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I want to shoot 2200PSI's of water onto my engine

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    I want to shoot 2200PSI's of water onto my engine

    and pressure wash my engine bay...have a few local shows here, and my hood is always closed.
    I would love to show off my raw 130,000miles of M20 power, but it's so damned greasy and dirty.

    I've had temptations of soaking the engine in some cleaner/solvent and shooting it with my pressure washer, but I've feared messing something up electrically (even if everything is properly covered)

    thoughts?
    alternative recomendations?

    Otherwise it'll just sit dirty untill the engine comes out next season when the M20 finds it's new home at the bottom of the sea...
    Originally posted by flyboyx
    i have watched my dog lick himself off a few times

    #2
    Using a pressure washer can do a lot of damage.

    When faced with a dirty engine and/or engine bay the process I use is:

    1) Start with a hot engine and get front of the car up on jack stands. Several
    large pieces of cardboard under the engine area will soak up the grunge and
    help prevent stains.

    2) Using a putty knife, screw driver, etc., scrape off any heavy
    deposits. Most of that will be on the lower part of the engine and you'll have
    to get to it from underneath.

    3) Spray a mixture of Gunk and diesel or kerosense on using a garden sprayer.

    4) Scrub every thing you can reach using plastic bristle brushes on painted
    surfaces and wire brushes on bare metal. Work heavily caked areas again with
    the scrapers. Spray on more solvent mixture as needed.

    5) Re-fill the sprayer with any concentrated detergent (Simple Green, pressure
    washer detergent, etc) and spray everything down.

    6) Using a garden hose set for a gentle spray, or better yet a plant watering
    wand, wash down the engine and engine bay. You want to avoid any high pressure
    spray as that may force water into places that you don't want it.

    7) Spray on more detergent and go over everything with the brushes, then
    repeat (6).

    8) Leave the hood open and allow the engine bay to dry for at least 8 hours
    before starting the engine.

    Notes: Having the engine hot will make oil and grease easier to wash off and
    the residual heat will help dry out any water that reaches electrical
    parts. You won't get the cosmoline/oil stains off the valve cover on an m20/30
    engine as they are baked on. The best way to clean up the valve cover is to
    have it bead blasted or hot tanked, but you can get most of it off with paint
    remover (with the cover off the engine).
    The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
    Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL

    Comment


      #3
      ^@Jlevie Why do you say pressure washing can do a lot of damage? electricals? Mechanical parts?

      From my experience, I was using a very old steam pressure washing machine that ran on fuel and an electric pump. We would heat the engine up, spray the engine down with a cleaner, let sit and finally spray it down with the hot pressurized steam. It did wonders removing gunk and grime and I never had problems with anything being damaged from it. Other than maybe getting water in the distributor, everything was a-ok. I seriously miss having that machine around!

      FREE BITCOINS!! http://qoinpro.com/71690d1639966bfbf223bf16538cec21
      Originally posted by scabzzzz
      I stand up, pull my dick out, and asked my gf to give me some noggin... Well, she starts laughing at me and I freaked out and ran off and locked myself in a bedroom.
      1989 325i - Project/weekend driver
      2002 325i - DD
      2005 Suzuki SV650 - Toy

      Comment


        #4
        Ya you shouldnt have problems with cleaning the bay with a pressure washer. Just put a cover over the fuse box, distributor, connector for ECU, and over the ignition coil and spray away.

        Simple green, a bristle brush, and power wash it.

        Its not bad at all really, if you think about it your car goes through a puddle every so often and water is splashed up into the engine bay all the time.
        1989 BMW 325is | 2019 Ford Ranger FX4
        willschnitz

        Comment


          #5
          ^^^This. Never had an issue. Don't hit your electricals hard, you'll be fine.
          sigpic

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Wschnitz View Post
            if you think about it your car goes through a puddle every so often and water is splashed up into the engine bay all the time.


            2200 psi direct water jet = splashing in a puddle. I am not familiar with this math.


            A pressure washer will push water everywhere. It will also bore a hole in concrete or wood.

            I can guarantee that it will not improve your oil seals and wiring connections.

            Will it cause you any problems ? Do you feel lucky?

