It's getting dirty under my hood. There's a engine cleaner I saw at the store, you spray on first made by "Gunk". Like to power wash it if I can at the car wash. How do I go about washing the engine?

I can tell you what has worked for me for a few years. I let the engine idle, and spray carwash deagreaser on the engine (low pressure degreaser) then I wash the truck down for a minute with high pressure and make it back to the engine and spray it down. It's much better to work on a clean engine than a filthy one.

I usually just use the soap (high pressure) spray at the carwash but stand back a bit with the nozzle so the pressure is decreased by the time it hits the engine components. Let it sit for a minute or two to let the soap work on the grease and then use the rinse to clean it out. I suppose the engine de-greaser function has better chemicals for cleaning though.

Just don't hose off the injection pump while the engine is running unless you plan on killing it.

Just don't hose off the injection pump while the engine is running unless you plan on killing it.

DP could you explain that for the people who might not understand

The injection pump has a rotor in the pump that fits extremely tight in the bore. Any sudden change in temperature can make the outer "head" contract in size. If the head reduces or contracts quicker than the rotor can adjust the rotor seizes in the head and shears off the rotor or in some cases the shaft. The reason it does this is because the rotor is still in the expanded state from heat and the head shrinks too fast from the cold. Military pumps have an insulated cover surrounding the head to avoid this.

Early 5.7 pumps had a problem in extreme cold conditions. The owner would warm up his diesel in the garage in extreme cold weather and then back it out into sub O temps and the head would seize then also.

Just a matter of clearance, ain't much there.

What DP says is true, but every carwash I've ever used has warm water from the jet, and its pretty tough to get the spray nozzle on the head even if you wanted to with the intake manifold on.

I use the Gunk regularly, in fact I got another bottle in the truck, I spray it on in the parking lot, let the engine cool for a couple minutes and drive it right into the powerwash bay and rinse everything.

The only concern is that you don't want to get water on the turbo or exhaust manifolds while they're hot. They are the hottest things you will be able to hit with a powerwasher, and you don't want to cool them too quickly and crack. But again, the danger is minimal, just let the engine cool for a few minutes with the hood up and you will be fine.

Hey guys,

What if you are going to wash it in the gravel driveway and the engine is cold. Any problems then??? I know the degreeser(sp?) generally works better if the engine is warm, but I can live with my engine compartment being mostly clean but not Hospitol sanitized :lol: , if it means no problems to worry about.

Thanks !

no danger there Ranger.

Thanks for the replies. Going to wash it this weekend at the car wash. I'll keep it away from the injection pump and make sure the water is warm/hot.

Thanks TDG ! ! ! ! ! !

what about the alternator? does it or anything have to be covered while washing the engine?

FYI,

I cleaned my engine bay out by using the purple de-greaser sold at Autozone and my $65 Cummins Tools electric pressure washer. I hook it to the hot water spigot at the washing machine and run it as hot as I can get the water heater to go.

It probably don't do much for the longevity of the pressure washer, but man, it sure strips the grease off of anything.

Tim

grease lightning degreaser in the gallon jug from Home Depot or any hardware store workes the best on diesel stains and diesel oil residue. Stuff cuts grease like butter. It'll kill ur hands though, watch out!

Watch out with the Greased Lightning cleaner on Aluminum (the intake). It is not recommened for use on Aluminum (says so on the bottle) It will work ok but discolors it somewhat and not sure what else. Afterwards I read the instructions (yep I'm a guy) I found the aluminum note. It works pretty good but I discolored my mitsubishi engine (mostly aluminum). I like the stuff for everything else from laundry prespotter to driveway cleaner etc.

Careful around the fuel filter canister and all electronic stuff in general. I washed my truck down used Napa Mac's formula degreaser and got a blinking water in fuel light until the wires dried out ???? It also will deteriorate the firewall insulation the paperlike covered stuff so use common sense where you are spraying.

I like to just barely warm the engine, spray degreaser let it soak 10 minutes, hose off then let it air dry as long as you can before cranking. Sometimes air blow it a little with leaf blower before and after too. Leaf blower will knock off any dust easily first and speeds drying.

The leaf blower trick work before works great for the lawn mower deck too.

cover the battery terminals with something.

i got my cables corroded using a car wash and no battery covers.

what a headache.