Engine clening
Discussion
I've asked this question over on the Engines forum, and having had some general advice there, I thought I'd now bring it here and see if any other Wege owners have more specifics.
I called my favourite valeter yesterday, to ask him to steam clean the engine of my 350i. He said he didn't want to do it, as he's had problems with Rover v8's gettng damp in the electric gubbins, and not running right for ages afterwards. So it comes down to rags and bruised knuckles.
It has been suggested to me to use gunk. Now my experience with gunk in the past has been to just plaster it on, then hose it off. Not so much electrickery on a carb. engine...It has also been suggested that the bit most prone to damp might be the throttle pot.
Any thoughts/experiences, as ever, very gratefully received.
I called my favourite valeter yesterday, to ask him to steam clean the engine of my 350i. He said he didn't want to do it, as he's had problems with Rover v8's gettng damp in the electric gubbins, and not running right for ages afterwards. So it comes down to rags and bruised knuckles.
It has been suggested to me to use gunk. Now my experience with gunk in the past has been to just plaster it on, then hose it off. Not so much electrickery on a carb. engine...It has also been suggested that the bit most prone to damp might be the throttle pot.
Any thoughts/experiences, as ever, very gratefully received.
Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner!!
Actually a serious suggestion. Spray it on, prob best to watch out for delicate bits, seals, etc. Leave for a bit, depending on how dirty she is you might want to give her a scrub too but otherwise just rinse off.
The above worked really well on a very grimy, oil encrusted Pinto block from my other toy and partially on my 2.8 lump, until I ran out of it and since lost motivation for that...........
cheers
Dave
Actually a serious suggestion. Spray it on, prob best to watch out for delicate bits, seals, etc. Leave for a bit, depending on how dirty she is you might want to give her a scrub too but otherwise just rinse off.
The above worked really well on a very grimy, oil encrusted Pinto block from my other toy and partially on my 2.8 lump, until I ran out of it and since lost motivation for that...........
cheers
Dave
I use paraffin and clean up the run-off afterwards... 
Maybe a large tray underneath would be a good plan.
Edit: Read the instructions on Mr. Muscle - it may say 'do not use on aluminium'. I used neat caustic soda (same warning) to clean up some of the removable brackets etc. on my V8 when I did the engine rebuild: it gets that fluffy corrosion off a treat, but you are in effect watching the part dissolve before your eyes!
Ian
>> Edited by wedg1e on Sunday 30th March 11:53
Maybe a large tray underneath would be a good plan. Edit: Read the instructions on Mr. Muscle - it may say 'do not use on aluminium'. I used neat caustic soda (same warning) to clean up some of the removable brackets etc. on my V8 when I did the engine rebuild: it gets that fluffy corrosion off a treat, but you are in effect watching the part dissolve before your eyes!
Ian
>> Edited by wedg1e on Sunday 30th March 11:53
I use my steam cleaner and lots of detergent.
Run the engine until HOT, get someone to hold the throttle at about 3500 rpm, and steam amway.
Obviously donot direct for too long at the distributer, coil or plugs, but it works on mine. If it does die, then the engine is hot enough to dispell any moisture. leave to dry in the sun for a while.
Run the engine until HOT, get someone to hold the throttle at about 3500 rpm, and steam amway.
Obviously donot direct for too long at the distributer, coil or plugs, but it works on mine. If it does die, then the engine is hot enough to dispell any moisture. leave to dry in the sun for a while.
jvaughan said: I use my steam cleaner and lots of detergent.
Run the engine until HOT, get someone to hold the throttle at about 3500 rpm, and steam amway.
Obviously donot direct for too long at the distributer, coil or plugs, but it works on mine. If it does die, then the engine is hot enough to dispell any moisture. leave to dry in the sun for a while.
Jason: I bet you're popular with your neighbours! Ian
Next best is petrol !!!!!!!!
Cheers guys. White spirit and rags it is. Coming up luverly...there are painted bits of bodywork in there that I've never seen before!
The rocker covers have strange mottled yellowish tinge, as if there has been some kind of coating on them in the past. This seems really ingrained into the metal, and is proving reluctant to shift with white spirit. Now they are quite clean, it looks pretty obvious...
The rocker covers have strange mottled yellowish tinge, as if there has been some kind of coating on them in the past. This seems really ingrained into the metal, and is proving reluctant to shift with white spirit. Now they are quite clean, it looks pretty obvious...
Autoglym do make an engin cleaner and until recently I would have asid it was excellent, much better than Gunk. However, I think they must have made it more environmentally friendly recently and the bottle I bought last month wouldn't clean a greasy fingerprint off let alone years of oil build up on an engine block...
Ralph
Ralph
plewis66 said: Thanks guys, white spirit and rags is doing the general bay area nicely, and autoglym metal polish (the engine cleaner is a hose-off product, which I don't fancy) is working wonders on the metal work. I recon another 30-50 hours work, and everything will be luverly
Is that for the left or right side?
Gassing Station | Wedges | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff