurewash mine. Its too easy to accidentally tear or knock off a vacuum hose or get water into an electrical connection with that pressure.

I use purple stuff from walmart and a regular garden hose sprayer and it gets it very clean.

I'll only use the pressure washer around the wheelwells, undercarriage, etc

I'm actually looking at cleaning an engine that has about 6 years of none cleaning (outside) and I want to clean it up becuase I like the clean look.

Now one guys says use that purple stuff and a garden hose.

Others are using pressure washers.

Just wondering what u guys think, also just so you know the SUV is a 97 Grand Cherooke
(sp)

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: slag

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
In regards to pressure washing your engine - do you guys take it somewhere or DIY? Mine has about 25K miles on it (04) and its starting to get a lil dirty, figure I should keep it clean while it's still relatively clean.

I never pressurewash mine. Its too easy to accidentally tear or knock off a vacuum hose or get water into an electrical connection with that pressure.

I use purple stuff from walmart and a regular garden hose sprayer and it gets it very clean.

I'll only use the pressure washer around the wheelwells, undercarriage, etc

Bingo. You can get the Engine Bright degreaser cans, but I'm not using degreaser anymore: too much of that stuff runs off and where I live there's no drainage (and even if there were, its goes STRAIGHT into the river/water supply). I'm going to clean the engine on the '97 Subbie Legacy I just got as its dirty and I plan on using Simple Green :thumbsup:

EDIT And we have four cats plus other neighborhood animals, no sense in making one of them sick

 

[scorpmatt]

Originally posted by: NuroMancer

Originally posted by: slag

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
In regards to pressure washing your engine - do you guys take it somewhere or DIY? Mine has about 25K miles on it (04) and its starting to get a lil dirty, figure I should keep it clean while it's still relatively clean.

I never pressurewash mine. Its too easy to accidentally tear or knock off a vacuum hose or get water into an electrical connection with that pressure.

I use purple stuff from walmart and a regular garden hose sprayer and it gets it very clean.

I'll only use the pressure washer around the wheelwells, undercarriage, etc

I'm actually looking at cleaning an engine that has about 6 years of none cleaning (outside) and I want to clean it up becuase I like the clean look.

Now one guys says use that purple stuff and a garden hose.

Others are using pressure washers.

Just wondering what u guys think, also just so you know the SUV is a 97 Grand Cherooke
(sp)

use teh purple stuff/garden hose of top half of motor, where all the wires are. use pressure washer on the bottom of the engine, where the oil pan and block are.

 

[NuroMancer]

Rgr, thanks oh mighty leader and thanks fbrdphreak!

 

[fbrdphreak]

Anytime

 

[scorpmatt]

no problem

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: scorpmatt

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: scorpmatt
I'm curious, to those of us here on OT, what do you do to keep your car engine clean and running strong?

me, just the normal oil change (every 3k, could go farther but I dont like the sound my motor makes) and changing of the plugs, wires, cap, rotor. also, I let the car run up to atleast 4k rpms, doesn't waste gas and lets the engine burn what needs to be burned.

the motor is 23 years old and sat for a few years. I'm thinking there is something in there causing it not to like old oil. sounds odd I know, but it is true.

Multi-grade oil is your problem. 10W-30 is a 10 weight oil with viscosity additives to make it act like a 30 weight oil when it's at operating temperature. The older and more contaminated your oil gets, the less effective those additives are, and the thinner your oil remains at high temperatures, which causes the oil film between metal surfaces to be thinner, or non existant, which is the bad noise you hear.

Switching to a straight 30 weight would be fine in the summer and in warm climates. But if you live in cold climates, you'd be advised to use full synthetic since synthetic lubricates better, so a higher percentage of additives can be used to make it last longer. Either that or change your oil often. Chances are if you can hear when your oil is dirty, you're doing damage to engine parts.

*EDIT* Gettin in a little deeper... blowby is one of the main causes of oil contamination. If the engine sat for 3 years there's a good chance the rings are sticking and not sealing well. One thing I've had some minor success with is when doing an oil change, substitute one quart of automatic transmission fuild for one quart of oil, and then only let half the mileage go by that you normally do before you change the oil again. I've had that help to "unstick" lifters and help free up stuck piston rings that were stuck because of carbon buildup.