What's best way to clean an engine bay and:

hawky666 · May 10, 2012

Running gear, chasis etc.
I have the engine coming out for replacement and would like to give everything a darned good cleaning over, including replacement engine, before putting back in.
Was thinking simply to power wash down but am i better to higher a powerfull steam cleaner or is it a case of power wash over but brake grease and oil up with something first!!!

What do you guys usually do??

Thanks.

big si · May 10, 2012

i drowned mine with gunk, gave it a scrub with the mrs's dust pan brush (that made her happy) and jet washed it ,all good.

Paul D · May 10, 2012

Ditto the gunk, but mine was the dishwashing brush .. Pound shop special, great bit of kit ..

johnny curt 1 · May 10, 2012

fook the gunk i scraped all the thick shyte off with a 2" scraper decorating thingy from poundland then used a 2" paintbrush to scrub evrything down with a bit of petrol in a bean tin then used the pressure washer on the hot garden tap

( oh **** i gave it away now i got a hot garden tap :behindsofa: it turns the average karcher into a steam cleaner )

hawky666 · May 10, 2012

Cheers guys.
Will a pressure washer/ steam cleaner over the engine do any harm?

big si · May 10, 2012

never hurt mine i just stuck blu roll in all the openings and blasted it.

Paul D · May 10, 2012

hawky666 said:
Cheers guys.
Will a pressure washer/ steam cleaner over the engine do any harm?

Only if it's rusty as a rusty thing ...

Or has openings to the insides/electrics ...

hawky666 · May 10, 2012

I'm going to do it whilst out and suspended so should be able to cover any sensor or electrical parts, openings etc so should be good after.
Going to look into steam cleaner hire as an option to give the whole underneath a good going over and do it as quickly as poss before curing any issues and coating the chasis to keep good after.
I think that along with a load of sprayed on degreaser first should do a proper job.

jai_landrover · May 10, 2012

Just degunked a v8. I used some petrol diesel mix, a stiff brush lots of elbow grease and hot kettle of water then some fairy liquid when its done and more hot water

The Mad Hat Man · May 10, 2012

then watch it rust.

or watch the oil leaks

.

jai_landrover · May 10, 2012

The Mad Hat Man said:
then watch it rust.

or watch the oil leaks .

Hopefully no oil leaks as its currently stripped down minus pistons!!

Should go ack together with some new rings and EDIT big end shells maybe tomorrow and possibly be running Sunday EEK! All shiney and new

hawky666 · May 10, 2012

The idea is to watch for the new oild leaks to try and cure them soon after, and as for rust, well try, try, try, to do something about that before it gets worse.
Well it's good in theory i guess.

Dippypud · May 10, 2012

hawky666 said:
The idea is to watch for the new oild leaks to try and cure them soon after, and as for rust, well try, try, try, to do something about that before it gets worse.
Well it's good in theory i guess.

No, no I think the best way is to get the oil to run over the rusty bits...

keep topping the oil up...

hawky666 · May 10, 2012

lol, love the theory in that one. But with most of the defenders i've been looking at which have loads of oil leaks, they also have loads of rust. So not sure it works.

landrover11019 · May 11, 2012

I use parafin, in a pump up garden sprayer.

Tazz070299 · May 11, 2012

Gunk is safer to use as a degreaser than either paraffin or petrol.

As others have said, scrape off the any thick gunge first and make sure you've tackled all the oily/greasy bits with the degreaser before you introduce a pressure/steam washer as none of them work very well when water is present.

As for post wash treatment I might be tempted to paint the sump with a rust inhibitor and something like Smooth Hammerite if it's rusty but the rest of the engine block I would leave alone.

Whilst the engine is out I would take the opportunity to paint any exposed bits of the chassis with inhibitor and hammerite, and injecting waxoyl into any cavities/holes (not those caused by rust) in the chassis.

jamesmartin · May 11, 2012

hawky666 said:
Running gear, chasis etc.
I have the engine coming out for replacement and would like to give everything a darned good cleaning over, including replacement engine, before putting back in.
Was thinking simply to power wash down but am i better to higher a powerfull steam cleaner or is it a case of power wash over but brake grease and oil up with something first!!!

What do you guys usually do??

Thanks.

i have to clean landies regulary so from experience i would hire a better steam cleaner,it should shift everything mine has a facility for applying detergent or paraffin at pressure with the water but not all do ,but i rarely use it ,just dont directly aim at alternator etc,althougfh it wont hurt if it gets wet ,lift vehicle up on ramps or similar and do underneath as well ,just paint or spray waxoyl or similar on chassis under side of body etc when dry

hawky666 · May 11, 2012

Thanks guys.
I'm off to look at hire now and get some of the things you've recommended.

Much appreciated.

Jongould · May 11, 2012

100% steam cleaner, if you use one you will see the difference straight away, well worth getting a clean engine bay now whilst its all apart...

hawky666 · May 12, 2012

You know something, i cannot find a steam cleaner to hire ANYWHERE. What a nuisance.
Ive brought 5 ltrs of gunk and got my petrol power washer at the ready so hoping to do some serious cleaning on mon/tue before looking to put another engine in.

Can't wait to get going on her now

What's best way to clean an engine bay and:

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Old, nackered 'n broke, but the Landy is fine . :)

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Old, nackered 'n broke, but the Landy is fine . :)

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