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degreasing a heavily-soiled engine
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Author:  slantin_77 [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:37 am ]
Post subject:  degreasing a heavily-soiled engine
I have a 225 slant with years of built-up gunk and oil on it that I wanna get clean and painted up before putting it in my truck. Currently it is on an engine stand. I have tried Simple Green, foamy engine brite degreaser and another cheap degreaser. Is there anything that will eat through the dried up crap? I also need to either borrow a pressure washer or a steamer and see if that helps too.
If you have a successful engine degreasing story, please share it!
Author:  xjarhead [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:43 am ]
Post subject: 
Try DIY car wash, preasure should be plenty.
Some even have engine cleaner option.

Dave
Author:  Reed [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 12:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
Yes. Coin-op car wash and/or pressure washer (hot water and steam are even better). Let the Gunk foamy engine brite soak in for a while and give it a good spray. Then blast away the grime with a pressure washer and detail it using stiff brushes, even brass bristle brushes.

If you borrow a pressure washer, use this as an excuse to flush the tank on your house hot water heater and connect the presure washer to the hot water heater drain valve. Then you will get a few dozen gallons of hot water to spray the engine with.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 12:07 pm ]
Post subject: 
Oven cleaner such as Easy-Off. The regular type, not the "no fume". Trigger spray better than aerosol. Don't get it on any aluminum parts -- iron, steel, brass, copper, plastic, and rubber are all okeh. Put on a face shield and a dust mask, spray it on thick and heavy, walk away for 90 minutes, then rinse down with hot water (get an adaptor to hook your garden hose to a sink faucet that will supply hot water).
Author:  '67 Dart 270 [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:31 pm ]
Post subject:  pressure washer
If you use Gunk or other degreasers, that is fine, and the pressure washer, if a higher pressure model, will clean off the grease and crud easily.

If you plan to paint it after cleaning, you'll need to go over it again with some lighter petroleum solvent (gas) or something to remove the final film of oil residue.

Brian
Author:  Mr Zeal [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
+1 on the oven cleaner!
Author:  Pierre [ Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
Do not hook up your water heater to a pressure washer that wasn't meant for hot water. You may be able to get away with it if your lucky, but there's a reason it says for cold water only.

No degreaser will help much if the gunk is that thick. A pressure washer, even the low pressure electric type is the ticket. Use the narrowest nozzle. Once a majority of it is off then you can use degreaser. I second Dan - "heavy duty" oven cleaner is the ticket. It's the same thing as degreaser, lye (aka sodium hydroxide), just more concentrated.
Author:  Sam Powell [ Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:25 am ]
Post subject: 
IN the old days you could buy something called Varsol which worked well. I do not know if you can even get it anymore. I think it was a kind of mineral spirits, which also will work well and is not too volatile. My old neighbor who has since passed away swore by fuel oil as an early cleaner for such things. In the end, if you are going to paint you will need something like naptha to get the oil residue off, and then follow up with metal prep. I like Captain Lee's best, as you do not have to wash it back down with a water rinse after using it.

The oven cleaner sounds like a good idea. I will give that a try sometime.

Sam
Author:  six-tunes [ Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:52 am ]
Post subject: 
I've always just blasted it away with my psi washer (2200psi) (cold water). I start with the 0 degree nozzle, then move the to the 30 degree nozzle. After all the crud is blasted away, I spray it down with foaming engine degreaser, let it sit for about 30 mins, then blast it down again. After its dry I wipe / brush it down with MEK (methyl ethyl keytone) (you can buy it at Lowes). Wear gloves, do not breath it. It evaporates SUPER fast so work quickly. But it will remove ANY traces of oil and ready the metal to paint. And be ready to paint it right when you get done wiping it down, as the block with flash rust pretty quick. If I'm not ready to paint it right away, I'll just forgo the degreasing step and leave that oily greasy film on it.

When psi washing an old block wear eye protection!!!! That crud is pretty hard and the washer loves to sling it back at you. A speck of greasy crud in the corner of your eye is pretty painful. Don't ask me how I know. :roll:
Author:  Louise76 [ Sun Jun 22, 2014 8:36 pm ]
Post subject: 
Varsol is an OLD brand name for just plain old solvent. Also known in the old days as "gas station solvent". Very close to mineral spirits (same as paint thinner, but with more stink.) Wanna live dangerously? Use old stinky gasoline, but watch for sparks & static elecatricity, or you may be tonight's Bar-B-Q. <--- that's a joke, cuz nobody in his right mind would use gasoline as a solvent. Best thing to start is copious amounts of elbow grease with a putty knife, screwdriver blade, wire brush, and a cut-off paint brush. All solvents leave a residue, so maybe a final wipe-down with lacquer thinner, as it leaves a very slight residue- good enough for fizz-can engine paint. All available at your local hardware store, except the elbow grease. You gotta do that. Buy a box of disposable gloves.
Author:  Mr Zeal [ Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:23 pm ]
Post subject: 
Just last week I cleaned up a greasy ol slant with a two cans of Extra Strength Easy-Off and a regular water hose with a garden sprayer. Spray, wait, rinse, repeat. Clean as a whistle!
Author:  Louise76 [ Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:17 pm ]
Post subject: 
I'll have to try that. P. :o
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