Engine Cleaning Attempt

Mackass · 13 Oct 2006 at 22:55

So having discovered how dirty my engine was, I decided to give it a good clean today. From the picture above, it looks like it hasn't been cleaned for a long time, and it probably hasn't cleaned in its entire life.

These are the after pictures, and I'm fairly pleased with the results, however there are still some dirty parts which haven't shown up on my phone camera. But overall, not bad for a first timer, plus I'm not one who likes to get my hands dirty.

Liverpool-Lad · 13 Oct 2006 at 22:56

Looks good, what did you use?

poosemon · 13 Oct 2006 at 22:58

wow, what did you use, good as new..!

Mackass · 13 Oct 2006 at 22:59

Liverpool-Lad said:
Looks good, what did you use?

Sprayed it with Gunk Engine Degreaser, hosed down then sprayed some Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber for the shine.

Pinter75 · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:14

You "Hozed down" your engine... Not generally a good idea. Water can ingress in all kinds of places and play havock. Does it still start and drive?

Edit: Does look superb though!

Puppetmaster · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:15

its ok to hose it down i think, as long as you cover any filters and eletrics

L0rdMike · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:15

Wheres this engine cleaning then?

More like plastic cleaning.

andi · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:18

The wonders of plastic covers

Mines a right git to get clean, too many nooks and cranies!

Mackass · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:18

Pinter75 said:
You "Hozed down" your engine... Not generally a good idea. Water can ingress in all kinds of places and play havock. Does it still start and drive?

Edit: Does look superb though!

I was told that light drizzle is alrite, so long that I take it for a blast afterwards to help dry it up. It started first time, gave it a couple of minutes to dry a little then I took it for a drive along the M25. But overall not much damage would have been done I think, because engines are designed to get wet from time to time, or else we'd all have problems if you think about it.

Pinter75 · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:18

Vicious said:
its ok to hose it down i think, as long as you cover any filters and eletrics

My engine bay is full of electrical pugs and stuff. Would be kinda hard to spray water without hitting any.

I am now pretty sure that my statement applies to high pressure hozes. Hose pipes and low pressure are fine.

Soz.

Mackass · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:20

L0rdMike said:
Wheres this engine cleaning then?

More like plastic cleaning.

Ah, nobody will look under the cover anyways.

Fett · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:31

andi said:
The wonders of plastic covers

Mines a right git to get clean, too many nooks and cranies!

C'mon, no excuses

Virosol, low pressure water and 303 Aerospace protectant.

Mackass · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:35

Fett said:
C'mon, no excuses

Virosol, low pressure water and 303 Aerospace protectant.

Yeah, saw that image on another site, looks impressive!

Dreadi · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:36

mines a right grubby mess, guessing its never been cleaned in its life !

Fett · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:46

Mackass said:
Yeah, saw that image on another site, looks impressive!

Weird, I've never posted that picture before. :confused:

But thank you.

Mackass · 13 Oct 2006 at 23:52

Fett said:
Weird, I've never posted that picture before.

But thank you.

Ah, must have been another scooby then, saw a similar pic to yours on the site below.

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/thread/693361.aspx

Fett · 14 Oct 2006 at 00:04

Mackass said:
Ah, must have been another scooby then, saw a similar pic to yours on the site below.

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/thread/693361.aspx

Heh...same amount of washer fluid and it looks like PIAA Sporza wipers as well. He missed cleaning half the power steering fluid reservoir cap though

andi · 14 Oct 2006 at 01:57

Fett said:
C'mon, no excuses

Virosol, low pressure water and 303 Aerospace protectant.

Showoff!

Its the inlet manifold thats a git on mine, your is nice and new and powdercoated, mines full of ingrained crap that won't come off. It's better than it was when i got it, but I'm getting tempted to take it off and give it a proper clean off the car. Seems like a lot of work just to clean it though

agw_01 · 14 Oct 2006 at 02:07

Wow, that looks fantastic. Just how it should be. I need to get mine done... down all the nooks and crannies with a sponge...

Fun :eek:

Nor · 14 Oct 2006 at 02:11

Looks great Mackass. Mine is a bit dirty, but I was kinda thinking of using a cloth and some washing up liquid