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degreasing the engine


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alright so i got my first 'manche...for free. got her runnin too. runnin rough, but runnin nonetheless. theres a few small things here and there that i need to take care of before i start really messin with it tho. for one, my girlfriends dad (previous owner) told me he put the wrong cap on the valve cover so it spits oil when it runs. well, if anyone takes a look under the hood, its obvious he wasnt lying. there is oil and grease everywhere. so thats the first thing i want to do is clean it up a bit. then find the right cap obviously. I'm just wondering if theres an easier way to do it than to cover all the electrical components and sensors and whatnot before spraying and hosing. i guess i just don't trust myself....I'm sure i would miss something and theres already so much stuff to do that i don't want to add to the list with electrical problems. is there any thorough cleaning/degreasing, WATERLESS products that anyones aware of? :dunno:

 

BTW ive been on this forum for a few months, but i am now "officially" a member since i finally got the jeep into town. so hello all you jeepers out there! :wavey:

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I have had okay luck using a "engine foam" degreaser and using a garden hose to clean the engine. You put the stuff on a warm engine, let it sit for a bit, then hose it off. Personally i just spray it, but some guys are careful, covering up sensors and such. Simple green works for smaller areas or something to follow up on the engine foam.

 

Engine Brite is the name of the engine foam.

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Use some engine bright, or gunk. Get it warm, shut it off, and soak it down. The only sensor that is really water temperamental is the TPS on the throttle body. Let it soak (I usually go way beyond what they reccommend to let it eat in good, and spray it off. I usually do this a couple times, and then your good.

 

Rob L.

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:agree: yeahthat.gif

I have also taken them to a car wash. Soap it up, rinse, Works good. On car washes, if you can find one for big trucks they have hotter water and more pressure. Only use on later cars with insulation in good shape and never on older cloth insulation or your gonna have a engine bay full of shiny copper wire, No insulation. comanche.gif

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alright i guess i could find some of that. you guys seem pretty confident that the water doesnt damage the electrical components

and webbjeepxj thats a great idea. looks great, but i don't think ill be taking stuff apart and remounting them...at least not before the initial cleaning if at all

thanks guys

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I degreas engines and what not all the time at work and have found that castrol cleaner ( also called "Purple Power") is the best stuff to use , I get it in 5 gallon super concentrate and dilute it a 1.5 gallon pressure pot (i use a 50/50 mix) commonly used for spraying pesticides and it works a hundred times better than anything iv ever used before including all the previously mentioned products . The stuff does like to eat aluminum but only if left on it for more than a few hours and usually only causes it to start oxidizing , and I have yet to have any problems caused from using the stuff and I use it heavily on our big diesel pusher school buses and all the maintenance and grounds trucks and equipment . I usually hose it on everything except the alternator let it sit a bit , steam it off (we have a big a$$ industrial steam/pressure washer in a dedicated wash bay with water reclamation) and repeat as necessary . Iv also used at home with the garden hose with verry good results aswell.

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I degreas engines and what not all the time at work and have found that castrol cleaner ( also called "Purple Power") is the best stuff to use , I get it in 5 gallon super concentrate and dilute it a 1.5 gallon pressure pot (i use a 50/50 mix) commonly used for spraying pesticides and it works a hundred times better than anything iv ever used before including all the previously mentioned products . The stuff does like to eat aluminum but only if left on it for more than a few hours and usually only causes it to start oxidizing , and I have yet to have any problems caused from using the stuff and I use it heavily on our big diesel pusher school buses and all the maintenance and grounds trucks and equipment . I usually hose it on everything except the alternator let it sit a bit , steam it off (we have a big a$$ industrial steam/pressure washer in a dedicated wash bay with water reclamation) and repeat as necessary . Iv also used at home with the garden hose with verry good results aswell.

:agree:

Purple power will clean very good, I have found that if you use Gunk you end up smelling it for days, it will smell like kerosene burning.

If you warm a engine up I know it softens the grease... BUT you are more likely to get condensation in distributor and other areas and have trouble restarting. This is just me and I have done my share of them, Do it ice cold , just let it soak a little longer and then wash off and if you have to soak twice.. so be it, then let dry or air blow dry and you will be less likely to have any problems on restart

2 cents worth of advice that did not cost you a dime :wavey:

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thanks everyone

i appreciate any input. I'm very excited to get this thing cleaned up...I'm just waitin for a day off. one thing that I'm kinda worried about is the fact that its sitting at my sisters apartment complex, and now that i think of it, i don't think theres a hose available... :wall:

on the other hand, the camaro thats been taking up space in my driveway for years is now gone as of this morning so once i get this thing to idle a little smoother (i think its just bad gas considering its been sitting for a while and after adding stabilizer, it didnt stall out) i can drive it to my house and clean it up there. in the meantime, ill take advantage of the extra parking spot while i can

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I have also taken them to a car wash. Soap it up, rinse, Works good. On car washes, if you can find one for big trucks they have hotter water and more pressure.

 

The last time I went to a car wash to clean my engine the car wash nazi told me I couldn't use their bay to wash an engine. I have been douching my engines for years with simple green and a hose, or Purple Power. No need to get too technical. Just stay away from the critical areas, simple.

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awesome

thanks everyone

tomorrow is a day off, unfortunately I'm waiting around for payday (i literally have 2 bucks in my account right now) so i won't be getting any cleaners yet but could at least get a pic of the engine bay to show what I'm dealing with just for fun. there is oil everywhere. the cap is cracked and its not even the right one so...yeah, oil everywhere. i checked the air filter the other day and there was some oil on the edges of that too filter wasnt bad at all, it was just a little bit along the edges. probably just soaked into the box where it clips together

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