            I'm with Jim. Scrubbing, simple green or similar, and mild water spray action is as hard as i like to go.

            I can tell if someone pressure washed their motorcycle by removing the rear swingarm pivot. It will be rusted and probably seized.
            Lorin


            Originally posted by slammin.e28
            The M30 is God's engine.

            Comment


              #7
              I always used a pressure washer to do the inner fenders, but never directly on the engine itself. Sprayed down with heavy duty oven degreaser beforehand, lol.

              That said, I do like Jim's method.
              1974.5 Jensen Healey : 2003 330i/5

              Comment


                #8
                thanks fellas...I think I'll just go with my gut feeling.

                as it sits now, my ECU main harness is a heavy 'seized' mass of dry cracking wire housings...

                even if I manage to cover it properly, knowing my luck I'll end up zapping something terminaly.


                I'll wait this out, and once the engine is out in the fall I'll wash everything properly firewall etc etc.

                thanks for the tips.

                I'm not breaking my back moreso than it allready is to wash my boat anchor
                Originally posted by flyboyx
                i have watched my dog lick himself off a few times

                Comment


                  #9
                  Not saying use an industrial pressure washer, the dinky little brown bear pressure ones will work.
                  1989 BMW 325is | 2019 Ford Ranger FX4
                  willschnitz

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Wschnitz View Post
                    Ya you shouldnt have problems with cleaning the bay with a pressure washer. Just put a cover over the fuse box, distributor, connector for ECU, and over the ignition coil and spray away.

                    Simple green, a bristle brush, and power wash it.

                    Its not bad at all really, if you think about it your car goes through a puddle every so often and water is splashed up into the engine bay all the time.
                    this is the correct response


                    Just use a nozzle tip with a WIDE spray pattern and dont bare down hard on any vulnerable spot with it. With the wide angled head on there the actual pressures your going to be getting at 8-10-12 inches from the tip, is only going to be in the realm of a couple of hundred psi at most the further back you stay the less damage your going to do...
                    Originally posted by Fusion
                    If a car is the epitome of freedom, than an electric car is house arrest with your wife titty fucking your next door neighbor.
                    The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money. -Alexis de Tocqueville


                    The Desire to Save Humanity is Always a False Front for the Urge to Rule it- H. L. Mencken

                    Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants.
                    William Pitt-

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I usually find a plastic bag to cover alternator, distributor etc. and go to town with a pressure washer.
                      I want a nice set of smoked MHW's (I know, get it line)
                      Free Stuff!!:http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=273454

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I think pressure washing an engine bay is a bad idea.
                        Pressure washing anything that has seals, is lubricated, transmits electricity or is fragile is bad idea.
                        I vote the "if you want it clean scrub it" method. Even better is the "close the hood and don't worry about it" technique. Engines dirty on the outside run just fine.

                        What price your old M20 carcass?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I vote pressure washer and a video of you getting a face full of water. :nice:


                          Personally I just use damp microfibers, a small brush and diluted degreaser. Not a fan of using a pressure washer anywhere on an E30, especially under the hood.

                          >> 1988 3.1 ITB E30 /// 2002 E46 M3 6MT / 2008 335xi 6MT / 1991 S38B36 E30 (sold)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            FYI, Brake cleaner is great for removing cosmoline.

                            Working at a dealership in the past, I have used pressure washers on a daily basis to clean engine bays. It can be destructive if you aren't careful, but a wide nozzle, with a safe distance and a bit of common sense and you will be fine. Hot water and degreaser are your best friends.
                            1985 M10b18. 70maybewhpoffury. Over engineered S50b30 murica BBQ swap in progress.

                            Originally posted by DEV0 E30
                            You'd chugg this butt. I know you would. Ain't gotta' lie to kick it brostantinople.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I'm more preferable to a good degreaser, a brush and lots of agitation. Then I just use a normal hose to rinse it off avoiding direct contact to the fuse box especially or any particularly vulnerable electrics. Although I've never owned a car with serious caked on sludge before so simple hand cleaning has always worked.
                              91 318is M50 swapped
                              05 Honda Pilot

                              24V swap thread
                              http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=302524

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