Cleaning crud off outside of engine

My engine has a ton of black crud, dirt, and whatever covering the engine. So much so I hadn't even noticed the block was painted red. Is there was to get this off, I used some water and paper towels on the valve covers but to do the whole engine would take forever. What are some good ways to clean it up, don't care about polishing it all up or anything, just giving it a good cleaning. New to all this car stuff and don't know if there's anything that would be damaging.

 

Ever hear of steam cleaning????

 

i use these if i dont want to make to much of a mess, i buy box store degreeser for about $7 a gallon, mix it 4 to one, spray it down, wait awhile then rinse it off, might have to do it a couple of times.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AIR-ENGINE-CLEANER-WASHER-GUN-TOOL-SIPHON-HOSE-/220738936515

these things can be found anywhere not just ebay

 

what he said^^^^^^^ I use a de greaser like red thunder, simple green.( cheap oven cleaner is the best but inside the engine compartment it gets on to much stuff it shouldn't) let it set and work. now drive to the car wash, the old ones with a hose! i even take a jack along and jack it up so i can see under it. common sense says stay off the electronics

 

You don't need anything new. Disconnect the battery, cover the distributor and alternator or generator, buy a LARGE bottle of either Castrol purple or Simple Green. Harbor Freight also has a gallon bottle of degreaser that is neon yellow-green. Any of those will work. Spray it ALL over the engine and allow it to sit a couple minutes to break down some of the grease. Scrub the hell out of it with cheap brushes you can get and toss out from Big Lots or the 99 Cent store. If you REALLY want to clean it well, hook up your garden hose direectly to the drain on your hot water heater and use that to rinse off all the crud you've scrubbed. RInse and repeat, you'll miss stuff no matter what. Just be careful not to put much water too close to the electronics and make sure to pot Before and After shots

 

Can you drive it??? Go to a do it yourself car wash and pop the hood and have at it. Just don't shut the engine off and stay away from the distributor.
It's helpful to have someone in the car keeping it at a fast idle so it doesn't stall.

Once you get the big chunks off you won't go broke buying cans of degreaser to clean up the rest.

I use my pressure washer at home with simple green. I do have a gravel drive so it's not like I will permanently stain concrete.

 

well some of you guys have it lucky, try poping your hood around here at a coin-op car wash and see how fast you get shut down, signs up saying no engine washing. late night with no one around maybe.

 

I use a ZEP product called Formula 50. It is a commercial biodegradable degreaser, I cut it 25 to 1 and use ot for everything from engine cleaning to white wall cleaning, gutter cleaning, and it even will get the ink out of a white shirt after a pen exploded. Good stuff. and pretty cheap comparitivly

 

Ended up getting some Gunk De-Greaser (not the foaming kind) from the hardware store. Took that and a small kitchen brush and scrubbed pretty good. Then rinsed the **** off, still some areas that are pretty grubby, but a whole lot better.

 

The only thing that I can add is to get the engine good and hot before applying the degreaser, seems to soak in a little better

 

Well that's exactly what I thought. Doing it in the driveway is out of the question. I live near the Monterey Bay and all the storm drains go to the bay. All the storm drains have that fact painted on them. So don't bother to say wait till no one is looking and help me solve the problem or answer the question.
Where can I wash an engine?

 

instead of buying that little doohicky to spray your junk, just cut a slit at at sharp angle in a peice of fuel hose- and stuff an air blower in the slit.

drop hose in solvent/solution/degreaser and spray it on. works like a champ!
wear a respirator or something. LOTs of atomization action.

 

elbow grease. No Pain, No Gain.

 

I used POR-15 when I cleaned my flathead before painting, worked super, but I had block out of car.

 

I find degreaser and a power washer work wonders. I used to go to the car wash before I owned my own power washer. I have a friend that uses window cleaner (aerosol) with good results.

 

i own my own pressure washer- i still end up going to the quarter car wash- cause i dont wanna deal with the crud getting washed off onto the driveway

 

Try a truck stop. Really

 

Cheap dollar store oven cleaner works great for degreasing an old engine. It also rinses away clear, not the milky colored runoff you get with some engine cleaners. It is a lot better if you live in a neighborhood and just have some dirtier water running down than the white colored **** that makes your nosey neighbors get too interested.

 

pull the engine and and just do it inside the garage.. so much easier on a bench/table than with it in the car

 

As a guy who maintained a carwash for a few years, there's a reason for that....a bunch of selfish ***holes that won't spend a couple more bucks to clean up after themselves....which leads to lots of complaints and downright nastiness from little old men and ladies when they ruin their carpet because they used your carwash after the previously mentioned ***holes.

I'm not saying you couldn't do it at my carwash, but have some respect for the other people who also use my carwash.

 

Spray oven cleaner does a great job,,just spray on a hose off.

You may have a few places where 2 or 3 applications will need to be needed.

Be forewarned it will remove all paint that;s on the block and valve covers. HRP

 

Doesn't oven cleaner eat aluminum?...

 

It eats the anodizing. I don't think this guy had anything aluminum on his mill, from his photos....

 

It will make polished alum to be dull. It will not eat the alum away, it just etches the surface. It will remove anodizing as Sp Ed noted.