Washing a car engine...

Chippy_Minton_2

dopester wrote: »

Before:



A few minutes later (+ time to dry)

:rotfl:It's like a spot the difference compertition.:rotfl:

cyclonebri1

Lemonade_Pockets wrote: »

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.

Thats why you steam clean and don't use a high pressure washer. Everyone in the industry does it this way with few problems.

There is a possibility that the petrol has reactivated dried oil, wax or underseal which could possibly cause the smell.;)

hewhoisnotintheknow

my mate has cleaned the engines of 2 cars he's owned in the past, both times its resulted in the car not starting up afterwards, and lots of taking bits off and swapping them due to water ingress!

GSXRCarlos

Try using WD40 (or local cheap alternative) as a degreaser, might even work out cheaper than autoglym or gunk. Agitate with a brush and wipe the affected areas with a clean rag, then monitor it.

I thought petrol needed a naked flame or extremely high temperature to light, would a cigarette end cause petrol to ignite?

cyclonebri1

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

my mate has cleaned the engines of 2 cars he's owned in the past, both times its resulted in the car not starting up afterwards, and lots of taking bits off and swapping them due to water ingress!

Then maybe he should have cleaned the engine, not the electrics

I admit it does need care and common sense but if an engine is completely ditched with baked on oil and gunge from say a long term head gasket or sump seepage, only some form of high temp or pressure washed detergent will shift it.

jaydeeuk1

GSXRCarlos wrote: »

I thought petrol needed a naked flame or extremely high temperature to light, would a cigarette end cause petrol to ignite?

A spark is neither of those things, and has been igniting petrol for about 100 years

bp78

Just use warm water and don't put any in with the oil and you'll be fine!!!!

postingalwaysposting

Thanks all for your suggestions. The car went into the garage this morning. It wasnt a petrol leak but an oil leak. The reason it 'drank' the petrol was because it compensated for having no oil The pipe was fine and it had stopped leaking. Anyways while there the mechanic removed as much excess oil from the engine as he could and the smell has almost gone :j Best bit was it was free :j

Thanks for all your help at least I was right that you couldnt pressure wash an engine :rotfl:

dopester

GSXRCarlos wrote: »

Try using WD40 (or local cheap alternative) as a degreaser, might even work out cheaper than autoglym or gunk. Agitate with a brush and wipe the affected areas with a clean rag, then monitor it.

Yuk.. make sure you get it all off afterwards.

That WD40 can cause a corroding effect on some types of metal in the engine bay - and really attract loads of dirt and grime - in my experience.

hewhoisnotintheknow

dopester wrote: »

Yuk.. make sure you get it all off afterwards.

That WD40 can cause a corroding effect on some types of metal in the engine bay - and really attract loads of dirt and grime - in my experience.

what happens is the oil attracts dirt etc, the wd40 drys up leaving the dirt behind, then the dirt attract water