Well, I'm in the midst of doing a bit of mechanical work to an '02 jeep wrangler. Among the things I'm doing is replacing all the leaky gaskets - valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, rear main seal. No oil leaks which is awesome, but the exterior of the engine is pretty thoroughly gunked up from it.
Wondering... What's my best bet for getting this all clean again? Doesn't need to be "shiny" but I'm not really digging that dirty oily film look it has now
Degreasing engine bay?
- Thread starter SnowDrifter
- Start date
- Status
Go to Walmart and get you a jug of Purple Power and a spray bottle.
Spray it on, let it sit for 5 minutes and rinse it off.
This is going to sound lame, but it works:
Gunk Engine Degreaser Gel, then the Gunk Engine Degreaser Foam, and then give it a hit of the engine bay detailer.
I wrote the whole thing off as complete marketing [censored] until I actually tried it.
Purple Power is awesome, but it has a tendency to leave a white residue behind. If that's not an issue, forget what I said, and just use a regular degreaser, but I find Formula 88 works a little better.
I used simple green and a pressure washer to a nasty 02 Jeep GC 4.0 with a leaking valve cover gasket. Thing came out clean without using harsh chemicals. A more better method is to use a hot water pressure washer, no chemicals or cleaners needed.
Simple Green makes a purple colored cleaner that is safe on aluminum and leaves no white residue. It works quite well on engines and engine bays and will not harm aluminum. Home Depot sells it.
I've used westleys bleach white tire cleaner. Spray it let it sit then hose off. I have never had a really gunked up engine bay though.
I have used Gunk or Simple Green with good results. Warm up the engine for a few minutes or clean it 30-40 minutes after you get home from a drive and it seems to work better because the crud is softer when warm.
I use a pressure washer with soapy water after protecting the electrical stuff. Then I finish the job with Pledge Furniture Polish. It's especially good on the battery. Over the years every battery I've replaced has looked exactly like brand new.
Where are you going to be creating this mess on the ground?
Hot soapy high pressure water is the best. Handy down.
Make sure u thoroughly rinse if u use simple green or purple power as it can leave a film. What works for me is dawn dish soap, it does cut grease and oil better than simple green and it's not harsh on metals, rubber, plastic or your hands.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 29,558
I buy the Simple Green HD (it's a purple color instead of green). Only place I've seen it is at Home Depot.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 29,558
Originally Posted By: barkingspider
Make sure u thoroughly rinse if u use simple green or purple power as it can leave a film. What works for me is dawn dish soap, it does cut grease and oil better than simple green and it's not harsh on metals, rubber, plastic or your hands.
i recall reading this How to on another site so will pass it on for you to decide if you like it. The first post pretty much covers everything but if you read through the posts he started with Simple green, then switched to greased lightning, and think he finally preferred Purple power. The step about running the engine for a little steam action is interesting but there are some clean looking engines in the thread.
http://www.silveradosierra.com/how-to-articles/how-to-clean-your-engine-compartment-t5652.html
Last edited:
- Status
