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Cleaning a greasy engine

66four40

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My little 440 has some oil leaks that were present when I purchased the car. I have some caked on and some surface oil. The car is parked in my garage for the winter now so I was wanting to diagnose some of the leaks and maybe take care of them. What are some opinions on how to clean the engine, without rolling it on the driveway and using an engine shampoo that gets rinsed down the drain. I like to go fishing once in a while so am on board with not dumping tons of harsh chemicals down the street drains.

Thanks,

Derek
 
I'd be interested in opinions myself. As my 383 needs the same shampooing. In the past on other vehicles, I have used the engine degreaser products. But I have found them to be very hard on the paint on the engine. I would rather not have to pull the engine to repaint right now. It is coming out in a year or two to be overhauled anyway.
Any suggestions?
:yes:
 
Easiest is with chemicals but you don't want that so next would be lots of rags and detail brushes. Get most of the build up off and chemical the rest. You could use a friendlier cleaner like Simple Green for the last step if it makes you sleep better.
 
like slepr said it's going to take some labor. I use original dawn dish soap, the blue one to wash my car and my greasy hands, put it on the engine full strength and scrub with a stiff brush, they really do use dawn on oil slick/crude spill coated animals and it works, it's not just marketing, for my hands i rub it on like goop then wash them off and it works really well.
 
like slepr said it's going to take some labor. I use original dawn dish soap, the blue one to wash my car and my greasy hands, put it on the engine full strength and scrub with a stiff brush, they really do use dawn on oil slick/crude spill coated animals and it works, it's not just marketing, for my hands i rub it on like goop then wash them off and it works really well.

You do know that dawn is the best at removing all the wax from car when washing with it!
 
You do know that dawn is the best at removing all the wax from car when washing with it!
Yep, that is what I use at the beginning of a car season when I want to try a new wax/polish. Works great.
I've used Scrubbing Bubbles on the seats and interior, works great but that has a small amount of bleach in it. Again, don't want to discolor the paint.
But gives me an idea. If I were to put Dawn into a spray/pump bottle and spray on the "infected" areas so to speak, let sit then power wash at the car wash ... that may work well. Might have to water down the Dawn though. Hmmmmmmm :icon_winkle:
 
that would work if you can get it to pump, I use it as a wax stripper too, lol
 
Easiest is with chemicals but you don't want that so next would be lots of rags and detail brushes. Get most of the build up off and chemical the rest. You could use a friendlier cleaner like Simple Green for the last step if it makes you sleep better.
Dollar tree has a product Mean Green work great and it cheap dollar a bottle
 
Several cans of traditional degreaser. I put newspaper, and a pan underneath to capture and soak some of the chemical. There will be some run off. It is the best way to start. Warm the engine and follow instructions.
 
Several cans of traditional degreaser. I put newspaper, and a pan underneath to capture and soak some of the chemical. There will be some run off. It is the best way to start. Warm the engine and follow instructions.
As I mentioned previously, every degreaser I've ever used takes the paint off. If you know of one that doesn't, LMK.
 
Warm the engine then spray generously with Simple Green. Scrub areas as necessary and rinse off with a powerful stream of water. Easy peasy!!
 
As I mentioned previously, every degreaser I've ever used takes the paint off. If you know of one that doesn't, LMK.
Degreaser took paint off of the Napa Gold filter. Only. NOT the block or anything else..
 
Took paint right off the rocker covers on mine.

They may have painted right over top of the grease. I've gotten parts -- especially valve covers -- in to restore that were supposedly "refinished" in advance of sale only to find they spray bombed right over forty years of grunge too.

I've been a fan of LA's Awesome Cleaner for many years, available at the Dollar General for $3.00 a half gallon. It takes off the majority of nastiness and doesn't harm the paint but I don't recommend leaving it on raw aluminum long since it can discolor it a bit.
 
Purple power, HARBOR FREIGHT and most other parts store carry it.

other wise just get a pressure washer and try to gather all the chucks that blast off.
Good luck on saving the environment btw.lol
 
I've had good luck with Super Clean, available at Walmart and elsewhere. Buy a big plastic drop cloth, duct tape it to the garage floor, and position the engine compartment over it. Put a bunch of old towels around the edges to catch runoff. Scrape off any heavy buildup then spray Super clean on full strength. let it sit, and rinse it off with water from a spray bottle or a hose. Wear gloves and eye protection. It may need multiple applications but it does a great job without any fumes or toxic waste. Be sure to totally rinse it off with water as it can attack aluminum. It may strip some paint but in my experience this is rare. I've used this on a number of cars for underhood detailing with good results.
 

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Back in the day was to use oven cleaner, don't know how safe it is for the environment.
 
There's a shop nearby me that rents bays to do mechanical work, and they also rent their steam cleaner out, I'm going to do my underbody in the spring and clean 20 years of grime and all the little chunks of rubber from my wheel wells and trunk extensions.
I like this because everything goes into their interceptor (grease trap) and not on my driveway and lawn.
 
I really like to use Spay 9 , by Knight Products, widely available. Does a great job and is not too intrusive to the environment.
 
I have a question...what do y'all do bout the electrical components?? bulkhead, coil etc...
 
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