Washing a car engine...

postingalwaysposting

Hi all, hope you can help/advise.

Around 3/4 weeks ago my Mothers car was drinking petrol, £40 within a week. She then started to smell petrol and after taking it to a garage it turns out a pipe was split under the bonnet. I know nothing more than that but its been fixed and the car is fine now. However when the petrol leaked it must have gone all over the engine. We were told by the garage and other mechanics that the smell would just wear off and all should be fine.

But the smell is still there nearly a month later. Its not all the time, mainly when we are stopping at traffic lights/roundabouts/in traffic. We have taken it back to the garage and its not leaking so there must still be petrol around the engine. Now we are soon to go on holiday and even though we arnt to bothered about this smell I become light headed and sick when this happens. So mum wants to wash the engine thinking it may remove the residue and thus the smell. She thinks you can pressure wash the engine but I dont think this is a good idea as it could dislodge anything.

So how could you wash a car engine? Is there a certain place you can take it to be washed? Professional service?

Thanks in advance

goldspanners

petrol evaporates very quickly so there shouldnt be a smell lingering for very long.
i had a petrol leak from my focus, it turned out to be the fuel filter underneath the car that was leaking,it only leaks when the ignition is on and the system was pressurised.

or it could be a blocked fuel tank vent pipe causing the smell.

you do know how dangerous petrol is dont you? get this back to a better garage as quickly as possible,all it could take is a stray cigarette end under your car at traffic lights and up it goes.

dont take the chance.

john539

postingalwaysposting wrote: »

So mum wants to wash the engine thinking it may remove the residue and thus the smell. She thinks you can pressure wash the engine but I dont think this is a good idea as it could dislodge anything.

So how could you wash a car engine? Is there a certain place you can take it to be washed? Professional service?

Thanks in advance

Yes, you can steam clean engine.

They should wrap anything sensitive in plastic bag.

There's always a risk of water going where it shouldn't so they should be careful.

Inactive

Are you sure that it is petrol and not exhaust gases, the smell of petrol shouldn't make you feel sick and light headed, exhaust gases certainly will.

Lemonade_Pockets

john539 wrote: »

Yes, you can steam clean engine.

They should wrap anything sensitive in plastic bag.

There's always a risk of water going where it shouldn't so they should be careful.

No don't do it.........our valeters used to do it despite being told a million times not to and you wouldn't beleive the amount of problems it caused.
High pressure water, eletrics and old rubber seals don't mix in my experience.

vaio

Given how quickly petrol evaporates I'm tempted to say if you are still smelling it then it’s still leaking

EdGasket

Don't ever 'wash' an engine. If you smell petrol, you still have a leak !

postingalwaysposting

goldspanners wrote: »

You do know how dangerous petrol is dont you? get this back to a better garage as quickly as possible,all it could take is a stray cigarette end under your car at traffic lights and up it goes.

I/we do, hence why it wasnt driven for 5 days untill it was repaired :rolleyes:

Inactive wrote: »

Are you sure that it is petrol and not exhaust gases, the smell of petrol shouldn't make you feel sick and light headed, exhaust gases certainly will.

Yes it is petrol, the same happens when I go and fill up at any petrol station. Thus I advoid them at all costs. I am 100% sure there is petrol still somewhere in the engine/bonnet.

Thanks all or your responses we arnt going to clean the engine but I am getting it looked at by our main garage. We had to go to garage that the brakedown company towed us to so going to see our usuall one this week.

Thanks for all your concern

AdrianHi

As said, petrol will have evaporated.
I wonder if in the preceedings there has been a bit of oil leaked somewhere that is causing the smell.
There is a spray product called Gunk Engine Degreaser which could be used to clean any affected parts fo the engine safer than steam cleaning.
Pressure washers are a definate no!

john539

AdrianHi wrote: »

There is a spray product called Gunk Engine Degreaser which could be used to clean any affected parts fo the engine safer than steam cleaning.
Pressure washers are a definate no!

But you then need to wash that Gunk cleaner off with steam/water. On an engine with all its bends, nooks & crannies, the dissolved grime & dirt still needs to be pushed off the engine.

In an ideal world, you don't spray steam onto an engine.

But if your engine has had an oil leak & is covered in places with oil, it's the only way to do it. to get the oil & grime off.

You don't just spray everything, you try to be careful. Engines are very robust.

For smell of petrol I wouldn't use steam cleaning.

dopester

My engine bay looks like it's brand new out the showroom, when it's actually 8 years old.

My engine bay went from very dirty and dusty to showroom clean in like 10 minutes with virtually no effort whatsoever

I followed suggestions on car forums... but dependent on car - it is at your own risk (eg: my car has a black protective cover over the battery.. otherwise I would have put something on the terminals to prevent them getting wet.. and other sensitive parts).

When cold, spray with the Autoglym engine cleaner and allow to do its job for about five mins. Next with an old paintbrush or similar agitate all the dirty parts to loosen the built up crud. Rinse with an open hose on light spray settings - no high pressure stuff here because its petrol etc etc!

Not my car pictured below.. but a typical example of the results from that.....

Before:



A few minutes later (+ time to dry)